Flora

Elegant little lady

Gone at the age of just 14 months.

She had been out and roaming for much of the spring, home only for meals and bed-time, so I didn't find occasion for cute cat pictures of her, unlike her tree-climbing brother. Only anecdotes, like the time just a week or so ago when the local nuisance muntjac was wandering down the close, and then headed down one of the driveways -- then a little black scrap that had been watching scampered in apparent pursuit. And memories of her leaping up and sprawling on my lap, just a little featherweight who shed handfuls of fur when I combed her.

Sunday, she didn't turn up for supper, but did join the feeding frenzy for the bribe of wet food to come in for the night. Monday, she was not the only one who didn't get out of their basket when I went out early to work, but was looking a bit peaky. When I came home she had found somewhere to hide where I couldn't see her, so I feared for the worse. Again, she emerged late evening, to use the litter tray, but this time showed little interest in food, and was clearly unsteady on her feet.

So, off to the vets, with a fever and dehydration; and it turned out over the last couple of months, she had started to lose weight. Being such a small and fluffy cat compared with the others, and having a healthy appetite but without begging for more, it hadn't been obvious until just a few days ago. The blood tests showed that her white cell count was low, and after she had been relaxed with pain relief, they found a lump in her abdomen. She responded a bit to to rehydration, but her condition deteriorated over night.