I gently put him back on the floor kissing his head as I did so, him being deaf for such a long time now we had taken to talking to him with our mouths on his ear so he would know we were communicating with him.
He tried another couple of sorties and was rewarded with 2 tiny bits of pork from my plate. He wandered off then and sat on the back of my arm chair watching what was going on around him.
Having washed up and settled down to watch a bit of TV I had wandered into the kitchen when Sally exclaimed that she heard Tom being sick under the stairs, this is the place where the cat litter trays are kept. It wasn't unusual that Tom would be sick just lately, it was strange though that he was under a small set of drawers which used to be his bolt hole when he heard fireworks or heavy thunder, the only things that ever scared him.
I went to get some kitchen towel to clear away the sick but by the time I got back he was lying in one of the litter trays clearly not well. I tried to pick him up at the same time as he attempted to get up and his back legs were just not working.
Lifting him gently onto his favourite chair and cushion I stroked him and could feel his heart racing and his breathing becoming laboured. He must have had some kind of stroke or heart attack and we phoned our vet (Peak Veterinary) and noted down the out of hours number. Having phoned the number twice and received the same message, "this number is unavailable" Sally rang a practice in Bakewell. called Bakewell Veterinary Clinic
Within 20 minutes a Vet "Josh" was with us and we jointly made the decision to put Tom to sleep. He was clearly not going to recover and appeared to be in some distress by this time. Stroking his head and talking to him he drifted off when the injection took effect.
I've probably mentioned before that Tom turned up on Christmas Day 1996 a fully grown stray who adopted us and our 2 resident cats "Wallace & Gromit"
He quickly became the "Top Cat" in the area and carried the scars of many battles over the years. Cats are either "fight or flee creatures" and Tom was always up for a fight and would never back down. He once saw off next doors German Pointer and lacerated its nose so badly it never came near him again.
Another of Toms Doggy friends was "Barney" our friend Sharon's dog' a Golden Retriever who always wanted to be friends but would never look Tom in the eye for fear of an attack. So after nearly 17 years with us he joins his long time sparring partner "Grumpy" and "Little Tesco" in the garden top terrace.
I'll do another blog with loads of pics but here's one of my favourites of him "on station" outside our kitchen windows guarding his turf.
A heartfelt thanks to the professional outfit at Bakewell Veterinary Clinic and to Josh the vet who had a couple of stitches in his lip having been kicked by a Bull recently. Mind you he was castrating it at the time - - - !
Enjoy the day
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