Remembering Fluffy

Fluffy suddenly fell ill on 26th July last year, and crossed the Rainbow Bridge on the 28th. Kidney failure goes very quickly, and there is usually not much you can do once it is past stage 3. The best gift you can give a loved one is peace from suffering if the outcome is final.

Despite knowing we did the right thing at the right time, my heart is still so sore. My picture from Nastassja has helped enormously (it is beside my bed), and having his ashes near helps too. But his death broke my heart.

Anyone who has had pets all their life, as I have, knows that you love them all. They are all special in their own characteristic way. But you often have your ‘soulmate’, your ‘special one’, that leaves an even huger hole behind them. Fluffy was that one for me. He was such a happy cat and he adored everyone. He welcomed several foster kittens into our home and took all our new pets under his wing. He had this huge fat face that was perfect to photograph. I was his person. And he loved to come and cuddle. He slept between my legs every night, and slept on my chest every time I watched tv. He got me through a divorce, because even though I could barely get out of bed, I knew I had to look after him. The chasm he left behind him is huge, even a year later.

I am so sorry he did not have more time with us, like my previous three (18, 24 and 19). But because he had been ill for a while we really made every single day special. We took him in to be euthanised in 2020 but the vet performed a procedure that gave him an extra year, and we treated each day as though it was his last. He got everything he wanted. Two months before he died, he decided he wanted to go outside. So we took him outside twice a day for an hour each time. We were at home with him 24/7 due to covid, so he had us with him all the time.

But Fluffy boy, I miss you to the moon and back. I am not sure what is after this, but I hope we meet again. Until then, you are curled up safe in my heart.