She came home late last night, having been gone about 36 hours, but this time, something was wrong – she wasn’t eating and looked tired.  We  took her to the vet first thing this morning, and turns out she was in extreme kidney failure.  She got rapidly worse even after they tried to give her some fluids, and the vet said some of her kidney numbers were so high they were off the charts, and her chances of recovery were very slim.  We know Gracie would never want a life filled up with medications and vet appointments, and so we made sure she was comfortable and brought her home.

Gracie first showed up in our life about 8 years ago, she was probably a few years old by that time and had been abandoned and living rough.  She was a wary cat, who was happy to be being fed, but took her time warming up and learning to trust us.  We let her call the shots as a rule  (no picking up!  no touching of feet!) and she was more affectionate every  year.  She loved spending time with us, corralling us for yard patrol, hanging out on the sofa in the evenings, or coming in to say midday hellos to Kurt working from home.  She’d taken to welcoming  Ellyn at the head of the driveway every night when she got home from work.  She was even friendly to house guests in the last few years.

Looking back at the last few weeks, we imagine there might have been some subtle signs she was feeling off, but we’re really not sure.  Tuesday morning before work Ellyn caught her doing her sun salutation routine, and they had a nice chat.  And that night she slept with us in our bed, which is pretty rare for her.  We’re so grateful some of our last memories with her were so mundane and happy.  We laid her to rest at the edge of the pomegranate bush, which was one of her favorite napping spots.

We’re glad to have been able to share our home and life with her.  She was an excellent cat.  We will miss her a lot.