83. Tabby ❤️

Just over a week ago our beloved Tabby, who was so dearly loved, passed away. She had just reached her 19th birthday so in cat years was quite elderly. How we miss her, it's so strange and hard to get used to her not being here. I never went out without leaving the window open for her and always looked for her on my return. She'd been part of my life for such a long time. Her and her sister came into my life at a very dark time. My marriage had ended and I was extremely low and tired of life. I'm not sure how we ended up with 2 kittens but they brought love and joy back into the house again. My boys adored them and they soon became members of the family. I met Rich and eventually we moved in with him as I was having to sell the house as I could no longer afford the mortgage payments. Rich offered a home to me, my boys, Tabby and Ginger. We all settled in well despite the house being a complete building site, Rich never buys normal houses!! Sadly 5 years on we lost Ginger,  she suffered internal injuries after getting hit by a car so had to be put to sleep. Heartbreaking times. 💔

 Rich and I moved to Wales for a year to renovate a property we'd managed to buy together and the lads (all grown up now) rented the house in Heanor. Tabby stayed with them but then when we moved back to yet another property of Richards which had been rented out for many years and badly needed modernising, it was decided Tabby would move in with us. It never seemed to bother her, as long as she'd got people around that she knew she always settled in really quickly. When we brought her to Scotland she was horrendous in the car, she hated it but as soon as she was out her basket in the room at the travelodge she was a different cat, purring, exploring and rolling over on the carpet.

 

She took to life in the barn in Scoraig, she loved sitting in front of the log burner. If it wasn't lit she'd push her way under the covers and get into bed. 

When the cabin was finally built she once again moved with no problem. As long as we were here with her she was happy.

 She slowed up a lot over the past year, movement was more difficult although she could still jump out the bedroom window when she needed to. She lost her confidence outside after she was attacked by a pine marten/fox. She'd gone very deaf which made her more vulnerable. She'd also gone nocturnal which was a bit rough on Rich and I particularly as she wanted to go out many times overnight. She was very ill for 5 days before her passing. She stopped eating and apart from the occasional meow slept very deeply all the time. I stayed with her and did all I could to make her as comfortable as possible as my last act of love for her. Finally on the 16th May just after 10pm she took her final breath, we lifted her onto a pillow with a towel underneath her and kept her in the cabin with us until the following afternoon. We chose a spot in the wood to bury her, near a young holly bush and where the sunlight comes through the trees. We dug underneath a large rock where there was a perfect sized space for her. I placed a piece of needle felted wool underneath her and Rich carefully put her into her resting place. She looked so utterly beautiful, it took my breath away. We filled the hole in using our hands and collected some stones from the jetty to place on top. 

 So, that's where we are now. Trying to adjust to the big tabby shaped hole that's appeared in our lives. She was so well loved and will never be forgotten. For now the grief is quite raw but I am so thankful that she was part of our lives for so long. ❤️