Our older cat Katie has gone to her final rest. She was a rescue, abandoned at a kennel where we used to board our other cats. We had her a little over 17 years, but she was full grown when she came, so must have been at least 18. Katie was not an easy cat to love. Grouchy and feisty, she never sat on laps. She liked to be petted JUST on the top of her head, and when she decided. Any other time and place you might get nipped. When we brought our orange tabby brothers Tigger and Leo into the house five years ago, Katy would have none of them, and until about a month ago, when she got too weak, would hiss and swipe at them if they got too close. Katy had been in decline for a few years. This past year, Ellen gradually went to greater and greater lengths to keep her going, including hand feeding and fluids, but finally she was too weak to walk much, and had trouble breathing, so it was time. Our lives will get a little easier now, but we will miss her.