A Resolution From Binx

this was the snarl when we didn't comply w/ Binx's treat giving preferences 

Brent and I were going through some of Binx’s stuff recently, sorting between the new and used, deciding what we could donate and what would just have to be junked. His scratching post that he tore down to the nubs? Probably not welcome at a shelter.

While we were arranging everything, we must have come across at least a dozen pouches of unopened treats. Most were the sample sized packages you got as a bonus buy from a bag of food, but there were two or three brand new bags. Not to mention the three packs of opened treats we had in the rotation.

It made me so incredibly sad to come across these unopened treats of Binx’s, like I had failed him in some way. Why was my little guy so deprived? I sat there crying, lamenting to Brent that we should have been more generous w/ the treats, let him eat whatever he wanted. Brent, who’s been amazingly supportive throughout the hardships of the last month, reminded me how his first vet said we weren’t supposed to be giving him treats, that Binxy could stand to lose a few pounds. I remembered being told that, how we decreased the amount of food we fed him at mealtimes, but it didn’t make it any easier to see all those unopened treats. And to think of all the extra snugs and treats I should have been giving Binxy every day of his life, b/c in the end the cancer didn’t care if he was overweight or underweight, it took him just the same.

It reminded me of the story Kevin McCallister told the vagrant pigeon lady in Home Alone 2 (which I stand by in my firm belief that it’s a better sequel than the original). He got a brand new pair of rollerblades but was scared to ruin them, so he wore them in his room a few times. By the time he wanted to skate outside, he had outgrown them.

I know New Year’s Resolutions are trite and gimmicky, a billion dollar industry devoted to telling us all what we need to lose, gain and improve in the new year, but at their core they are well intentioned. We lost Binx at unarguably the hardest time of the year, but from that I gained a resolution. Not just for 2017, but something to deliberately work on every day of my life, fully devoted in Binxy’s memory. 

Wear the rollerblades. Take the trip. Eat the chocolate. Drink the expensive champagne. Use the good plates. Live your life. I know Binxy’s not looking down on us w/ any ill will for those treats I denied him, but I’m kicking myself every day. Life’s too short to not give your cat all the treats and cuddles he deserves.