Farewell to Lilly

When we came back from our holiday in the early hours of Sunday morning, we discovered that Lilly had become unwell on the Friday and she  had gone downhill ever since.  A visit to the vet's yesterday confirmed that she had tumours on her liver and was extremely poorly.  Yesterday she was afraid when she was taken in the carrier for her visit and we were not quite ready to let her go.  Last night I think every one of us checked on her from time to time as she lay in her preferred spot in daughter #1's bedroom.  Around 3am I spent an hour with her gently stroking her fur and her purrs told me that she was happy to have me there.
This morning things had changed: Lilly no longer wished to take a drink and she did not want to be touched, preferring to hide away, so I knew that today was the day...
Our local veterinary hospital have been kindness itself today and we cannot thank them enough for helping us through a horrible time.  Lilly will stay with them tonight to keep her body cool.  Tomorrow we will collect her to bury her in our garden alongside our other kitties who went before.

Pictured is a tribute to Lilly, a collage of some of my favourite blip shots of her.  Happy memories of a remarkable cat: we were lucky to have her for over 17 years.