Today, we took the hard decision to help Amber the very loud Tortoiseshell over the Rainbow Bridge.

She was poorly this time last year, and in May we were advised to let her go. She took exception to this and rallied round, to stay with us for another 10 months.

This morning, she was very wobbly, very vocal and not at all happy. A trip to the vet this morning got her some shots, but she didn't rally like she usually does. This evening, after watching her stumble round the room and yowl distressfully, we had the horrible choice of seeing how she got on with medication or to give her the easy journey. I hope we chose wisely.

She came to us as a result of an Email at work. Her original owner was emigrating to Australia. Amber and her friend Max needed a new person to love them and pick them up from Leeds, so when I came up for the Manchester gathering in 2001, I just popped across the Pennines to pick them up. Amber made her musical preferences known very early on, by yowling during the journey, but being quiet when we played classical or folk on the radio!

She loved playing in the garden, chewing inappropriate items and sleeping in the sun... hopefully, that's what she's doing somewhere in Kitty Heaven.

LTS