Sparky Cat --RIP

This is one of the hardest blog posts Ive had to write.... its with great sadness that I tell you all that our dear  fur-baby friend and companion for the past 10 years and 8 months  Sparky cat had to be put to sleep today.. We knew last Tuesday after taking him for what we thought would be his final checkup at the eye hospital..Emma his vet there discovered that the herpes was back in his eye and suggested we had him tested for FIV as with the treatment he had for it should have cleared it up.His shoulder had broken out again where he was bitten in January so we took him down to our local vets that evening and they tested him for FIV and he proved positive.Now in some cats that would just mean being kept in away from other cats and that wouldn't be too much of a problem,,but in a cat like Sparks who liked to come and go as he wanted it was impossible to do.Sparks loved to be outside mousing and rabbiting, lying in the sun down the garden and following Bill round whenever he was worikng in the shed etc. His other joy in life was terrorising the paper lady and postman who dared to tread on his property-earning himself the nickname of Hissing Sid....and he hissed and spat at anyone who came onto his property....hard to believe when you look at the little dot on top of his scratching post just after we had him..he did eventualy grown into those ears....anyway we tryed to keep him in several times before when he had injuries--he was a regular at the vets-in fact we should have our own car park space with our name on it we were there so often--thank goodness for pet insurance..though many times he has been there and the cost was just under the excess and we couldnt claim!     He hated being in--hated using the litter tray and hated us for keeping him in...it was a nightmare at times..he tryed everything to get out....he was so unhappy---  we used a Feliway plug in to try and help him calm down and it helped a bit but we couldnt prolong his suffering any longer and had to come to the sad desision to have him put to sleep.He has been spoiled rotten all week..and this morning we took him out into the garden with us and let him have a last prowl around--the look on his face when we opened the door for him was a picture, and Im glad he had that last chance to do so.....Me and Bill are in bits....he was our baby...but we have had so much support from friends and family over the past week and we are very grateful for that-it has helped us so much xx ...I will proberly bore you all to death in the coming days because Ive got so many photos of him Im going to put on here, along with stories of him.......lastly I want to thank our vet Andrew Cooke..a more caring compasionate man you would never meet--he made it so much easier than it could have been...and we are forever grateful to him for that. Well I cant see for the tears again,,,,Bills has made him a lovely box, he is being laid to rest in the morning acrross the bridge over the stream at the bottom of the garden, where he spent many happy hours mousing.. night night Sparky xxxx