Goodbye Sweet Fluffy

During all the chaos of packout we had suffered a family tragedy. Our sweet cat suddenly became ill and passed away. I have been too upset to write about it before now. We have had Fluffy since he wandered up to our back porch one day almost a decade ago. He was bedraggled, missing patches of fur, and someone had shot him with a pellet gun. Of course we told Alonzo not to touch him which of course he did grabbing his tail and dragging him across the floor. Fluffy didn't bite him or even snarl at him he just lay there and purred. We decided then and there that this cat was meant for our family. After a little love and care his coat came back in and he turned into a very handsome gentleman with his long fluffy brown fur and his two different colored eyes. He greatly resembled a Miane Coon.

He would go on long walks through the neighborhood with us, he would sit in the yard with me when I was working in the garden often rushing to the sidewalk to flop on his back and present his tummy for some rubbing to people walking by. He also would defend our yard against the evil of dogs, terrorizing many of the neighborhood canines. He did learn to tolerate our little poodle we had back then, although I don't think he really understood why we would let the enemy in our house. He would sit in my lap in the evening to watch TV and if I was playing with the computer he would either head butt my hand while I was typing or firmly place his paw on the keyboard until I put aside the computer and paid attention to him.

We have no idea what happened. Monday night he watched TV with me as always. He seemed fine. Wednesday when the movers were arriving he was acting strangely and we were worried about him but later in the day he seemed to perk up. By Thursday it was clear he was a very sick kitty. We left the movers with Dakota and took the cat to the vet. She said there wasn't much hope so we held him until it was over. The vet said these things do happen sometimes and there usually is no clear reason why. We are relieved that it happened now and we could be with him until the end and not in the hold of an airplane when he would be alone and scared. He is greatly missed.

Goodbye Fluffy you were the best cat a family could have.