It’s hard for me to write about losing you, Mickey, because your loss was unexpected. It’s still a challenge for me to believe you’re gone, yet, in so many ways, you’re not.

So much of our lives revolved around you! Every place we moved, I filtered home options by looking for a “Mickey room,” – a downstairs room next to the outdoor patio, leading to your cat-secured backyard. You were the only kitty in our family who needed your own space, and you relished your private time away from the rest of the pack. However, this gave us plenty of alone time together.

I deeply enjoyed spending countless hours with you out in the yard. Together we planned the garden, planted flowers, and cared for the raspberries (your favorite). You enjoyed being outside so much. I’ll always cherish you walking me around the entire perimeter of your yard every night before retiring to your bed. Sometimes, I still take that walk to remember you.

We still have your outdoor house. It was so cute how you were too plump to fit through the door, so I had to remove it entirely, haha. Oh, the battle with your plumpness. You completely bounced back from that tiny little kitten who struggled to take his bottle. 

We miss you terribly and will always wish we had caught your condition sooner. However, it warms my heart that, though your life was cut short at almost 17, you had the best life a kitty could hope for. Your years were filled with the things you loved the most, the accommodation you required, and the care and love you deserved. I’m grateful you were part of our lives and that we could rescue you when we did.

May you live on forever through the special tree we planted in your memory. You are forever loved, never forgotten, and will always be our “Little Mick.”