Saturday, July 31, 2010

A farewell

While we were away, my cat died. His name was BC; he was a great cat (he was, admittedly, less than thrilled with the advent of Mirah). He'd been in steep decline over the last month, though really his health had been such that over the last few years, it had been very difficult keeping his weight up. But nothing like the last few weeks, when he seemed to retreat, as if knowing that his time was up (though also occasionally seeming to give it an effort, as if for me). I am deeply grateful to my dear friends Emily and Michael for being able and willing to take care of business when I couldn't be there for him at the end. So this is a short farewell of sorts, with some pictures.

Here is BC many years ago (at least seven), when he was much healthier and weighed much more than I'd remembered him ever weighing (turns out I was a bit chunkier myself); I'd forgotten how long it had been since he'd been right (check out the stylin' rug in the second picture):




He had a weird insistence on drinking water out of anything that wasn't his dish. While this was often incredibly annoying, it also led to this classic photo:



Anyway, he is gone. I will miss him.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damn. I've one in that last two year stage too. Tough stuff. Wouldn't skip it for the world.

Ethan said...

I'm so sorry to hear this. Condolences.

That third picture is great.

skholiast said...

My heart goes out to you. Thanks for these photos.

Richard said...

Thank you, gentlemen. Your thoughts are much appreciated.

M said...

I'm sorry about your cat, Richard. I can't imagine how you feel. My cat fell off a desk the other day and hit her head breaking a tooth, and I went into such panic as if the whole world was coming to an end. I haven't experienced such an intense pang of fear and concern since I don't know when. Funny how easy it is to get attached to a small furry thing.

Richard said...

Thanks, ASP. I'm not afraid to say it hit me like a ton of bricks and I cried, several times, like a baby.