This morning Mrs. Cohn Zohn and I put down Mr. Winkers. He was our cat, our cat since he was born 13 years ago. He was a long-haired gray cat and he had sparkle and passion and we loved him. He was Iggy’s cat (Grant’s). Iggy lived with Mr. Winkers for Mr. Winkers’ whole life and I didn’t post this until I just phoned Iggy at Niners headquarters and told him. I didn’t want him to find out about Mr. Winkers on my blog.

Mr. Winkers had a happy long life. When he was young he was partly an outdoor cat, would kill mice and birds and leave them at the front door as a gift for us. The last few years, he made himself an indoor cat. He spent a lot of time on our bed and Mrs. Cohn Zohn loved combing him. When he was young he could jump on top of our high dresser. Lately, he couldn’t jump onto our bed and we had to lift him.

The vet from Cheshire Cat Clinic in Oakland — a lovely woman — told us Mr. Winkers developed a blockage in his colon and lost half his body weight since August, the last time we brought him in. She said a specialist could operate on him but the operation would likely kill Mr. Winkers. Mrs. Cohn Zohn said no to  the operation.

Mr. Winkers was in another room when the vet told us this. The vet said Mr. Winkers probably would die within a week. We decided to put him down today. The vet said she would bring Mr. Winkers back to our room so we could say goodbye to him. I couldn’t say goodbye and left the room. Mrs. Cohn Zohn stayed behind and said goodbye in tears.

I experienced such grief deciding to let Mr. Winkers go. I don’t want any more cats. I am 69 years old and can’t take the pain anymore.