Freyja never got along well with the kittens Monteigh and Minnie, siblings we got in 2000. She put up with them, sometimes, but, eventually, she stopped coming upstairs at night to sleep. She would meet us in the morning, usually on the stairs, and would follow us into the kitchen. One of her favorite spots was the garden window above the kitchen sink, and we’d feed her breakfast there before we’d make breakfast for ourselves. This morning, there was no one to great me as I went downstairs, and the window was all too empty.

We brought her home from the vet last Friday with all the gear to treat feline chronic renal failure. She responded to the initial treatment, so we had hopes that she would remain with us for some time to come. We weren’t that lucky.

She was my first cat.