Goodbye Price -- Running to Catch Up

I won't go into all yesterday's details, but Price has gone beyond all pain.

We sat outside with him all yesterday in the sun.  I asked a good client for time, and was told not to worry (Thank you!).

My editor emailed me at one point and said he needed details for a Fun Days story.  I whipped downtown on my bike and while there, picked up a nice pink salmon from the Jack Mackerel Seafood Company.  Put the body down in salt for smoking, micro-waved the head and tail.  Price hadn't been eating, not really, for days, nor drinking water, so I didn't have much hope of him sampling the food.  He was at the stage where they take a sniff and turn away in disgust.  I ran a little warm water over it, in case he would take some liquid.

This time, his neck arched and he jetted his face into the salmon, gobbling chunks and slurping up the salmon water.  We were surprised and a bit worried; "Is he just packing for the last journey?"  Clouds came over the sun as the afternoon passed, and we all went inside, where I set him up on his nice plaid blanket.

He'd been doing so well, I took a break and went to the beach for a walk.  There, the beautiful rainbow of a sundog pulled me into watching the sun set.  I was probably gone fifteen minutes.

When I came back, I was shocked to hear Dan choke, "He's safe.  He's gone where he can never hurt again."  

Right at sunset, he gave a little meow, that Dan says sounded like, "Wait for me!"  His legs -- all four of them -- ran a few steps as he lay there, and, as Dan said, "He just ran out of his body."

His heart stopped, and he was gone.  Maybe he zipped down to the beach to say goodbye to me, in his brand-new spiffy young spirit body.  But I can't see spirits, I can only hear them; in two weeks or so, Dan should see him run down the hallway and look at him before romping off.  We've done this a lot.

Funeral today.  Thank all of you for the kind thoughts and hopes.  Thank our good vet and his staff for helping us so much.  We remember.

Final video from yesterday: Price licking his favorite rock (loadable to IPad).  This is so Price.