Farewell, old friend

Yum Yum was one half of a pair of kittens we got from the pound back in 1993. Her partner (Nanky Poo) died very suddenly of FIP many years ago. She relished the role of Alpha (and only) cat, and became much more affectionate.

In 2006 when we spent a year in Canada on a teacher exchange program, we told the exchanging family that she was getting pretty frail, and although we would be sad if she passed away while we were on the other side of the world, she had had a good life...

The wife of the family didn't like cats, and poor Yum Yum was relegated to live outside the house after always being an inside cat. When we got back in early 2007, she was half feral with bits of twig in her fur and having lost quite a lot of weight. But she had survived.

In 2010 she seemed to be on her last legs -frail and quite bony. Through a long story for another blip we ended up with two tiny kittens, and Yum Yum got a new lease on life. She finally had something to live for. She could HATE these two horrible interlopers that had come into her house. And she did -chasing them and beating them up at every opportunity. Never suspecting that kittens grow into cats -and cats that may be even bigger than she.

When the change-over to 2IC happened last year she actually took it in good grace. She even learned to cuddle up with the new Alpha "Fluffy".

But over the past months she seemed to be suffering from some form of feline dementia -she'd find a stick on the ground or a spot on the wall and stare at it for hours. She forgot that good cats use the garden for a toilet -not every cupboard and flat surface inside the house. She forgot that she had just been fed, and would eat ravenously every chance she got.

Just after 1 am this morning, aged 20, she died. A good long life for a cat, but I will miss her very much.