Farewell, Charlie

I was behind on my farewell posts before my modem died and I am even farther behind now. I am not even going to try to do them in any specific order, but I will try very hard to make sure I don't miss any.

Charlie Taylor Sherwood was a 14 year old Devon Rex. He had lived since he was a kitten with a lady who lived in an apartment not far from the Sherwoods. The lady got old and had health problems and dementia. She got sick and was taken to the hospital, then to hospice. She was so sick that she couldn't say anything about Charlie being left all alone in the apartment. It was days, perhaps many days, before anyone remembered about him. I am not too sure about this next part. I know that the Sherwoods got an urgent call about a cat in desperate need and that cat was Charlie, but I don't know whether Auntie Deb and ML got him from the apartment or if someone else got him from the apartment and took him to a shelter, which then called them. I do know that they took him straight to the vet and he was in pretty bad shape. His kidneys had started to fail and he had a heart condition. Of course, he was also very dehydrated and starving. Then he got fluid in his lungs, sort of like kitty pneumonia. Things looked very bad for him, but he rallied and got to go to his new home. Things were a little hissy at first, but settled down fairly quickly. Charlie turned out to be quite the lap cat, taking to both Daddy Charley and ML. ML was delighted because she had always wanted a lap cat, but none of the rest of them was much for lap sitting. Things looked really good for a while, with Charlie making friends, or at least tolerating and being tolerated by the other cats. He was eating and drinking well and put on some weight. He was still going in for regular vet visits, to check his heart and lungs. He developed fluid around the lungs, but was still doing pretty well. Then he got sick again. He didn't want to eat or drink and he had trouble controlling his urine. He had gone into kidney failure again and it was time to say goodbye. The Sherwoods only knew Charlie from late April to mid-August, but he carved out quite a place for himself in their hearts. I don't know if the lady that he lived with for almost all of his life is still alive, but I think that a joyful reunion at the Rainbow Bridge has already happened or will happen soon.

                                                 Charlie had a great home of his own,
                                                 'Til his human got sick, leaving him all alone.
                                                        Taylors and Sherwoods found him
                                                        And to their hearts bound him.
                                                   Now he's at the Bridge, nevermore on his own.