Saying goodbye

to a beloved pet is hard, especially hard when she has been with you for nearly 18 years. Our lovely Tabby, our black cat, went to sleep last night. She hasn't been herself lately, she wasn't eating as much and had lost lots of weight and was beginning to loose the use of her back legs - we would laughingly refer to it as Tabby having a "moment" but it's not much fun when you can't stand up or put any weight on your legs.

She was a beautiful cat, very friendly and affectionate, was very fond of giving the children kisses on their nose and very tolerant of the dogs - although she preferred the Jack Russell to the Shih-tzu for some reason.

We'll all miss her, but I think I will miss the times when in the afternoon, having found five minutes to myself to nurture a cup of coffee and sit down on the couch, she would jump up onto my lap and look at me as if to say "take a break mum, come sit with me for a bit" most of all.

Rest now our lovely little Tabby......