I came across the sad news today that one of my favorite Internet cats, Panther, had to be euthanized. The joy of pets comes with the sting of their mortality, yet not to have them in our lives is to live without that special  joy. I join Doug and Sharon in mourning the loss of their beloved Panthy. On Facebook, they left this tribute to Panther:

We had to say goodbye to our dear sweet Panthy today, yesterday evening he stopped being able to eat, his mouth was bleeding every time he tried.We hoped he would heal up enough over night to try eating again but this morning it was much worse, moving his tongue made him choke and put him in great distress. We arranged for our vet to come by this afternoon and relieve poor Panthy from his pain and discomfort.
He spent the day resting quietly, getting cuddled on our bed, sitting on our laps on the sunny step and walking with us/being carried by us around the yard and neighbourhood. Despite being hungry and in pain he purred, talked to us and took great interest in the world around him. He seemed like his old self but his mouth cancer would no longer allow him to eat or drink, so we had to say goodbye.
He is buried in our garden, where he use to love to explore and sun himself. We are heartbroken that he is no longer with us but are happy he is no longer in pain.
We will always love you Panther, be free our dear friend, our big sweet boy, our beautiful Panther love.

Thank you, Panther, for the joy.

Love, Andy, Dougy, and Doug