Goodbye, Buddy.

We are sad to report that Hubbard, aka the Big Acoustic Kitty, left us on Thursday afternoon. He was with us for almost 12 and a half years, and while we know that all kitties are irreplaceable, Hubb was even more 1-of-a-kind than most.

His ongoing battles with age and disease have been documented here, but in recent weeks his decline became more rapid, and it was obvious that any further medications or treatments might prolong his life, but they would do nothing to improve its quality. So last weekend we made the decision to do him the final kindness of letting him go before his condition could get any worse. We took a few days to pamper him and say our goodbyes before taking him to the vet one last time.

We discussed calling Dr. Anne (the vet who helped us when Ziggy died) for an in-home euthanasia again, but in the end we took him in to our regular vet. While he had become weaker and more confused lately, there was still some fight in him, and we worried that Dr. Anne might need more help in handling him than we would be capable of providing under the circumstances. Our vet and her techs were used to Mr. Boo and his moods, so as much as we would have liked to let him go at home, we decided that taking him to the vet was best.

Please keep us in your thoughts as we adjust to the loss of our eldest boy. He was such a special friend and companion for so many years and through so many changes in our lives that the hole he has left behind is immense. We are focusing on remembering him as he was ... cranky, feisty, demanding, handsome, curious and quietly, steadily loving. We wish him a heaven filled with sunbeams, queso dip, potato chips, catnip mice and many, many noserubs.

The Amazing Husbandini will be working on some posts about our boy over on his blog, and for now I'm going to leave that to him. I'm still working my way through all of the emotions, and it feels like there is quite a way to go before I can get to the "sharing memories" stage of things. Hubbard's care had taken up more and more time and energy as he got older, and while I don't begrudge him one single minute, without him around to care for I suddenly have this huge hole in my life. There is a lot of numbness that has yet to wear off.

But in the meantime, I'd like to share a few of my favorite photos of Hubbard through the years. He was an extremely photogenic kitty. Please enjoy.