Serenity

I had to take our very senior cat to the vet for the last time today. He ended very peacefully under full sedation. He spent the last couple of days sleeping peacefully in his basket with our other cat at his side.

He was 16.5 years old and the vet said his days were numbered a year ago, but he's enjoyed a good quality of life since then. Until these last few days you wouldn't have known there was anything wrong with him, apart from his coat getting into a mess.

When he was in his prime he was a beautiful creature, with a lovely soft coat and a raccoon-striped tail. He's always been a real character, with rapid mood swings and unpredictable behaviour. He never had a sense of humour and was treated with due respect by all the vets, especially after he bit one of them so hard she had to go to casualty and have stitches in her hand. But provided you didn't do anything to upset him he was friendly and very well-behaved. He would thank you with a soft 'prrrp' when you opened the door for him. I'll miss him, but it's for the best and ended well.

Thanks to all of you for your kind words when I blipped him a couple of days ago.