Rest in Peace, Stevie Cat

We had to say a final farewell to Stevie Cat today 😔

He wasn't even our cat, he was our neighbours. But he loved our garden, and when our neighbours were out at work, he'd spend all day sitting with me in my office.

He was a wonderful friend to Tabby, and taught Duncan how to be a cat when he came to us as a rescue. Stevie was a rescue as well, so we don't know exactly how old he was - somewhere between 16 and 21, at a guess. But for 15 years, he was a constant friendly (and cheeky) face in our lives, and my best friend.

Even when he was unwell and starting to fade, he never accepted any limits and would still somehow scramble over the fence to spend time with us (and scrounge food, of course). He is out of pain now, somewhere on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.

Losing him has hit all of us very, very hard; I'll miss his friendly face popping up at the window every day. I may take a few days off posting on Hive while I get over the worst of it.

I've put a few older photos of him below, because I want to remember him when he was at his prime, not as the skinny little old man he was at the end.

He loved chilling out and sleeping on the folded up recliners on the decking by the pond

He did pick some odd places to have a nap !

All photos by me, taken over many years