This week has been hard. We knew it was going to be hard because we were going to send the cats off to their forever homes and we've gotten rather attached to them. Caring for Shadow and Kismet was always going to mean that they left our lives, but we knew it would be hard.

It was harder than we could have imagined. Both cats went to the vet on Sunday and were given a clean bill of health, though the vet told us that Shadow's distended stomach probably meant worms. First thing Monday morning we took them to another vet to be spayed and neutered. This is a normal procedure; it happens to every rescue cat, as well it should. We don't need more kittens in the world, as cute as Kismet is. We expected to get a call later to pick them up.

Shadow never came home. Shadow died on the operating table. They tried to resuscitate her and couldn't. We don't know what happened. Maybe it was something the vet missed. Maybe she was more fragile than any of us knew. Maybe she took badly to the anesthesia. We don't know. All we know is that this is rare. This is the first full-grown cat that Kitten Connection has lost in spaying. It's one of only two cats that Jacki, who introduced us to Shadow and Kismet, has ever lost in spaying - and the other was a kitten spayed too young. It shouldn't have happened. It did happen. Shadow never came home.

Kismet almost didn't come home. He went to the head of Kitty Connection before he came to us after neuter, and she saw that he wasn't okay. She rushed him to the animal hospital where he seemed to be going in and out of consciousness. They gave him fluids and medication and he made it through, but for a while I was sure we were going to be mourning both of them.

Kismet came home yesterday. We monitored him, played with him, and pet him. We put him in a harness and brought him out into the living room and by the time I went to bed, he'd figured out how to walk on a leash. He's a beautiful, rambunctious kitten. Today, he's back to his normal self.

Kismet is now somewhere in Boston in his forever home. We packed him up with all his toys and some food and sent him off. His new parents have promised to send pictures every once in a while, so we're looking forward to that.

We'll be mourning Shadow for a while, but we have another foster coming on Sunday so the circle of feline life continues.