As I said in the death and dying section we euthanized Velvet today after a short battle with intestinal lymphoma. Velvet was adopted in 2003 along with his son Beau. I have a couple of photos of them together in the "sickness" forum. They were 2 of the "50 cat rescue" our local rescue/adoption group took on when a lady who had a lot of cats had to move in with her daughter because of old age. The cats had nowhere to go so the group adopted many of them out and found places for the others with various rescue groups throughout the state. We had recently lost Daddy Cat and I saw this big black cat looking so sad in the adoption cage and immediately decided to take him home. There was another black cat there who looked a lot like him. The rescue group coordinator Lisa said I could adopt both for the same price since they were father and son and were closely bonded. After a little thought I said ok and this began 6 beautiful years with our two boys. Very shy at first, Velvet became a "daddy's boy", lying on the chair arm when I was there and next to me in bed at night until he got his quota of petting for the evening. He would come running with a little happy cry every time we brought out the cans of food. Velvet had a very loving, calm personality that helped him to get along with all of our other furkids here. He almost never showed any anger towards the others, even when they would take a swipe at him. Our gray tabby Freddy was a constant companion to him in his last couple of years, grooming and cuddling against Velvet. Beau had his own distractions such as being infatuated with our cat Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, but he would often be found lying next to Velvet while he slept. Tonight there will be a new star shining in the heavens. If you listen carefully you may hear a loud purring sound. Velvet, we love you with all of our hearts and we always will. Run well at Rainbow Bridge, big guy. Head pats and chinny chompers to you.

Here is the last photo taken of Velvet 2 days ago while he was resting near a sunny window. The shaved area on his abdomen is from an ultrasound done a month ago.

Ken Albin

I cry again reading this and that picture of Velvet makes me just want to reach into that picture and give him a big hug and kiss.

They are so much a part of us...that's why they never truly leave us. They have a forever home in our hearts.

Such a sweet boy......and now he is a beautiful Angel, free from pain and watching over his "family" forever.

Hugs and tears.
Judy

Hugs to Velvet and Daddy Cat.

Your Velvet looks so much like my Zorro did, it could almost be another picture of him. I posted in the other section how Zorro's passing seemed very similar to the way Velvet passed. It's amazing they looked so similar too.

Hope you are doing OK
Take care
NM

beautiful Velvet

Eva