Poor Charley cat. He’s really been through a lot lately. He’s had to put up with a baby, who is now a toddler, and still freaks him out a bit. He lost his sweet brother. And now, we moved to a new house. Not only did we move to a new house, Charley had to get cat-sat at someone else’s house for a few days while we did some moving stuff… and that house had a dog. A dog! But that wasn’t the end of it. The dog came back to the new house for a few days to be dog-sat! Oh, it never ended for poor Charley. A dog? A new house? What was going ON? Was this dog going to be a permanent fixture or what?! Finally, last night, the dog went home, and Charley had a chance to get used to his new surroundings as the king of the castle once again. As you can see, he’s looking as regal as ever. Rest assured, he’ll be spoiled rotten to make up for all the feline inconveniences. He’s already gotten a new cat bed and a bunch of new toys, and he spent the entire evening last night snuggling with his cat-mom.

I adopted Thurston, along with his littermate Charley, shortly after they were born in December 1999. My beloved tabby has been my constant companion for 13 years. He slept right next to me every night, and as you can see from the photo above, often liked to rest his chin right on my face.

Thurston loved to fetch fake mice in his younger days, and to cuddle up close with his brother in their cat bed or any comfy piece of furniture. Just recently he had begun to accept treats and petting from my two year-old son. He was the sweetest cat ever. He literally wouldn’t hurt a fly – all bug or mouse hunting had to be performed by Charley. He was kind of neurotic, and had issues with canned food, and was very clingy. He loved people (but me most of all) and I would always refer to him as “pure love covered in fur.” He was extremely handsome.

Last night at 3 AM we were woken up by a terrible yowling. I had to take Thurston to an emergency vet where it was determined that he had suffered a blood clot and had a heart arrhythmia; he couldn’t use his hind legs and was having trouble breathing and was clearly in pain. The vet gave him a tremendous dose of pain medication, but he still cried and cried. She said this condition was very difficult to treat and it would be nearly impossible to manage Thurston’s pain, so we decided to end his suffering. I held him and told him I loved him.

Thanks to anyone who ever cat-sat, petted, or just admired Thurston from afar. He couldn’t have been more loved or pampered, and he will be dearly missed.