We lost our kitty Greyson in December, a couple of weeks before the holiday and VERY unexpectedly. He was fine, then started vomiting, stopped eating, and became lethargic, all over a three-day period. One of his kidneys was in acute failure, and so we made the heart-wrenching decision to let him go. I am still heartbroken, as he was my special boy, and loved to be on my lap. He also slept either on or right by me.
Here’s Greyson in his favorite hidey-hole spot.
I know, New England has had a terrible and weird winter. Balmy instead of cold, and three Nor’Easters in April? Really? And then on the first warm day a week or so ago, I found two spiders in my house! Not cool. I like the idea of spring, but not the reality.
But yesterday, May 2, was indeed a spring day. Some places the temp hit over 80 degrees, and it was glorious outside my own house. Dot, our mini-schnauzer, just loves to stay outdoors when the weather is nice. (She also likes to stay outdoors when the weather is crummy, but we make her come in. She’s not the brightest.) I fully expected her to be out as long as possible yesterday. But it really wasn’t that hot that she had to dig herself a hole to stay cool in.
She doesn’t even look guilty! My poor yard.
Our cat Diamond was 19 years old when she left us in September. 
This cat was one in a million. Kerri was her human, and Diamond was very possessive of her. Diamond would attack her American Girl doll, another Native American doll she owned with hair down to her ankles, puppets, electronics, anything that Diamond viewed as a threat. But when Kerri got sick at age 14 with with an immune deficiency that would keep her home for 5 years, the first 2 practically bed-ridden, Diamond was with her nearly every minute of every day. On the days Kerri was home in bed or on the couch sick, and that was most days the first 2 years, that cat was on her all the time. When Kerri would move from the couch to bed at night, Diamond would go up with her. After about 15 minutes, Diamond would come back downstairs looking so proud of herself, like she was saying “There, the child is asleep. Now for a cup of tea!”
Diamond was also a weird cat who loved Romaine lettuce and other greens, a bitch kitty who wouldn’t let anyone touch her while she was sitting on her human (except Vin; she bit him once, just once), a spritely cat who climbed our Christmas tree every year until she passed that tradition along to Pixel, a very spirited cat who used to have to get her veterinarian shots through the cat carrier slots, and the perpetual “big sister” cat who was always being tormented (all in good fun) by the other pets Buster, Jack, Dot, Maggie and Rollie.
When Kerri moved to London for graduate school and stayed, Diamond was heartbroken. We weren’t even sure she’d survive the transition! But we coddled her and gave her anti-anxiety drops, and she ended up living for several more years. Anything Diamond wanted, we gave her: eating ice cream out of our bowl, licking the butter if we left it on the table, lying on my desk when I was working, and even stairs to climb up to her bed on top of a cabinet and a litter box up there so she wouldn”t have to walk through the dogs to get to the laundry room. This was one cat that truly had earned her keep.
Rest in peace, my sweet honey.