... and we'll miss him terribly. Today we had to have our Patty put to sleep.
He was 15 years old and just such a love. Thankfully, he had a long happy life. Instead of talking about how sick he had been lately, I will tell you a cute story about our Patty (short for Patch or sometimes Pattycakes).
Our cats - a mother and 4 kittens - were living under my parents' house when we found them (more on their back story here). Originally we planned to give them away - my folks already had a cat and two dogs of their own - but the only kitten we could manage to find a home for was Patty. Since they were strays they were not easily handled, but Patty was sweet and friendly. So we gave him to a friend of a friend and hoped everything would work out for the best. This was not the case, I'm afraid.
After a month's time, the people who took in Patty informed us that he had not been seen by anyone in their household since the very first night he arrived. He had disappeared somewhere within the basement - taken refuge in the hanging ceiling in fact - and only came down at night to eat and drink.
As you can imagine, when we heard this dire news, we sprung into action. We laid down a have-a-heart trap and went home to wait - while Hurricane Bob blew into town. And wouldn't you know it, a few hours later, as the wind and the rain increased, we got the call - Patty was in the cage! He was found and we could come get him - which my dad did right in the middle of the storm. We were able to bring Patty home to his proper family, at last.
This morning, 15 years later, we had to say goodbye to our beloved cat. Anytime a pet reaches the end of its life, you hope you did the best by him. You hope you gave him as much joy as he gave to you.
We know Patty had a good life - he was happy, friendly, affectionate and loving. I feel so blessed that we had all those years with him.
We miss you already, our dear little cat.
