... :(

I have no appropriate title, really. I just wanted to say that, unfortunately, and very, very sadly, my brown tabby male manx cat Twig passed away yesterday.

He was only 3... and soon 4 in October. =(

He had a lovely little brown stump for a tail, because manx sometimes can.

I was at my dad's house at the time I found out - my mum had tried to contact me in all ways, but it was only this morning I got ahold of her properly.

There were lots and lots of tears last night, some this morning and undoubtedly some later on as my dad takes me and my sister to see him.

Apparently this is what happened:

He was hit by a car, and was found dead on someone's doorstep across the road. He phoned mum's boyfriend Craig to say there'd been a cat dead on the road, and without a tail (well, sort of) and wondered if it was one of mums. Someone else across the road who knew Twig belonged to us brought the body and put it on the front doorstep (this was Sarah who owns the farm). Mum brought him in and put him on his cushion. And it was sad because that morning he'd come in as normal, had his milk and then gone outside again.

I'll miss him. Lots and lots. Even thats not enough to say how much I'll miss being able to stroke his tail. I'll miss it when you stroke his tail and it wiggles; I'll miss how he sits there for ages licking your hands; I'll miss how he always played with his claws; I'll miss the way if you stroked his tummy his legs would kick at your arm and his front paws would 'paw' at your hand; I'll miss his 'mwoah-wahhh' when he wanted to come in; I'll miss the way he used to sit for ages at the kitchen window, moaning to come inside for a drink of milk; I'll miss the way he played with the dog; and I'll miss how you could just pick him up and cuddle him, and he'd be like putty in your hands.

I gave him lots of names - Emperor Twig, Emperor Wiggot, 'We-got a wi-ggot' when we saw him at the window or heard him at the door, Twee-weeg, Twiggot, Twiggy, Twig... he was named after a favourite book character. The best name was probably 'Gobshite' because he always moaned. =/

Bye-bye Twiggy =( please visit me sometimes.