Farewell sweet Sheldon

The mom here today, or more rightly, the old mom bean as Sheldon would have said.

Sheldon is my daughter's middle cat (Stanley and Spencer are the other two). He was born in mid-March 2017, just a few weeks after our sticky bean, Eli was born. Sheldon came to live with us in mid-2017 and stayed until D and Eli moved about 15 months later. 

When he arrived, he was a wee kitten. The other three cats had quite different reactions to him. Saku was initially afraid of him, Sami hated him, and Sasha, as he had with the other kittens who arrived, patiently put up with him. In time, both Saku and Sami tolerated and would even play with him, but Sheldon always adored Sasha the most.

This is one of my favorite photos of the two boys. It's almost as though Sheldon was saying, "I'm the baby, gotta love me."

There were several good tussles between Saku and Sheldon, and sweet moments too, when the pair slept on the couch together...even touching!

Sheldon loved to crawl under the covers on the bed for a nap. I visited last week, and he slept under the covers beside me at least one of the nights. 

When D and Eli moved, Sheldon went with them. He getting to be a big boy by then, and got even bigger still. The vet told her today that she believes Sheldon had some Maine Coon in him as he was a large cat, but not overweight. 

Every morning, after breakfast he started his day with a tussle with his big brother Stanley. After D dropped Sheldon off at school, she'd come home and Sheldon would remind her it was time for a nap. The two would curl up on her bed for a hour.  When she showered, he'd wait in the bathroom for her. 

But his favorite place to sleep during the day was on Eli's big boy bed. I took this photo just two weeks ago. I think I woke him.

Today, D messaged me to say Sheldon had thrown up last evening and several times through the night. She had isolated him and put in the bedroom with a bowl of water and a litter box, hoping he'd pass whatever was bothering him. But he deteriorated through the night and even more so this morning before she could get him into the vet. She sent a video and he was clearly in much discomfort and crying, though he did stick close to D and followed her down the stairs. 

While the vet didn't do a thorough exam, she did check him out and agreed he was in distress. She thought there might have been a blockage or perhaps a mass that had shifted or increased in size. Not wanting to put Sheldon through more pain, they decided to let him go. D said his passing was peaceful, she was petting and talking to him and he was gone before she realized it. 

Sheldon will be missed. He was, as D said, "the best boy".