Goodbye TJ.

Last night my wife and I had to take TJ, our cat, to the vet, it was to say goodbye to a great friend. TJ was with us for about four years, he was the house owner and would wake us up every morning by jumping in bed with us right before the alarms went off. Two months ago TJ started to vomit, we thought that he was running outside and eating grass, after a few days we took him to the vet and after many tests I was told that TJ had liver failure. The vet told me that it was a long shot but we could give him some vitamins and antibiotics. After a few days he improved and was eating a lot more and trying to go outside. The whole family took turns and took him outside trying to make him feel better. After a week or so, he stopped eating and turned yellow (jaundice) so we had to force him to eat. Every morning and after work I would give him baby food and the vitamins with a syringe, the vitamins were of a very dark color and smelled bad. My girls would help me and we tried to make him feel loved. Yesterday after work, I came home and saw TJ on the floor and was about gone. My wife and I took him to the vet and asked them to do something for him. The vet came in with a syringe full of a black liquid that we thought were more vitamins for TJ, but it was TJ's urine. His kidneys were dead, his liver was dead and the only thing to do was to end his misery. The reason was that TJ was a very nervous cat and we had moved three times in a year, plus my return from Iraq was too much for him and became a nervous wreck becoming almost 25 pounds. Before the vet did his thing my wife and I were able to say goodbye, we kissed him and with tears in our eyes we said "we will see you again."
I have seen men killed in combat, I have seen friends wounded in combat, but it is hard to say goodbye to a good friend, even if this friend was a furry one.
I enclose a picture of TJ in his prime, when he was king of the house.