Sad

A couple of weeks ago our eldest cat (16 years old) passed away. He had been cruising around earlier that day, snoozing in his various preferred places, drinking water from his personal plastic cup (he never liked water dishes). That morning I had been petting him - when I started to head downstairs, he patted me with his paw, his usual signal for "more petting please", purring like crazy. So I sat with him longer. When I found him, he was lying in one of his favorite spots, front paws daintily crossed as usual. I only realized something was wrong when he didn't jump up when I came trudging up with a load of laundry. Of course, I also keep wondering if there were signs he wasn't well I missed ( was he drinking more? less? anything?).

I miss this kitty. For years when husband was away consulting 100% of the time and daughter was at college and grad school, he and I were companions. He'd sit with me while I read, reviewed books, compiled ebibliographies for school. He also liked watching the Weather Channel (although his favorite was watching Pillsbury commercials - loved the doughboy).

He was a gentle, sweet kitty. As fond as I am of our multitude of current kitties, none of them has been a special companion yet - some have potential, some haven't. I hope one of them turns out to be like him; none will eclipse him or take his place.