Dear Gramps,
I have two cats, whom I love dearly. One is about 11-12 yrs old, and has a very sensitive stomach. She throws up a lot on the carpet and has really made a mess of it. She is a very sweet cat and I enjoy her very much. Our other cat is about 9 yrs old and he is my buddy. He is a beautiful long haired cat, therefore he sheds clumps of hair and it’s a lot of work trying to keep up with cleaning up cat hair all over everything. He has not been out of our 4th floor condo since we got him as a kitten. We’ve tried to take him out, but it is very traumatic for him out of his space. I love and enjoy them so much, but am concerned with taking them to our new home with new carpet and furniture. I would never abandon them or take them to a shelter and I don’t even want to try to find another home for them. It would be too traumatic for them, mostly Togan, the long haired. They are very attached to me and I would worry about them all the time. I have considered having them put to sleep. My question is: Is this a bad thing to do? And will I have a relationship with them in the next life? I want them to be with me in the next life. Thanks for your consideration and insight to this dilemma.
Beckie, from Salt Lake City, Utah

Dear Beckie,
Those are really tough decisions to make. Reminds me of the song, “Old Shep.” (If you looked up ‘Old Shep’ on Google, you could probably hear Elvis Presley sing it).
The facts are that animals are not like people. But sometimes even people do not want to be kept in mortality over long. In fact, both my wife and I carry in our wallets a little card that says—
“…in the case of terminal illness of either one of us of such a nature as to incapacitate the power of decision, no heroic measures shall be employed to postpone the termination of life.”
So the question is, do you want your cats to continue to live in misery, or do you want to facilitate their transition to a state of complete bliss and happiness– where there is no sickness, no pain and no sorrow. We who are left naturally feel sorrow for the departure of any loved one–except when they go on vacation. The fact is that death is indeed very similar to an extended vacation to a place of eternal bliss. The difference is that those who go don’t return; we join them later. So it may be that, although somewhat painful to experience the temporary separation of beloved pets, we are doing for those pets the very thing that could be done for them.
Gramps