Until yesterday evening, Matthew had three cats. Now he and his family have two, as the aged and ill Ollie was put to sleep.
Matthew sent a memoriam for Ollie, with pictures, that I post with his permission. Matthew’s words are indented.
I met Ollie when I visited Matthew in Manchester, and my attempt to nuzzle his head with my face resulted in him batting my nose, causing a huge gusher of blood that I reminded Matthew about over the years. Nevertheless, Ollie was just responding to an ugly and intrusive face and schnoz, and the demise of a pet is always very sad.
Matthew:
We said goodbye to Ollie yesterday evening. It was all very peaceful, although the family is very upset.
He was 18 and a half (born on 31 December 2006)
In his younger days he could be a bit of a bruiser – he not only badly scratched the Coyne schnozzle, he would regularly see off (sometimes with my help) the roaming tom that used to turn up. One morning he came in very badly beaten up with a torn lip – you should have seen the other cat, he told me. He loved to get on the roof of the house (I couldn’t look as it was so terrifying), scrap with the magpies and walk the whole length of the terrace roof and then go into other people’s houses. As he became frailer, we stopped him from getting out of the attic windows, but even a couple of months ago, when he was very weak, he had another go at pushing the windows open (I prevented him).
When he was about six he got lost for ten days or so; he eventually found his way back at about 3 am, climbing up the neighbour’s cherry tree and then onto the roof, in through the attic window (this was a habit of his, so we left the window open, like Mrs Darling with the Lost Boys in Peter Pan). He was incredibly thin and famished.
He was a lovely cat who was very skittish when he was younger but chilled in middle age. We all loved him dearly.
Life can be thought of as temporary localised negative entropy, but the temporary is the key thing. The Second Law of Thermodynamics always wins, even for cats.
RIP Ollie:
So sorry for your loss Matthew. Thanks for the stories and pictures, my favorite picture being with the ribbon and wrapping paper.
Farewell, Ollie.
It was a good life.
Condolences.
Awww, no – what a cute, lovable cat – sorry to hear this. Glad to know there’s lots of memories – that’s important.
Sorry for your loss, Matthew.
😿😿😻😻
So sorry — we lost our 18-year-old Cooper, who in his younger days was nicknamed Spawn of Satan, last year. The vet assistant (who was very kind) asked us if we wanted to have him on our laps while he was being put under, and we pointed out that he’d always hated being held or being on a lap while he was healthy, so we couldn’t violate that when he wasn’t. Ollie looks like he was a lovely companion.
Sorry to hear of your loss. We no longer have pets partly because losing them is so painful. He had a wonderful life, chasing magpies and tearing into Jerry’s nose. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Sincere condolences. A beautiful cat.
I am so sorry about Ollie. The loss of each of my cats is always so terribly painful, regardless of their having lived a long life. He was lucky to have lived with a family that loved him so much.
Really sorry to hear of Ollie’s departure, but what a great, adventurous life he led! Enjoyed reading about it and seeing the photos.
I am so sorry but happy Ollie was loved until he was an older cat. Lucky Ollie had a great life.
Condolences to you and your family.
Sorry for your loss. I had a Cornish Rex that died just short of being 20 years old. I always read in bed for an hour or two every night and he was invariably curled up in the crook of my arm. I estimate that we spent over ten thousand hours like that. Ten thousand pleasant hours with a good friend. A wonderful gift.
Very sad, sorry for your loss. But Ollie sounds like he had a good life, which is all that any cat (or anyone) can ask for.
We recently lost our dear friend Nigel, who had been with us for 17 years. His picture has graced these pages a few times during the holidays. Though of course we knew his journey would end, it was (and is) a truly painful time. But we have wonderful memories to console us.
So sorry about Ollie. What gorgeous big eyes he had!
RIP, Ollie, you handsome guy. He looks and sounds like he was a great cat; it’s so sad when they’re gone.
Oh my best to you, Mat and family.
Pet deaths are utterly horrible. I dread the day I take my 15 year old Aussie Shepherd on our final trip to the vet’s. He’s older than Joe Biden now – creaky but functioning – but our time will come.
best regards,
D.A.
NYC
Lots of long-lived pets in this crowd. So sorry Matthew and family for your loss. Putting animals down is just the hardest thing we do. You didn’t say that you did put him down… maybe he simply passed naturally. Either way, the loss is profound. I coincidentally just went through that myself this weekend — had to make that tough decision with my dog who only made it to 12. Temporary is definitely the word for all of us and it is so hard to accept. Ollie was a beautiful, bright-eyed boy. My condolences.
very handsome and a huge outgoing personality from stories heard!
Life’s most difficult times are when we lose a true friend. My condolences
I’m so very sorry about Ollie, Dr Cobb. He sounds like a wonderful companion and adventurer. One of my late cats got onto my roof once — just once because I refused to allow this again. My cat jumped from my patio directly onto my roof, a distance of about seven feet.
Losing companion animals is so difficult. I’ve lost three rabbits and eight cats over the years, and it never gets easier. It should never get easier. They are family.
Ollie had a good life. I’m sorry for your loss.
Thanks to everyone for their kind comments – Matthew
Brings back so many memories of our lovely Smokey. Also a tabby and white, he was just as playful and unpredictable. I remember blood running down my face when he’d decided I had been petting him just a little bit too long, and having to bath him in the sink after he had discovered the neighbours were having work done and he could get under their floorboards. And then there’s the times he climbed the tree in our street, couldn’t get down, then tried to bat me away when I was rescuing him. Who can’t love a rascally cat?