Last Thursday, my male cat Brody passed away. He was 15 years old, and had been of declining health for the last 6 months. He had a thyroid problem which caused him to lose a lot of weight (at top weight, around 15 pounds of cat), even though his "intake and output" was exactly the same.
I was glad I was able to be home with him when he passed. He went quickly, and Jane and I sat with him in his final moments. We took him out to my parent's farm to bury him later in the day.
He was a big dumb lovable pussycat, and I'll miss him much. Oh, he was named after graphic designer Neville Brody, one of my design "heroes".
His sister Basia (named after the Polish pop/jazz singer) is still in great health, but she does seem to notice he's not around anymore. I also find myself automatically doing my mental checklisting for 2 feline forms when getting ready to leave the house or at bedtime.
Jane wrote a very nice blog entry on this as well: Jane's Brody entry
