I wish I wasn’t writing this blog post. But here I am. We had to say goodbye to our dear furry family member Mr. Jums.

As often happens with the best things in life, Mr. Jums came into our lives rather randomly: his previous owner (who found this big black cat wondering around) took him in into his hairdresser salon, where Mr. Jums quickly became the star of the place. The customers loved him and he thrived on the attention and all the snacks. Unfortunately the owner needed to find a new home for Mr. Jums after closing the salon, because his wife was allergic to cats.

Jelger and I were excited and happy to get such a sweet and kinda cool cat to live with us. Jums was about 8 years old at that time and we were about to move into our first place together.

At first Mr. Jums first secretly lived in my student dorm room for a month (secretly because there were absolutely no cats alowed). It was an interesting situation, living in a very small room with a very big cat who turned out to have a bad poultry allergy (think tiny space and continuous diarrhea). But of course I quickly grew very fond of him, how could I not. He was always a bit like a dog (but surprisingly clever and with some demands).

When Jelger and I moved in together, Mr. Jums moved in right along with us. He went through a pole climbing fitness program (aka he had to climb to get to his food to lose some weight) and dropped a few pounds (He still had plenty of pounds left 😉 ).

He was there during our good times and our stressed out times, always cuddly, all over us and ready for even more attention (Especially in the kitchen, where he loved to stand right behind us when we least expected it. Yes, we tripped many times. 😛 ).

Leaving Belgium and moving to Canada without Mr. Jums? No way. Even though it certainly made our live a lot harder (try to find a place to land in a new country while having to take care of cats, I challenge you!), there was no way we would leave him behind. It turns out Mr. Jums adjusted faster than the two of us did and soon he was used to the high quality cat food of Vancouver while, of course, taking over our appartment. 😉

Mr. Jums was always present. We laughed about him being “the ever present cat”, managing to always be close to us. He was also a very sensitive cat. He knew when I was sad. He comforted me. He had a very sweet way of pushing his nose against my cheek. Even before going to the vet and I was crying when I held him, he did it. I’m sure it was his way of saying that it was ok.

I know we made the right decision. Mr. Jums was tired and not the same cat anymore. Even in his last hours he remained sweet and purring, but we both knew that his old spirit was gone. We loved him too much to drag him through extensive treatment that wouldn’t cure him anyways, as he had cancer in his bowels.

He left our world, laying on both Jelger and my lap (he was big enough, we often shared him), loudly purring and gently falling asleep. It was peaceful and it was beautiful.

Now the house is empty. When I will go to the bathroom at night, there won’t be a cat pushing his head against my legs. There won’t be any “click click click click” on the floor, from Mr. Jums sneaking up on me to take over my lap. When I open our front door, there won’t be a cat running out, spreading his body on the floor in front of the door and refusing to come in with loud protesting. (He loved to make a statement about leaving him: “where have you been so long”. :P) There’s no more little friend making fun noises at the passing crows and squirels. No more cunning theft of meat or food. No more comfy cudles.

I believe Mr. Jums came into our lives for a reason and I also believe he’s now gone for a reason too. It hurts like hell to let go of him, but I’m grateful to have had him in our lives. He will be missed.

Sweet dreams, my furry friend.