We got Kiedes as one of two cats long before the kids arrived as child substitutes.

When we first went to meet the two of them, Kiedes came and sat on me and purred, and that was it - I was her human from then.

When she came to live with us, she'd sleep on my ankles, and loved to chase balls of silver paper - actually, any kind of paper, but foil always worked best.

The picture will tell you - she was a cat that swore. Didn't matter who you were, or what you'd done, she'd look at you and tell you to ---- right off. Go on, I've told you already - ---- right off

In the last year or so, she'd been getting chased more and more by Morgan - not so easy for an aging cat, just starting to get stiff.

In the last month or so, she was getting thinner and thinner, and Lucy noticed some blood in her urine. Turned out to be kidney and thyroid problems. We got pills for her, but she was getting thinner and thinner.

In the last few days, she increasingly looked for quiet and warmth. And love - she'd sit on Lucy's pillow and purr all night. There was nothing to her at all - all skin and bone. And she'd sit in a corner and barely move. I saw her last night in the bathroom, hiding under the sink. Even Morgan brushing his teeth next to her hardly got a movement. Bless him - he gave her a long, gentle tickle behind the ears.

I knew then she wasn't long for us.

This morning, she was even stiller under the kitchen table, and we knew. We had to take her to the vet's, probably for the last time.

Morgan said goodbye to her before going to pre-school. And we took her to the Vet. Who told us that her kidneys were failing and couldn't be fixed.

I was with her. I held her and stroked her, then I wasn't allowed to hold her, but I tickled her head the whole time.

Then she was gone. A scrap of fur with a beige paw on the vet's table.

I was her human. I loved her. She knew.