Smokey

Name: Smokey

Date of Passing: 06/25/2026

Message to Smokey: Love them forever

Tell us about Smokey: And then there were three.

He had a kink toward the end of his tail. Probably a break from a horse hoof, as he had been a barn cat. Cared for in a horse barn, but he had a job. Keep the mice away.

We found him as an older kitten wandering around our place when we lived in Michigan City, Indiana, and brought him inside. We put him in our first-floor bathroom with a litter box and food, before we could get him to the vet the next morning. The weather was lovely, so windows were open, including the one in the bathroom where he was staying. The next morning, the screen was torn and there was no cat to be found. Little stinker broke out.

A year later, he shows up again, with neighbors feeding him canned tuna. Who wouldn’t stick around? He came so often and stayed so long, we decided maybe this time he would come inside and let us spoil him. Then we found his humans. They came by with their son, who loved Smokey, and we asked if we could keep him because he, Smokey, would keep coming around since he had been fed, and if we adopted him, he would stay indoors and not be exposed to the challenges of living half wild outside. They agreed. So Smokey moved in. No more broken screens.

Our friendly door greeter, sun worshipper, lap sitter, and very conversant kitty left us today, 6/25/26. He developed a problem with his jaw that was either cancer or a problem requiring a level of surgery he was unlikely to easily recover from as a 15-year-old cat. He lost 30% of his weight and if he wasn’t sleeping, he looked miserable. But if I could occasionally disguise powder form pain meds in a food he would eat—which was 50/50 chance—he would seem happy and normal. But he wasn’t normal. And deciding that preventing suffering by cutting short his pleasures is agonizing and can create an enormous amount of second guessing. It’s terrible.

We love you, Smokey. We will miss you and talk about you until our own lives end. Thank you, old friend. Blackie, Alice, and Midnight are alive and well.

Thanks to A Gentle Goodbye for home euthanasia.