I had to say goodbye to Tiffany today. Blood tests were negative when she lost a lot of weight a year ago, but last week her stomach started to swell alarmingly. The vet drew a load of fluid off, and diagnosed HCM. She was prescribed diuretics but 24 hours later her stomach started to swell again, and this morning she was clearly miserable. There was probably an internal cancer that had been slowly growing for over a year, and she couldn't go on even another day. The vet came out within half and hour, and it was very peaceful.
So farewell, my lovely ginger girl, such an easy cat to look after, once I got my hands on you. Under the patio with Trigger and Tosker, the last of my Ts.
Penny can come down off the wardrobe permanently now, but she won't occupy Tiff's place in my heart for a while yet. 17 years was a good long time.