A Pet Memorial For Gandolf

by Eloise
(Cape Town, South Africa)

Meet Gandolf the Great.
He was my wise old man, the silent but strong type.
We had moved into our new place with our two kitties - Leo & Makkie.
Gandolf would visit. He wasn't loud or attention seeking, it was as though he just wanted to be in our company.
Slowly but surely his visits became more frequent.
We found out that his owner had previously lived in the house we had moved into.
He took Gandolf with when he moved, but Gandolf kept coming back to the house.
Neighbours of the complex would feed him & he would hop from house to house, but he never settled.
Until we moved in. That was 2004.
A year later we had to move & we didn't know if it was right of us to take Gandolf with us. Leading up to the move, we prayed & asked for a sign.
On the day of the move, I had gone ahead to the new house & left my mum to wrap things up by the old house. On her last trip to the car with Leo & Makkie in their baskets, there was Gandolf sitting on top of her car waiting for her to let him in. That's when we knew it was meant to be.
Our lives were so much richer with him in it!
He was so gentle & taught me so much.
In 2008, i started noticing that all wasn't well with Gandolf.
He wasn't eating or drinking any water for a few days.
I came home early from work one day, I had just settled in when Gandolf threw up & again 2 minutes later.
I immediately knew something was wrong & rushed him to the vet.
He was kept over night on a drip as he was dehydrated. His blood tests came back with elivated readings & the diagnosis was cancer. They weren't sure if it was a tumour & unfortunately we could not afford the scans they would need to do.
The following day we came to see him at the vet & I could see that he wasn't happy. After a long agonising morning, I finally had to make the call & have him put to sleep. It was the hardest decision I have ever had to make & it haunted me for months.
Gandolf will never be forgotten. I think about him often & smile every time I look at photos of him.
Love you madly my wise old man!