R.I.P. Ghengis

 

Sadly when I got back from town this morning, Danny told me that Ghengis was on the way out - he had spotted him staggering across the lawn, unable to use his back legs, and it looked like he had had a stroke.  He had laid him on the sofa, and the poor old boy just looked so flat and frail.  I knew his time had come and so we took him straight down to the vet's to be pts.  He went very quickly as I stroked him and told him how loved he was.  He had a lot of love in his long life, spending all but 3or so of his probable 18 years with us.  

He arrived as a feral tom, and was never very big, but was a thug and a bully to all the other cats until we got him tame enough to go and be neutered, and he was a different cat after that.  No more rape and pillage.  He had a good life with us - only this morning he was sat next to Pippi up on the bank in the little bit of sunshine we had today.  I will miss him so - he sat beside me on the sofa every night, and sat beside me as I was on the computer, sitting on my mouse hand!  

As always, Danny stepped into the breach, went to the vet's with me, and came home and went out to dig a deep grave for him.  I will plant a rose by it - in fact I ordered one only last night, which I had in my garden at Ynyswen, and really loved, called Tuscany Superb, a deep crimson Gallica shrub rose with a lovely perfume.

D, E, I  and myself went out for a walk through the woods in the wet snow earlier - too wet for anything to lay but the distant hills have a sprinkling of white.  It was good to clear my head anyway, but a sad day here.

It's hard to hold back the tears, as all the grief I feel in losing Keith inch by inch has been released too.