Feline Farewell

It has taken me a long time to write this post, the time never seemed quite right and I couldn't find the right words to say. A couple of weekends ago I had a very unexpected and heartbreaking decision to make on behalf of my little feline shadow who had, in a split second, developed horrible symptoms of a brain tumor at crisis point. This illness had never crossed onto our radar at all and we left a sleepy bright eyed puss cat in the morning and returned to a horrible scene of confusion in the afternoon. Luckily it was all over so quickly hopefully he barely registered what had suddenly happened to him.

I very much miss my little friend, who turned up in my university house in Leicester three years ago and decided that was where he belonged. He walked into our house and stayed there, coming home to Sussex with me in the term holiday and becoming a puss cat of leisure in the country side, a constant presence in the house and a vocal demander of cuddles in the evening.

He was at the grand old age of 17 and I hope that his life before us was a nice one, at least before he was put onto the streets to fend for himself for a year or so. I know we did all we could to give him a lovely time with us, even if he did drive The Parent's crazy with his old man ways.

He was a house cat really, which I think must have come from one of his previous lives, although he did enjoy a turn around the outer house and garden in the summer evenings to stretch his legs before bed, and would occasionally stay out in the garden in the shade to keep us monkeys company.

He used to sing (like a Peacock) at about three in the morning and had terrible balance so would fall over when cleaning or changing direction too quickly. He would always leap up and say hello when I walked in the door and was so pleased to see me every single time, like I was a long lost friend he hadn't seen in years, let alone five minutes.

He was a true little character and I think of him often and miss him following me around the house or racing through the hallway (always a scary room), or staring at me with those big eyes and that grumpy expression. I hate that I had to make such a decision but when you're right at the end, he was my friend and that was the kindest and only option I could make for him, and I know it was the right action to take. I hope to meet you again little friend. xx