Renoir

Sadly, we lost our dear sweet Renoir earlier this summer. One morning in early July, after an outdoor overnight, Renoir did not come home. We waited and called and searched and hoped and did it all over again, but he did not arrive. We never saw him again.
There had been fox or coyote sightings (we're not really sure) in our neighbourhood in the days and weeks preceding - we had even seen one right in our backyard. Our suspicion is that he fell prey to one of these. We will never know for sure of course, but there has

been absolutely no sign of him. Losing Renoir and not knowing for certain what happened has been quite heartbreaking.

Vincent and Renoir have been outdoor cats most of the years we've been here on Coventry Drive. When they were younger, we tried to keep them indoors, but they were much more content cats when they were prowling and exploring in the outdoors. Although we knew the risks, it was pretty much impossible to keep them, and especially Renoir, indoors. Particularly at night, Renoir would pace around, howl at and scrape the door until you let him out. Once outside, he was gone - out to his happy place. 

Today is Vincent and Renoir's 12th birthday. A happy sad day for us. I've spent much of the day snuggling with Vinnie (he loves every minute of course!) and although our kittie grieving is mostly over now, today is different - I am really missing Renoir. I suppose that's why I'm finally writing this post.
Luke, Dan and I adopted our 2 adorable babies in the fall of 2003 when they were 9 weeks old and they have been a big part of our family ever since. Although Vincent is gray and Renoir black, they are both solid in colour with only tiny tufts of white on their chests and are very alike. August 9 was their birth day - it's exactly one month before our niece Alana's birthday, so it's always been easy to remember!
Vincent and Renoir have been cherished kitties right from the start - they've been loved by everyone in the family. They have always been very cuddly with us and with each other. I've never been able to resist this, as you can tell from the hundreds of adorable pics of them snuggled up together - both here and that I've posted over the years on Facebook, etc.
They have, however, also had a fairly competitive relationship - particularly regarding food and litter. I suppose that's not uncommon with brothers, but it was quite a challenge when they were younger. Renoir was, as many people who knew him would agree, a difficult cat. He peed everywhere, and on everything. There were a couple of years when I lived at Hohner, when I cleaned up cat urine and threw out damaged goods pretty much every day after work. Although I tried hard to understand and find patterns, it was tough. We even consulted a cat shrink! (and that's a great story, to be told only in person!) In the end, I think he probably outgrew it, but I still choose to believe that love won out :)
As he got older and was able to spend more time outdoors, he definitely became more contented. The cat pee issues had almost subsided. The last couple of years have been pretty good.
Things are certainly different in our one cat family. I have been quite nervous about Vinnie being outside, under the potential threat of wild animals close by. However, I'm getting better and we are all adapting. Vinnie craves attention, love and snuggles, so given the choice of prowling outdoors or lying on a lap, he pretty much chooses the lap every time. Thank goodness! During these lovely summer days, he goes outside, but he has become quite a homebody. He sits on or under the lawn chairs, on the deck railing, or on one of our laps, and either naps or watches the birds at the feeder contentedly. It's a lovely way to spend days. At night, he has enjoyed lying around with us watching Netflix and there has been no howling to go out. Hardly even a meow during the night. We are very grateful. I know he senses something was very wrong in the beginning and I believe he still misses Renoir but he's adjusting. As we all are. Today, Vinnie, we wish you a happy 12th birthday and hope for many more. xo

But a sad farewell to our beautiful Renoir. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Love.

So adorable.

Outdoors - even in winter!

'Playing' with Alana!

Kittie Love :)