Nibs

For those of you who have been following Nibs's fortunes I am afraid I have some sad news. Yesterday evening he died suddenly as the result of a heart attack. It was particularly unexpected as he's had a check-up on Tuesday and the vet had said his heart was sounding good, and his various medications had seemed to be working well. At least it was quick, over in well under five minutes. But still upsetting for all of us, me and the other cats, especially Pepper who was close by when it happened.

Nibs arrived just over two years ago as a stray. Initially he was taken in by my neighbour on the understanding that I would take him over if she couldn't find his owner as she was leaving and going to India for a year. Before he moved in he seemed on friendly terms with my cats, playing with them in the garden and wandering into the kitchen to mop up their left-overs.

Once he moved in however it was a different matter - no fights but he clearly had a very intimidating stare and the others avoided him partly because he repelled all their advances in no uncertain terms. The turning-point came after they'd all had a brief visit to the cattery over Christmas - Nibs had been in a separate pen and on their return home they all seemed glad to see each other again and took to curling up together.

Shortly after his arrival, Nibs was diagnosed as hyperthyroid, which may have explained his aggression towards the others. He got along fine on the tablets until earlier this year when he had a minor stroke, losing his eyesight totally for six hours, and then almost totally after bleeding into the eye. After his thyroid tablets had been adjusted, and he'd been prescribed beta-blockers, his blood-pressure and thyroid levels returned to normal and his eyesight improved, but never completely returned to normal. This marked the end of his days of being boss of the neighbourhood, but he was still able to enjoy most things - good food, the company of other cats, cuddles and accompanied strolls round the neighbourhood, all of which he continued to enjoy till the end.

We'll all miss him. Me especially - in recent months he tended to follow me wherever I went in the house and curled up to sleep on my pillow at night. But at least I know he had a happy life here and was well cared for.