RIP Chester
Oct. 26th, 2011 07:59 amChester (seen in the userpic) is gone, at age 15 (half of that spent with us).
He'd been declining quietly for some time, but until this week we thought and hoped he had a few more months in him. He had recently stopped drinking (at one point M gave him water via dropper, and he brought most of it back up) and hadn't eaten much for some time, and nothing at all for the past several days. He hadn't been in any overt pain, though his hips were clearly going. Yesterday he disappeared all day, surfacing only when I woke to go to work, and it was clear that he would have to be brought to the vet for the end today.
He managed to hold on until JUST when I got home from work; I missed his last breath by about five seconds, getting into the house.
Chester was the sweetest cat I've ever known. He was also, in many ways, my first cat, in that I found the ad for him on Craigslist and had major input into bringing him home (whereas all the previous cats in the house had been either legacy cats from L or M or had been adopted via consensus decision in the family, with Dusty NOT being the cat I'd voted for). He spent many days and nights curled up against me (or M) in bed, sharing warmth and comfort. A couple of months ago, I brought home a Craigslist score that included two sheepskins, which went onto the bed and which immediately became cat spots, though how he and Isis set the rota, I don't know. I'm just glad he got the chance to enjoy them.
When the vet opens, I'll bring him over for cremation. Meanwhile, I'm going to see if my tears have any bottom.
I'm going to miss him.
He'd been declining quietly for some time, but until this week we thought and hoped he had a few more months in him. He had recently stopped drinking (at one point M gave him water via dropper, and he brought most of it back up) and hadn't eaten much for some time, and nothing at all for the past several days. He hadn't been in any overt pain, though his hips were clearly going. Yesterday he disappeared all day, surfacing only when I woke to go to work, and it was clear that he would have to be brought to the vet for the end today.
He managed to hold on until JUST when I got home from work; I missed his last breath by about five seconds, getting into the house.
Chester was the sweetest cat I've ever known. He was also, in many ways, my first cat, in that I found the ad for him on Craigslist and had major input into bringing him home (whereas all the previous cats in the house had been either legacy cats from L or M or had been adopted via consensus decision in the family, with Dusty NOT being the cat I'd voted for). He spent many days and nights curled up against me (or M) in bed, sharing warmth and comfort. A couple of months ago, I brought home a Craigslist score that included two sheepskins, which went onto the bed and which immediately became cat spots, though how he and Isis set the rota, I don't know. I'm just glad he got the chance to enjoy them.
When the vet opens, I'll bring him over for cremation. Meanwhile, I'm going to see if my tears have any bottom.
I'm going to miss him.