Koonta Marie Sparacino April 2001-September 2014

Last night, I had to do one of the hardest things that I have ever done. I had to make the decision to let my sweet cat, Koonta pass on to heaven. 

I am so, so terribly sad right now. I'm sad because she is gone and I'm sad because I know she had suffered over the past few months. 

I had no idea what had been wrong with her until last night. She has been struggling to breathe the past couple of days, so I took her to an emergency animal hospital last night. They did tests and xrays and found that she had mega-esophagus, which is an extreme enlargement of the esophagus. It was causing her to swallow a lot of air, not be able to eat much, and it was very distressful and hard for her to breathe. 

The options for her were not good. She had lost so much weight and she had thyroid disease. The options of sedating her to try and help her meant that she might not wake up from the sedation. Her quality of life over the past months has not been good, and it broke my heart to make that decision, but I know she is not suffering now. 

I was all alone making this decision and that made it twice as hard. I second guessed myself every other second. When they brought her in to see me before, I knew in my heart it was right. She looked so terrible. I just loved on her and I know that she knew I loved her so much.

This is from the post I wrote when she turned 10 years old:

My cat, Koonta is going on 10 years old.  I got her my second year in college when she was 6 weeks old.  I was working at a grocery store and when I left work after my shift, a lady who had been giving away puppies all day was there and trying to give a way a lone cat she had with her.  Needless to say, I fell in love with the little bit.  I took her home and the rest is history.  She's been my girl ever since.  Of course, now she belongs to Tim and the kiddos too. 

Koonta was with us for 13 years and 5 1/2 months. 

She the first pet that was "mine." She brought so many memories to our family and she was very much a member of our family. 

I will never get the Christmas decorations out without wondering when she will come get into all of it or climb up the ladder as we are decorating. 

She was always into something. 

We called her, "the toddler," because she was always trying to get in the sink or she was knocking a cup over trying to drink whatever was inside of it. 

In the winter, she loved sleeping between Tim's legs. She loved when company came over and she was so much more laid back and social as she got older. I'll always remember playing "belt" with her and watching her run through the house chasing something that we would throw. I'll miss always asking, "is there anything out on the counter that Koonta can get into?"

She would greet us at the door if we had been away for awhile.

She loved finding a comfy spot to take a nap.

She is just a part of so many memories in our family.

We love you and will never forget you Koonta, Koonie, Koon, Poonta, Poonie, Poon, Za Poon, Poon Poon, Pon toonie, Toon Toon, Toonie, Koonie girl, Toonie Girl, Poonie Girl, Koonie Poon, sweet girl.