Yesterday we took Millie to the vet for the last time . She has had cancer for some time now , a sarcoma in the jaw behind her eye . It had been growing , but she was coping with it , and despite going blind was still getting about in and out of the garden , out the window onto the little balcony , food bowl , litter tray , laps , all being managed well . But in the last few days she was declining sharply , and we had to bow to the inevitable .
She will be much missed , she was rescued from an industrial estate that she was trying to make a home in . Arriving here , not long after we had moved in and I was recovering from cancer . She was much loved and returned that affection , as long as her bowl was filled , and her ears tickled .
A prolific destroyer of wild life , mainly mice and spiders , but unfortunately the occasional bird . Her greatest achievement was bringing home a young rat . The undamaged creature escaped behind the fridge , then disappeared under the floorboards . the young rat developed into a large rat , sustaining itself on the cats food . this Millie found upsetting , but refused to challenge the rat , she was only a small cat , it it had become a large rat . we would find piles of dried cat food squirrelled away at the back of cupboards . But Millie ignored it , her sense of survival kicking in , and we were daft enough to tolerate the situation .
We were not tolerating the situation , but it was a very smart rat . Eventually we ushered the , reluctant , rat from the first floor flat into the garden , never to be seen again . Millie relaxed .
In the damp atmosphere following the torrential rain last night , her smell rose into the air , it provoked a tear . Good bye Millie , good times , good memories .
