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My sincerest condolences. These little guys touch us so deeply, but they are destined to break our hearts with their short life spans. As you get older, those 15 year increments (sometimes less) add up to a lot of heartbreak, and I've know many people who have sworn off having any more pets, because as much as they truly, deeply love them, the loss is too hard for some to take. Personally, I think it is far more than worth it.
18 years ago, we were adopted by a big Tomcat, who was the king of the cul-de-sac. He tried out a few other families, but really loved my son, so he chose us. After a short probationary period, we were fully approved, and he moved his gorgeous Siamese girlfriend (of course she was, Jake had game), and their three kittens in.
No humans were consulted in any of these decisions.
I did the math back then, and knew that a time would come when we would lose them in a fairly short period of time, and that's what's happened over the last 3 years. One by one, they've left us, starting with Jake. He'd lived an adventurous life, getting drowned once, shot twice, wildly hallucinating after eating a lizard, having the only white on his body, the tip of his tail, bitten off in a raccoon fight, and surviving many fights with lesser neighborhood stray cats. He used every one of his nine lives, and borrowed a few from some of our other more timid cats. He was a true force of nature, and all our other cats looked up to him like the King he was.
Especially to Charlie, his son. To find Charlie, all you had to do was find Jake, and Charlie was probably right beside him, laying in the exact same position. We knew when Jake went, Charlie would be heartbroken, and he was. He would walk through the house at night, calling for Jake, and that broke the human hearts.
Maggie, Jake's Siamese girlfriend, was my closest companion. Siamese often bond to one person, and she chose me, sleeping next to my head most nights. Losing her was really tough for me.
There is only one left, roly poly little Chloe. When I first saw her as a kitten, I remarked at how perfectly round she was, and predicted she'd be the healthiest of them all, and she has been. We took her to the vet only a couple of times, and that was just because we thought we should. She never seemed to get sick. Today she's blind and arthritic, and maybe a little senile. She spends her days sleeping on the couch next to my wife, and when she wants a drink, she puts a paw on my wife's arm, and she'll hold a little dish for her to drink from. At 18 1/2 years old, any day could be her last, so we're treating her like a Queen, the last one standing from Jake's beautiful little cat family that gave us so much joy.