My 12-year-old Abyssinian-mix cat has been diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure and we probably only have a few days left until we need to compassionately euthanize him. There are no words for my absolute devastation and grief. He has always been so healthy and I thought we had many years left together. His decline has been shocking and so awful to witness.

But while I still remember all the little details, I decided to make a list of everything that makes him so special to me, and a lot of these are sort of in-jokes, but without further ado:

What I’ve loved about Harry, aka the other ginger prince from Kensington, London (who moved to California years before his namesake!)

• Using his paws so much, like to move our arms or adjust his water glass (sometimes too forcefully and it would tip over!)

• Related to this, how he always wanted to hold hands/paws. If at first he didn’t want to stay put when we went to bed, I could just place my hand under his paw and he would settle (80% of the time - sometimes he really was determined to leave!)

• His frustration at not being able to open door handles in SF (vs the flat in London which had low, flat levers)

• How he would be my little spoon every night

• Putting his ears back as he trotted down the hallway on a mission (like to be fed or to be let outside)

• Would always talk back and was really dramatic (/bratty)

• His beautiful coat - it’s gorgeous color and sleekness.

• How when he was cold his coat would stick out like a mohawk

• His looks of love and how he would reach out to me from behind me

• Always walking around the entire perimeter of a room to get from one point to another even if it were much shorter/easier to go the direct way.

• How he would snuggle on my crossed legs when I was sitting, and could stay there for hours until I lost all sensation in my legs

• Coming to snuggle/curl up on me the instant I lied down on the sofa in the evening, and staying there the entire time (which would render me “under catlock”).

• Being extremely in my business if I were ever eating chicken, and even trying to grab it with his claws

• Ek-ek-eking at the crows and sea gulls out the front window

• Giving death glares and/or letting out indignant meows when we’d sneezed particularly loudly

• The way he would walk like a Minotaur along the garden fence sometimes

• How he would be so excited if we were down in the garden with him

• His Crazy-Cat™️ moments where he’d parkour off of the walls or do flips in the bathroom if the door were closed

• Using the baseboards like a ballet barre to get to hard-to-groom places

• His “sploot” poses

• Candy cane tail!

• He always loved to lie directly across a cord

• He was obsessed with my shoes and I’d often find claw marks on the inner soles

• The way he had to be “mandatory bag inspector” when we got home with groceries, using his paw to grab at them and sometimes even trying to get inside

• His enthusiastic greetings in general

• Accompanying us downstairs if we got mail/delivery and then playing a game of peekaboo through the bannister posts on our way back up, and/or not wanting to come back in yet, so we’d close the door until we heard an indignant yowl to let him back in.

• How he would wait on my bedside table at night to let me know he was ready for his fresh water glass and then to go to bed. He’d wait there patiently, watching me intently, and when I’d notice him and we’d make eye contact he’d lean all his weight forward and make himself taller (/more noticeable?).

• Related to this, his love of routine! It helped me keep mine and go to sleep on time at night

• His antics with anything cat-nip related but especially the ones from Whole Foods

• when I would slow-blink at him, usually he would make a little ‘mrrrr’ sound then come give me a head hug and then snuggle with me, purring

• His little ‘mrrrrs’ when I would pet him when he’d been sleeping, and he woke up to see it was me

• Cat loaf aka “the legless cat!”

• His incredibly aesthetically-pleasing perfect cat silhouette

• His little nose freckles

• How he knew his name and also versions of it (nicknames)

• How he always came when I called him

• How he could clearly understand human inflection and meaning, and also used it himself back at us (SO smart)

• How he would use his paw to daintily (passive aggressively) point down at his food or water dish if he thought he were overdue being fed

• How he had to be near me at all times. If I were working from the bed he’d be next to me there; if I were at my desk he’d sit on top of it with me; if I were in the living room he would be on the table (like he is right now). If he weren’t outside, he always had to be within a few feet of me.

• His obsessions with boxes!

• His little white paws, his little white chin, his white chest and belly

• His looong (ginger) eyelashes

• How he potty-trained himself!

• How I could (gently) poke him/tap him on the shoulder and it annoyed him in the moment but it always worked to get him to come to me

• How I would leave for two seconds and he would be back on top of my work laptop again 😸

• How he would sprawl into a regal pose with the most smug expression imaginable.

• How he’d be so happy and relaxed that his mouth would just hang open

• How he would stand directly on our feet if we didn’t think we were paying him close enough attention

• How he would chase his tail when “helping” me to make the bed

• How he was “such a lug!!”

• How even when he was mostly asleep he’d stretch out his paw in response/acknowledgement to saying his name or talking to him sweetly.

• The way he would get distracted halfway through grooming himself sometimes and treat us to a glorious blep

And I would love to hear from others about what they cherished of their pets 🧡