One of the most amazing, loving, playful cats lost his life today. I'm finding it extremely difficult to type this reality through my flood of tears.
Cheshire had many fans. He was well known for his regal ways and command of the house. Even those who didn't like cats loved Chesh. He would have been two years young this July. He was a prime example of a British Shorthair and he used to greet us at the door when we came home. There's no one to love on us now.
Why he decided to cross the street is beyond us. Three days earlier, we saw him sitting at the top of our front lawn, looking Westward. The very next day, Wednesday, we got him a new reflective collar and an updated tag. We've never seen him do this before. Cheshie is an indoor cat, but at times he begged to play with our other cat, Caley, and roll around in the grass with her.
It was extremely hot that week, so we had a few windows open to cool off the house. We did this regularly, but Chester never seemed interested in jumping out the window. He was a real home-body. He loved to be loved and to be with us in the house. He would sit for hours on the sill of an open window, basking in the sun.
I don't know if we'll ever know why he decided to cross the street on Thursday, but he did. A neighbor called us to let us know she saw him. Dave and I walked over to make sure it was him. He'd been missing all night, so we didn't really doubt it, but we sure hoped it wasn't him. It was.
Dave picked him up while I looked toward the ocean. I didn't want this scene to linger in my mind for years to come. I had too many incredible moments with him and I wanted those memories in my vision, not this.
We drove Cheshire's body to the vet where he lived for two weeks while we fixed up our house before moving in. Everyone there loved Cheshie. While he was with them, they let him roam free and love on everyone. He even cuddled with a litter of kittens who'd lost their mommy. He was awesome. They gently took him from Dave's arms.
Now, we need to tell our kids, his previous owner, and his daughter . . .
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