I just lost one of my cats, Jeoffry, tonight. [View all]
It was very sudden - aortic thromboembolism. Without warning he started howling and dragging his back legs; I got him to the emergency vet as fast as I could but there was nothing they could do. He might have survived the night but his back legs were paralyzed and he was unlikely to recover - or if he did, there would be another clot before long. He was in pain and respiratory distress and couldn't be taken off oxygen even for me to say goodbye to him.
He was a big gray tabby who had the loudest voice of any cat I've ever known - he might have been part Siamese. He would often sleep with me, curled up behind my knees. He wouldn't lie down and go to sleep until I petted him and told him he was a good boy. I named him Jeoffry after the cat in Christopher Smart's poem Jubilate Agno:
For he is of the tribe of Tiger.
For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.
Here he is with roommate Milo:
Damn, I'm going to miss him. Rest in peace, Jeoffry. I love you.