The tearful elderly woman at the front counter of the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA (PHS/SPCA) was clearly struggling to hold back strong and difficult emotions. Her gray tabby cat Smokey peeked shyly from the carrier, aware that something truly significant was happening. A person and a cat that live together with love for 11 years can't help but develop personal ways of communicating, and the messages here were distressing to them both. But as hard as it was, Gwen knew what she had to do.

Eighty-three years old, Gwen had held on as long as she felt she could but now knew she no longer was able to live on her own. She'd made the hard choice to move into an assisted living facility that had the capacity to help her with her medical challenges. It was not, however, able to accommodate Smokey. As hard as it was, with no friends or family members able to add her cat to their own households, giving up Smokey was the only option.

**Get the June 2008 issue of CAT FANCY to read the full article.**