tom’s fabulous weblog

monday blues

The beginning of 2010 has seen a fair few pieces of bad news hitting home. Times are a little hard and cold right now, like the bitter weather, but the thaw will come.

The small tragedy closest to me and Matt was the death of our dear old cat, Mouse, last week. Over the last six years she’s been a troublesome, demanding but ultimately loving companion. She mellowed out a lot in the last three years, becoming ever more endearing. But I think we were both surprised by how hard it was when the time came to say goodbye.

She had been unwell before Christmas and then went downhill quite sharply, not really eating and getting thin and weak. She was still Mouse and still had her moments, but it was clear she wasn’t going to get better. We took her to the vet for the last time on 4th January.

We were pretty unconsolable afterwards and had to spend the afternoon putting all her things away and rearranging the flat to distract ourselves. It so happened that we had taken the Monday and Tuesday off work, which really helped. The death of a cat is not the sort of thing I would ever request compassionate leave for, yet it struck me what a serious event this can be, one that society may not always respect, though friends have been very kind to us.

Still, the thaw will come.