Denis (2000-2013)

Lost one of my cats last night, Denis. Denis was nearing the 14 year mark which makes him an old man as far as abyssinian goes. I've notice for a while that he didn't seem to have that same graceful gravity defiling glide leap like he use to and that his fur was getting ratty looking; most cats in my experience will stop grooming themselves within a year before they pass.
After getting home last night from being gone for the weekend I checked on them and he just wasn't acting right. I was going to cloister him on the morn but when I went out this morning he was in the middle of the catico. Thankfully he hadn't crawled under the shed or I've had a time trying to get him out.
So, today among other things, I got to get his coffin built, him washed, wrapped, and an auger rented to help dig the hole. My cat cemetery is around pecan trees and there is a good foot and a half of loam but it's also riddled with roots and yep, I'm a bit lazy while that augger makes a two hour hole digging into a half hour project.
I remember when Denis first showed up at my backdoor being loud and not much bigger then my hand. He had a hole in his back leg that went all the way through. I never could determine if it was a shot or a stab that caused that hole but I took him inside and he healed and decided to take up with Figgaroe. Those two were constant companions for a long time. 
Denis rode good and made a few Texas trips with me along with a trip to south Ga. which was an adventure in itself.
You see what had happen was...
I just got Denis back from the vet from being fixed and they said to keep an eye on him throughout the night. Well, I had a route to run in to south Ga so Denis rode with me. He sat by me the whole time and I would just reach down and touch him to get a meow that let me know he was doing alright. Well, about sunrise while heading north from Albany I reached down to touch him and see if he was alright. Not a stir, not a sound.
I patted him and still nothing, I picked him up one handed and he was just limp.
"Oh, Sh*t; WHAT I DO?"
(remember we are still moving in a semi down a highway doing about 60 mph.) About the time I got the truck slowed down enough to start going over into the emergency lane when his head finally raised up and his outer lids open, I don't think the inner ones ever did and a sound, I'll never call it a meow, was uttered and I realize that Denis had been awake the whole night and passed out from exhaustion.
I just put him back down against my leg and we finish the ride without another incident.
Yep, he'll be another one I miss. — at The Crazy Cat House.