Snow White is no more - please read below.

I am so sorry for having to announce that our Snow White has passed away today.

She was suffering from hyperthyroidism, which meant she was loosing weight. Since 2012 we have been able to stabilize her through daily medication, but over the last year her kidneys have deteriated too, causing further weight loss. Increasing the medicine was not an option anymore, as most likely it would result in total kidney collaps.

Although she still carried out her duties in our little group, over the last month she has gotten increasingly tired, become less interested in food and seemed to loose much of her will to live. As responsible cat keepers it is our duty to protect our pets from sickness and pain, and we could not bear to see her wither away and possibly go into a painful organ failure. At some point we had to consider, whether the treatment was for her own good or just for our own sake. That point in time was today and so we took that hard trip to the vet, where Snow White passed away peacefully with her humans by her side and carressing her.

We adopted Snow White from a shelter at the age of "about 8" and never has she let us down, but surprised us in so many ways. She adapted gracefully to whatever new situation she came in and I believe she enjoyed a happy life here as our "First Cat of the House". We hoped for many more years, but that was not to be.

We are grateful for every day we had with this amazing cat, who became the center of our little cat universe. And we feel sorry for Rags, who has lost his best friend. We know Snow White is loved around the World by many, who only knew her from Flickr, and we thank you for your interest and for visiting. I am sorry for breaking the sad new without any warning, but I did not want to go public until we had made a decision together with our vet, who also knew and loved Snow White.

The lifespan of cats is so much shorter than that of humans, and one thing we know is that the day of the last goodby will inevitably come. Still - life would be so empty without them...

RIP, sweet Princess - once our tears have dried, we still carry you with us.

Snow White's Album is here and my YouTube videos here.

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Postscript June 15th:
My dear friends - first of all my apologies for not answering every single one of you directly, but thank you ever so much for your comments, your condolances and your compassion.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts at Snow White's passing - often in a very personal way. I have carefully read all your comments more than once and I am deeply moved by them. Imagine our old cat has touched so many hearts around the world...

As I said, when our Milly died 18 y.o.: Old cats shall not be mourned, but rather celebrated for all they gave us. Our family is still mourning, but I know that over time the loss will hurt less and all the good memories will remain vivid and clear. We knew we would only have our Snow White for a limited time, and even in our grief we feel that every day has been worth it.

Finally let me put in a word for the elderly shelter cats. Most often they have lost the good life they had in a loving family for no fault of their own. If ever you visit a shelter looking for a new cat, please think of Snow White, who had a real princess hidden inside...

Also see Paul's Last Will and Testament by Wes/Hairlover
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Snow White (mixed breed), photo taken 02.06.2012

Olympus E-400 Digital Camera.