Linus

In my profile, I refer to our "crotchety old cat" named Linus.
Well, I laugh about him but he really was a sweet old guy.
We adopted Linus and his litter mate, Lucy, from the SPCA in May of 1995. Alex was in kindergarten at the time and we thought it would be a cool idea to have me bring the kittens in for show and tell one day. So we made arrangements with his teacher and I did just that. What a disaster! The kids were so excited and the kittens were scared to death! There was one girl in his class who had Downs Syndrome and she just wanted to squeeze them. Well, they survived and I learned a valueable lesson...don't take kittens for show and tell with a bunch of 5/6 year olds. Dumb idea!
Linus and Lucy were great cats. Cats are pretty easy to take care of and they were no exception. Caity quickly adopted Lucy as her own and Alex did the same with Linus.
I'd love to say that they were extremely helpful in taking care of them but lets be real. They fed them and changed the litter boxes when nagged enough. But they loved those two cats just the same.
So this last year has been sad for us. Last August, we were forced to have Lucy put down after she developed kidney disease. This was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. Dave and I took her to the vet and stayed with her through the end. We were very sad but we knew we were doing the best thing for Lucy.
Linus seemed to take it pretty well. Of course he didn't understand where his sister went, just that she was gone. We tried to give him a lot of extra attention.
So in the pst few months, I was noticing Linus loosing weight and not eating. He started to develop some other symptoms and so I took him to the vet. She gave him some medicine and he seemed to be getting better.
We left for vacation a week ago and he was starting to not look so good again. I said I would take him back to the vet when I got home. Alex was keeping an eye on him while we were gone.
Unfortunately, Linus didn't make it until we got home. He passed away on August 21.
Most unfortunately, Alex was the one to find him. This makes me sad beyond belief because he really loved that cat.
So now Linus and Lucy are together again in "kitty heaven" (and no, I don't want to have a theological discussion on whether such a place exists or not. :)
The house isn't the same without them.
Rest in Peace Linus and Lucy, we miss you!