My sweet Tobi.
You have been my friend, my confidant, my chill buddy, my chaos, my love, my light, my joy, my pain in the butt, my sweetness for 13 1/2 years. I remember when my friend told me they had a litter of barn kittens that needed to be adopted. It was around May of 2005, just 6 months after my mother had passed away and I gave my grandma those big eyes and asked to have one, she said yes. He has been with me through my senior year of high school, college, my single days, the beginning of our marriage. He has crawled into bed with me when I’m crying my eyes out, been the sweetest nurse when I’ve been sick, and let me chase him around the house when I needed a laugh. He is truly my fur-child and one of my best friends.
The last two years have been a lot on him. He had lived in one house his whole life and once Eddie and I got married Tobi took the road trip from South Carolina to Maine, then Maine to Connecticut, then Connecticut back to South Carolina, and finally South Carolina all the way to California; he’s been a trooper throughout it all. We noticed once we got to San Diego that he slowly started to not act like himself. He was more lethargic, less playful, and he started having more vomiting and food issues; he also escaped in June for a few day adventure and we think that kind of hyped up his symptoms. We took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism as well as diabetes. We started a treatment plan but after another blood panel we knew that it would be an even more costly treatment to continue to manage his diseases, but not ever cure them. We also knew that with another cross-country move coming up the amount of stress that would put on his body would be astronomical. Three days of driving 13+ hours where he will not eat, drink, or use the restroom (it’s his M.O. when we travel) will cause him to become severely dehydrated and it will only exacerbate his symptoms and illness.
Eddie and I sat down Wednesday night and cried together while making one of the hardest decisions we’ve had to since getting married. We knew it would be in Tobi’s best interest to not put him through another move and he absolutely would NOT deal ok with being re-homed (he has horrible separation anxiety) so our option is to put him down. I’m writing this while he is laying at my feet resting and we are waiting on a call from the vet to tell us the next steps. My heart is heavy and I’ve been crying on and off for the last few weeks knowing deep down this was the more than likely going to be the end game. Since we’ve made this decision I have a level of peace with it all, which tells me it’s the right decision. It’s hard, one of the hardest things to do, to look at his sweet face and know how much he means to me and to Eddie and to so many of our friends and family, but it’s time. Once this post is live it means Tobi is no longer with us and we miss him so much.
I love you Tobi Mac Smith Murray.
You’re my favorite bambino, my buds, my sugar plum fairy, my sweet boy.
I will miss you more than you can know and there will never be another like you.
Thank you for loving me so well over the years and showing me how to be selfless.
Now for the picture overload, because this little king deserves all of it.
We got home about 20 minutes ago.
He went so peacefully.
He let me hold him in the car on the way to the vet, was quiet and calm and snuggly. I feel such a peace knowing he isn’t suffering and we made the right choice.
I love you more than you know Tobi, the house is quite without you here.
Gosh, I miss you kid.
