Our cat, Duchess, passed away on Monday night with Tori and Brandon at her side. She had been ill, getting increasingly thinner for months. We think she was almost 14 years old and had been ours for 13 years. She was an outdoor cat and had a wonderful life, free to roam around all day. Tori brought her into the garage every night to sleep in safety. She had used up a few of her "nine lives" over the years. Once, we think she was attacked by an owl but escaped with many deep wounds that healed over time. She also disappeared for two weeks while we were on vacation years ago and we thought she was gone for good. It was a great surprise when she came back to us, much thinner.
Duchess has been our longest lasting pet. She was skittish for a long time after we got her from a friend's barn, but she became calmer and sweeter throughout each passing year. We buried her on our property in our pet cemetery and planted our beautiful Easter lily there with her, to bloom again each year. Duchess will be missed, especially the way she would paw at the back door to be let in because she wanted to be carried through the house to the garage even when the garage door was already open! I commend Tori for the excellent way she took care of Duchess and all of our pets and am sorry for her loss.
