Never trade what you want the most...: Oh my little boy

This past Tuesday, we made the extremely hard decision to say good bye to my sweet little boy Higgenbaffum {Higgy}.

In January, Higgy was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. His front left paw had swelled up to three times it's normal size and that was why. The vet removed 2.5 ml of fluid from his lungs, but we didn't anticipate him having long to go honestly. We brought him back a week later and while the fluid in his lungs hadn't come back, the cancer had increased 5-10%. We were told to come back in two months, unless something happened between this appointment and two months.

Two months later we brought Higgy back. His lungs sounded good, as well as his heart. As the vet left our appointment saying to schedule a follow-up one in a month's time, he told us he didn't expect Higgy would have lasted this long. He assumed Higgy would pass on his own or we would bring him in due to the cancer.

At the beginning of April, we brought him in due to bathroom problems. He wasn't going well at all. Apparently, he was really constipated. We left him at the vet's office for a few hours while they did their magic to help him. Unfortunately, whatever was the issue caused him to leak. We spent about six weeks trying to find a way to stop this.

Throughout this time period, Higgy seemed to lose muscle in his back hips and legs. He started having a hard time standing, walking, balancing.

The week before Mother's Day, he seemed to go downhill very quickly. None of the medication seemed to be helping him. He would stand, then fall over. We went to the vet on the 5th hoping there would be something to do, but prepared to say good bye. The vet felt a change in his meds would help. So, we went with it.

In our hearts, we knew that nothing was going to help. We decided to wait til Friday to see if he was any better and if not, we would make the decision to say good bye. He was too good a friend to allow to linger in such a manner. Unfortunately, he was no better on Friday. By Sunday, we made the decision and Monday set the appointment to say good bye on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

It was one the worst things I've had to do. It was the third time I've sat with a pet and said good bye. The first two times were sudden - my dog Fluffy and cat Pooka both suffered strokes and it was the humane thing to do. This time, it was harder. We knew it was the right thing to do, but it was horrible. He went peacefully and is now with his brother Pooka, eating treats and fighting.

It's not easy saying good bye to a friend....