She's Gone

After writing my earlier blog I had another chat with Steve. He agreed that he could see what I was seeing but that he was just so fond of Tia and being a coward in refusing to accept the situation. But of course he's a sensible person and with just a short time to think about it he knew he had to put her before his feelings. Luckily we were able to go to the vets straight away, it would have been cruelty to leave Tia as she was with the weekend pending.
Of course it was not going to go smoothly and Tia was true to form till the end. Weak and old she fought her corner till the last, her body was failing her but the tortie spirit was still strong and she bit and scratched her way out of this world . We both tried to comfort her but Tia was who she was and let everyone know that she was not going to make it easy for us. Because of her character and the difficulties we knew we would face Steve had hoped that maybe she'd have died in her sleep, sadly that never seems to happen without pain and suffering on the way there. When we can make the end less painful for the ones we love then we simply have to do it. If only we could grant the same kindness to the people we love too ...
Tia came from Freshfields, I'd only been working there a couple of weeks when she and her two ginger brothers came in. I'd always wanted a dark tortie like Jilly, a cat I had grown up with. Jilly was lovely with me but I often heard the adults in my life refer to her as unpredictable. I was quite oblivious then to the typical character of the dark tortie, I wanted a cat like Jilly and my god I got one.

Tia didn't hate everyone, she loved Louis and was fond of Nico. She hated all the other cats and had no hesitation is showing them, of course that was to haunt her in her older years as Jamie didn't take any shit from her and the bully became the bullied.
I don't believe Tia hated me, she was affectionate on her own terms and hassled me at every meal time; but I guess her person in life was Steve. He always jumped to her defense and said she was misunderstood .. yeah!!! She sat on his lap for part of every evening, followed him to the kitchen and back again and only lashed out at him if he didn't sit still for long enough. Unlike me who avoided confrontation with her he would just laugh it off and tell her to behave herself.
There's no doubt there will be a big void here without her, her character was such that she could not be ignored in life. RIP dear Tia spirited till the last, I hope you find peace in the next world.