My Oscar

Oscar the cat is an interesting soul. He was my first real love and has been the one to see me through good times, bad times, as well as complete heart breaks. He was my first husband (even acted like a husband), and now that I'm married, he has spent the past 7 years in the midst of a love/hate relationship with Richard. When Emily arrived I worried over his absolute fear of toddlers and babies, but was quickly surprised by how much he has loved her. She's the only child in this world that he will lay down with, cuddle with, and allow to pet him. I swear, he actually has a secret love affair with her, and she in turn holds him and only him in a special spot within her heart.

As Oscar ages I find myself nervous for the day that he inevitably leaves us. Each emergency vet visit that comes up always leaves me wondering if this is the moment. Will I have to make the tough decision to put him down? Will this visit be the start of my heart breaking? Today was no exception. Lately I have been noticing Oscar struggling with eating. Although at first I thought it might have been his old age, his sudden decline in the past few days has left me imagining the worst. After realizing that he was not eating at all (including soft can food) and watching as his mannerisms would reflect complete and utter pain, Emily and I saddled him up for a trip to the doctor.

Thankfully his doctors' visit ended well and the diagnoses at the moment looks good - we just need to wait until next weeks’ major teeth cleaning before we can officially give a sigh of relief. However, this evening has given me one very important revelation.

Even with Emily's complete excitement over the thought of getting to go hang out at her friend’s house for the evening, her excitement only increased as soon as she realized that Oscar was going with us. She happily jumped in her car seat and insisted that Oscar needed to sit next to her. After that she made my heart smile and cry all at the same time...she gave me the best sight.

And it was at that moment that I realized that in the future I have a lot more to worry about than just my heart breaking. Now there's a possibility that Emily's heart will break too.