Gus passes

Tuesday: Woke after a good, but somewhat displaced, night's sleep. Morning practices. Drums. Some tidying. Talked to the people from the condo board. Checked in on Gus. Wasn't doing well. Treatments. Offered food, but he didn't seem interested. Set up a barricade in the kitchen door so he could at least wander between the bathroom and the kitchen. Called F & M and told them they might want to come give him a send off. M was in town as luck would have it. They said they'd also take care of Gus for the couple of days that we didn't have coverage. Called the pet sitter and left a message that she was off the hook. Shower. Was going to have left over smoothie, but the ring from the milk top had fallen in, and I decided I didn't want to drink chopped up plastic.

Headed out, stopping at the post office. A woman loudly talked to the person who was on the job. I mailed a couple DVDs to California. Picked up a couple of slices of pizza for "breakfast." Back in the car and over to Porter Sq. Bought strings or rather unusual gauges. In to work, and more "long number" efforts. Got a call from Ant and we straightened a few things out. Talked to MB. Talked to a loan officer and got some figures. Picked up a tofu burrito. Listened to a CD by CZ. Stayed until 8:30.

Headed over to Porter Sq, to the apt of F & M. Visited a little with their cats, including to young stripy ones, Bengal (m) and Cordelia (f). I'd gotten a parking ticket in the 10 minutes I was inside. Back to my place. Gus had not moved from the place I'd left him earlier. I showed F how to administer fluids. We put the oven on to cook a frozen pizza. M picked up Gus and carried him into the living room. I put on a movie "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp." Gus made a few strange mews. F took him into his lap so he could lie more comfortably. I paused the movie. His breathing slowed to short gasps. He twitched, and died.

F and I looked at each other. F handed him on the towel to me. I carried him into the downstairs bathroom, his body more limp than any living thing could be. I set him down and closed the door. F was crying a little and giving M a hug. I gave him a hug too. We went out on the back porch, and up walked Oscar. One black cat gone, another arrives. After hanging out awhile, I put the pizza in. MB returned from some shopping and I told her what happened. She was upset, but we both knew this was actually a very good way for Gus to exit. We'd both been concerned about what would happen if he was getting sicker and sicker while we were at the course, or if he died while we were gone. After some hugs, we joined F and M and the four of us sat down to eat pizza and potato salad.

After cleaning up we all drove back to F and M's. MB got to visit with their cats. Then we headed back to our place. MB and I dug a grave for Gus in the far corner of the yard. We got down a good couple of feet, but not before the handle on the P.O.S. shovel broke. I took a shower, some more hanging out, and now, in the basement to complete the day.