Goodbye Smokey

Last night my 16 year old cat, Smokey, died. He was such a good cat. I was the first human to handle him. His mother gave birth to him in the bathroom and left him to struggle on the floor. I picked him up and put him in the basket I had provided for her to use for her kittens. I had no clue at the time that his mother, Ebony, was having trouble giving birth to the rest of her kittens. It wasn't until the next morning that I saw the other three. I felt a connection with her first born and decided to keep him. I named him Smokey. His three siblings were given away when they were old enough. Ebony and Smokey spent the rest of their lives together in my home. Ebony died suddenly a couple of months ago and Smokey died last night. I had taken him to the vet and tests were done to determine what was wrong with him. Nothing showed up and it was thought that he might have cancer. The poor thing kept losing weight and was seriously dehydrated. I switched to canned food and tried to feed him three times a day. His struggles ended last night and my son buried him this morning. The following picture is the first one I took of him. Goodbye Smokey, we will miss you!