We interrupt regular blogging to report very sad news. We lost our beloved Grouik yesterday.
Here are some words from his human followed by pictures of Grouik.
Grouik didn’t come home yesterday.
This afternoon, we walked around the neighborhood looking for him, asking the neighbors if they had seen this cute, slim, black and white tabby. Neighbors often saw him in their backyard, and their little girl nicknamed him Oreo. They found him yesterday ca 2pm, he had been run over by a car.
Those who had the pleasure to know him knew he was the kindest cat (he even greeted us with a short meow when we opened the door for him), he has never ever been sick, he was always [successfully] begging for food yet remained perfectly fit. He often climbed onto my right shoulder so he could walk with me and observe the world as any cat deserves to, right on the top. He usually walked all over me in the morning, purring his way to long, exclusive petting with his irresistible cuteness.
I have spent 14 years, a little under a third of my life with my beloved Grouik. He was 14-ish, although I never knew when he was born. He adopted me when he was a tiny kitty back in 1998, he was brought over by a former colleague (I remember him running around the office floor, chasing computer cables). He spent his life in France (Bobigny, Agde, Paris 18, Viroflay), Ireland (Dublin), Belgium (Brussels), and Rye, NY. He had a wonderful, wonderful life with humans who were all fond of him, visiting many places and tasting local food, should it walk, crawl, fly, dig holes in the ground, or hop up the trees.
We just came back from the animal cemetery in Hartsdale, NY, they will take care of him. We’ll pick up the ashes on Tuesday… But my Grouik will not come home anymore.
Here is the last photo we took of him.
Just a few words from me (Texas’ human).
Grouik was an adorable and sweet cat, grumpy at times although very rarely, often mischievous and that was part of his charm and of why we love him (no past tense on purpose).
He had the cutest way of sleeping, his head on his paws. He loved to go out and hunt. He was always somehow out, whether it was on the roof of a 7-story Paris building or in the yard in France or in the U.S. He loved to be out. He loved to eat. He hated car travels. He loved catnip and raw meat.
When he was on his human’s lap, he could purr so loudly that I always thought his purr was sounding a bit like a Geiger counter. A lovely, furry ball of sweetness.
We greatly miss him and hope he can keep on chasing chipmunks where he is now.
Texas, a cat in New York 