RIP, sweet Archibald

Archibald, also known as Archi and Archibald MacLeish, crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Nov. 1.

He had been in somewhat failing health for a good part of this year, and things took an awful turn on Tuesday morning.

The decision that we had been dreading making was basically made for us.

We could no longer put off helping him make this journey.

Archi had shown up at our house with his "brother," Argyle, on a snowy Nov. 2 morning 14 years ago. He was about 2 months old and the veterinarian figured that Argyle was about 5 months old. We put up posters and tried to find their owners, since they obviously had been house cats, but to no avail.
So they became part of our family.
Archi was always a small cat, never weighing more than 7 pounds. One of the vets said he was the "cheetah" of our family.
But his illness robbed him of even more weight and his decline was difficult to watch.

This is Trick. She had arrived at our doorstep about a month before Archibald and Argyle did. She actually became Archi's mom, as apparently he needed a mom and she needed a kitten. Even though she was only about five months older, she took on the role like a champ, even "nursing" him. Our veterinarian said it wouldn't harm either one, and when she was finished with the role she would let Archi know. She is still with us, as is his Argyle, shown at the left below with Archi curled up next to him. 

I know his suffering is over, and I'm sure he's frolicking with our other kitties who have crossed over.
Be well, Archi. We'll see you again one day...