I sent this out by e-mail to friends and family within hours of putting Chamba to sleep:
Chamba is gone.
I had him put to sleep this morning after two days of continuous accelerating suffering, and no reasonable hope of recovery.
I don’t even know yet how much I am going to miss him. He was my companion for more than twelve years. He was the heart that made my home feel alive.
I said goodbye to him today feeling that he loved me, knowing that he had outlived all of his Cameroonian littermates before he was two, and believing the money I spent on vet bills over the last year was not wasted.
The veterinarians extended his life, and gave me the opportunity to make him happy for as long as I could. As recently as last Saturday, we were violating leash laws and enjoying a sunny afternoon in a nearby park.