Poor Elwen.

Elwen, our tiny cat (half the size of her brother Patch), has been getting thinner and looking more scraggy recently. Yesterday she didn't want to eat her food and this morning she just sat on the floor with her head down. Even a little milk couldn't tempt her so I knew things were pretty serious. I was at work all day so at lunchtime I made an appointment at the vets' for after school. For their computer I saw that she was 12 years old, I had thought it was less but then we tended to think of her and Patch as 'The Kittens'. When I got home Elwen had gone upstairs to her favourite spot by the bathroom door and as soon as she saw me she started to cry. A bad sign indeed. I drove her to the vets' with the open cat basket next to me so that I could keep stroking her for most of the journey. The vet was sure that her kidneys had failed so there was only one kind option which I knew anyway. I sat her on her fleece blanket and stroked her chin while the vet used the smallest needle to inject her with an overdose of anesthetic.  I'm a natural weeper and made use of the large box of tissues the vet had handy. A gulp at the desk while I paid the £50 bill brought me back to reality, a good thing before driving home. At home it was quite therapeutic digging a hole through tree roots in a quiet corner of the garden. She wasn't the most affectionate of cats though she came for a cuddle some evenings while we watched TV. And poor Squeaky was afraid of her due to Elwen's habit of hiding behind the door to ambush her. It is sad to lose her but that is the price of owning pets

I've got this photo of Elwen and Patch when they were little kittens and the same size. Elwen is the one at the front.

My day at school was busy but not stressful as I was teaching one of the Year 2 classes and all the work and resources had been prepared beforehand. The weather has been much the same as yesterday, grey with light rain at times.