Walter was a gorgeous silver porch cat. I don’t remember when we began noticing him — at first we thought we had one gray cat on the porch until we saw all three at once, and then we realized we had three gray cats. Walter was mild-mannered and silver in color. After several years, he disappeared, and I went looking for him and found him taking refuge in a neighbor’s shed. I tucked him in a carrier and brought him home and put him in the non-conflict wing of the house, where he cried at the window for months. He had been neutered several years before and kept current on his vaccinations (crying loudly in the carrier the whole time on his vet visits). After several months in the non-conflict wing, he settled down and began to enjoy indoor life. He was the perfect gentleman, and he did enjoy being petted.

Nobody has to live in the non-conflict wing, and, eventually, Walter decided he wanted to live in the main part of the house. He had lived there happily for several years. He would frequently snuggle next to me when I was reading before bed, but when I turned the light out to go to sleep, he would leave for other parts of the house for the night.

Last month, he had his annual visit to Dr. Val, and other than having lost the sight in one eye to injury, he was given a clean bill of health. Lat week, I noticed he’d been losing weight and began to look pretty rough, so he earned another trip to see Dr. Val, and he was hospitalized with some troubling bloodwork. While he was a wonderful patient, his health did not respond to treatment, and on the third day, he took a turn for the worse, and we agreed euthanization would be the best treatment to prevent further suffering.

From his outside days back in 2018:

His Regal Highness back in May:

Walter was frequently a great comfort to me, and he will be missed.