I'm pretty sure she will not make it through the night.

I got her in late '93 from a girl I would end up dating for a while and named her Animal after the drummer in the Muppet band. We bonded very quickly and it was only a short time before she would not tolerate anyone but me. Completely fearless, she attacked anyone that came into my apartment without me being there... and sometimes when I was. Twice maintenance people came in unscheduled and both times needed stitches, once in Mass and once here in Ohio.

When I was home we were together constantly. Playing fetch with a ball of tinfoil... Eating together on the couch (she almost always had some of whatever I was eating)... When on the computer, she would sleep on the back of the chair... At night she slept above my head... heh, I could not even use the bathroom alone, I had to leave the door open and she would sit in the doorway.

Back about six years ago, she got tumors on her chest and had to have all of her nipples removed. They did not give her good chances to survive so I looked around and got the best vets I could find for the surgery and she pulled through fine.

The last year has been really hard on her, I've had to move four times and... Well, she just did not take it well... A year ago she seemed just as she always had but with each move she seemed to age a whole lot. Yesterday, I noticed she seemed a little wobbly... just... going very slow and seeming unsure of how to walk. This morning when I got up, she was completely limp, just laying there and not able to respond. She had eaten a little of the food I had put out last night but very little, normally she would have eaten all of it. I gave her fresh food and water this morning but she seems unable to move her head even to get to it. I've made her comfortable on nice soft bedding... and I am keeping an eye on her, changing the bedding if she soils it as she cannot get up to get to the litter box. I really don't think there is much else to do. She does not seem to be in pain and I can still hear her purr a bit as I put my head gently against her side. I've got water in a saucer and she has been able to get some.

It has been almost 6 hours since I wrote the above... I stopped because Animal started making noises... I was with her at the end and she is now gone. I'll miss her a lot, she was a wonderful cat.