When I left Canada, my intention was to return in February to pick up my little orange tabby, Mango. He had received his rabies shot and gotten his pet passport in August, but UK pet immigration laws state that animals must have had their vaccines for 6 months. I left Mango in the very kind, very capable and loving hands of Caitlin, who I'll be forever indebted to for agreeing to adopt him until February.
Unfortunately, I woke up one morning in November to find an email from the Granville Island Vet Hospital with the sad news that Mango's kidneys had started to fail. After two nights in the hospital, a few teary phone calls and a futile search for a cheap last-minute flight back home, we had to put him down.
Mango was the sweetest, most affectionate cat that I ever met. I've never (and still don't, really) thought of myself as a cat person, but I was truly in love with Mango and his loving head butts, stubborn orange hair—I'm still finding it on my clothes!—and little (sometimes big) meow.
He will be dearly missed.
Thanks to Caitlin, his vets Anna Wallace and Bill Ignacio (seriously amazing, those two and their team), and everyone who has cared for, pet, and loved Mango as much as I did. Thanks also to the Granville Island Vet Hospital for making a donation in Mango's name to the Pet Trust Fund, an organization that helps support learning, research, and health care at the Ontario Veterinary College.
Sadness.
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