Lydia, our "Puffy Princess", has gone to kitty heaven

Our sweet Lydia left this world today, and our hearts are breaking right now. She had been so well after her surgery in January that removed a large fast-growing subcutaneous tumor on her mammary gland. She had bounced back so well we thought she'd beat the odds. But a week and a half ago her health started to decline rapidly. We weren't sure if it was a kitty cold (which the others have) or if it was a recurrence of what we hoped would never come back. Today, the vet confirmed that it was the latter. We had to make the difficult choice to have the vet end her pain and suffering before it got any worse.

Lydia was the quintessential prissy princess kitty I had dreamed of having when I was a little girl. We hadn't planned to adopt her. Her mother brought us Lydia (and her siblings) when she was 8 weeks old. She came inside soon after and never had the desire to be outside again. She preferred velvet cushions, toile comforters and having her luxurious silver hair brushed.

Her precious little paw pads had a beautiful lilac hue to them. We called them her "aubergine paws". Against her silvery fur they looked quite regal.

Lydia's soft meow was much like Marilyn Monroe's voice--airy and feminine. She was such a girlie kitty and never wanted to muss her fur. She was known to lay with "fancy paws" (see below) quite frequently.

We love you dear Lydia. Thank you for gracing our lives with your sweet affectionate spirit. We were honored to be your stewards for your time on earth, as short as it seemed to be. We hope there is a wonderful purple cat tree on the other side that will match your lovely fur like the one you loved to lounge on here. We also hope you're flipping that plume of a tail for all the angels. They will love it as much as we did.