Saying good-bye to our friend Dr Tweety

Dr T in the garden in June 2013

Dear friends (or as Dr T would say, "frendzez"),

The good doctor rallied a bit this year when we started him on thyroid medications, and even began to gain some weight back on his terribly thin frame.

He ate with gusto and loved to sit in his garden both night and day, in a favorite chair.

We had hopes that this was a reprieve from the polyps and hyper-thyroidism, but over the last few weeks, something began to happen. Tweet started to lose more weight and become disoriented. He would howl and pace anxiously. Nothing seemed to appease him.

Over the last several days, he has weakened. His body isn't strong enough to rally again, and he is tottering on his legs. You could say that his "floof" is truly gone and with it, his spirit to fight. He is exhausted.

These end-of-life decisions are so painful to make, but our kitties trust us implicitly to make them as they cannot. I think of all those who came before who will be waiting for Tweet at the Rainbow Bridge, and I am blown away by the number of cats that wait for him. His friends Momo, Bounce, Tigger, Princess, Abby, Eric, Miss Peach, Pixie, Seaborne, Opus, Parker, Cotton, Jake, Crystal, Luxor, and Fat Eric, will be there with trays of catnip and tuna puffs, and the line up of cats stretches all the way to the heavens.

This is where I found the Dr. 12 years ago.

Dr Tweety has been with us for 12 years. I have no idea how old he really is; he could be a very advanced senior cat. When I first rescued him in Washington State, he had been abandoned on a porch in a deserted house and was a full grown adult. He liked to sleep in an old rusted tin wash tub near my back door. He and Maxie never got along in all the years that I had them together, but Tweet became a very important part of the cat family just the same.

He loved kittens and he loved tuna juice. He loved full moons and sitting by my side near a fire pit in the garden. He loved taking a sip of a martini or a beer now and then, before you could catch him sneaking the sip! He loved roasted chicken and ham. He talked quite a bit once you got him chattering and was grumpy and stubborn.

When I first started the blog, Dr T had a curmudgeon personality, but he really was a bit more loving too, and I think that came to the surface as I tried my best to channel his voice. At some point, I think the archives of his blog will be a comfort to us. His "dadee" loved the blog so much. He calls Dr T a "folk hero," and I think for awhile, he was.

We will take Dr T in soon. We may have the vet come here, as we did for Auntie Stinkie. We haven't made the decision for the exact time and day, but please know that we will be brave, and let him go.

Dr Tweety, we love you.

Thank you for all your loyalty, for remembering gotcha days and the dadee's birthday, for loving us and being such loyal dear souls. We love you too. Our dear friend Jan still emails us reports from the CB, and we do get Anne's messages from Zoolatry as well... so in one way or another, we will find a way to check in once in awhile. And, "Da Mini," of the House of the Mostly Black Cats will be here to hold paws with her boy as he passes from this realm into the next.

From our "folk hero" to you all, thank you for being such sweet frendzez. We will never forget any of you.