Farewell To An Old Friend

Rocky was my tuxedo cat, seen here curled up on his favorite bed, the big green floor pillow. I got him as a kitten in 2002, or at least that is my oldest record. That made him at least 16 years old in 2018:

 He was a friendly cat, not given to causing trouble or being overly shy. He was a friend at all times:


 As you can see, he loved both dogs and other cats, and appeared in many of my kitchen corner pictures:

I hadn't noticed until I collected these photos, but he sure liked that spot on his green floor pillow:

 Back on the same spot:

 This time with Fergus and Clover:

 Rocky began to appear older this winter, sometimes yowling for unknown reasons and sometimes peeing in corners:

 And eventually he stopped eating and began to lose weight. I rushed him to the vet, who said he was dehydrated (and old), and sent me home to give him subcutaneous fluids and try to tempt him to eat. I tried tuna, meat flavored baby food, dry cat food and many flavors and brands of canned cat food. I even cooked him ground turkey with beef broth. He tasted things, then went back to his bed in the guest bedroom. I let him out occasionally to see his friends, which seemed to comfort him:

 But it became obvious that his body was shutting down and it was time to say goodbye. I took him back to the vet and had him put to sleep. He purred and cuddled affectionately with me to the very end:

I moved a couple of hay bales and found some unfrozen ground where I could dig him a grave. Rocky was a beloved old friend, and even with all my other animals, I miss Rocky: