RIP, Stuart.
I should preface this by saying that I'm probably going to come out of this entry sounding like a terrible pet owner. For that I do apologize. :)
The photo is of Stuart--that was taken back in 2007, when he was still a kitten. He passed away yesterday. He's always been a mostly outdoors cat--really we only saw him when he came home to eat each day (and we think he was also going around to the neighbor behind us, who told us she often leaves her garage door open a little with cat food in there for the neighborhood cats who pass by), and sometimes he'd lounge around for a while. But it was pretty rare for him to approach any of us for any sort of affection, really. A few years back he showed up with an eye injury, and really we should have taken him to the vet but we didn't. (That's Part One of where we probably sound like terrible pet owners.) It semi-healed on its own, all grey and icky and blinded, but it didn't seem to bother him and he went back to his normal pattern. I was always a bit afraid that it would still be the death of him, maybe turn cancerous or get infected someday. But he didn't make it that far, which is maybe a blessing of a sort. Yesterday Heather noticed he was laying under the truck and had a bloody patch on his side, so she coaxed him out to take a look and (from what she told me) it was a pretty deep gash in his lower abdomen, a few inches wide. No idea how he got it--didn't seem to be a fight as there were no other wounds. He didn't seem to be in pain from it or anything, but it looked bad enough that (after a few semi-frantic e-mails to me) she decided to take him in to the vet--she figured a few stitches and maybe some antibiotics would be the order of the day. But the vet took a look and said the wound went all the way into his stomach, and he was already feverish too. We could have them do surgery to attempt to save him, but since he was already feverish and probably septic, the odds weren't great and the surgery would be expensive. Other option: put him down. (Part Two of possibly sounding like terrible pet owners:) Heather opted to go ahead with the euthanasia. They were very nice, they gave Heather and the girls a few minutes alone with him to say goodbye (not that anyone was particularly attached to him, antisocial as he always has been) and then had a vet tech take the girls out and wait with them so Heather could stay with Stuart as they did the deed. They brought him home and we gave him a little burial when I got home from work.
And that's that. He wasn't the best cat we've ever had (or even the best cat we have presently), but I'm glad he had a decent life, abbreviated though it may have been. I'm glad he went out painlessly and with someone he knew at his side. I think we did right by him in the end. I hope so, anyway.