As far as days go, today was a shit one.
After 17 years together, the time came for us to say goodbye to our much-loved cat, Teddy.
Ted, Teddy, Mr Bear, Mr Ted and T-Bear, as he was affectionately known, will forever be my favorite fur ball.
While he wasn’t one for cozying up to many people, he always took it upon himself to supervise any tradies that visited—right up until yesterday—but mostly he preferred to curl up on the warm road or in the driveway of each house we’ve lived in.
It never seemed to occur to him that he blended in with the bitumen.
He’d sneak into the house and up the stairs if you left the door open for half a second, and when it came time to move house, he sat on top of the stuff we were packing to ensure he wasn’t forgotten.
He lived on fillet steak and turned his nose up at any kind of ‘cat’ food, especially if it was seafood flavored.
Despite his natural distaste for affection, he spent hours sitting on my lap after M died. He was a hot water bottle of love, purring away to the beat of my broken heart as his little paws kneaded my stomach. Every now at then he’d dig his claws in, a sharp little reminder that I was still alive.
Just a couple of months ago, he hijacked my pool time and spent the afternoon curled up on my chest, his gorgeous little black nose just inches from mine.
It was like he knew what was coming and wanted to make sure I had memories that were slightly nicer than the time he sh*t in his car carrier coming home from the cattery and the smell was so awful mom and I had to hang our heads out the window while laughing.
He meowed the whole way, clearly horrified that he had to sit next to the mess.
Today when I turned up after a call from mum, he wasn’t stretched out in his usual spot in the driveway. He was curled up out the back waiting for me to take him for our last car ride.
We both knew the time had come and with heavy hearts, mom and I said goodbye to the Bear.
The final photo. Theodore Falvey. 1998 – 2015.
Thank you to the staff at Ascot Veterinary Surgery for their care and compassion.
