She was beautiful inside and out. She was black with gorgeous super soft fur. She was very shy and anxious and selective about humans, but she loved me. She was so sweet and affectionate.
The worst thing is that I feel partially responsible for her death, I can't shake the feeling that it could have been prevented. We moved house, we had two cats (and two young children!) and I was super careful to keep them inside and help them adapt. But she managed to escape after just 1 week in the new house - I still don't know how because I'd been so careful (DH less so).
She didn't come back so I put leaflets through doors and posted on social media. A couple of weeks after she'd gone missing, a neighbour knocked on our door to say she'd seen a black cat in her garden - it sounded like my cat so I went into the garden with treats and waited quietly there for ages but she didn't come out.
I felt reassured that she was nearby and that she'd come back if she needed food or water, but she didn't. I regret so much that I didn't try harder to get her to come back. I'd been thinking about asking cats protection for advice about trapping her to bring her home - I wish I'd done it and not just thought about it.
She was found dead yesterday by another neighbour, in their garden. It's been so dry and hot - she must have died of dehydration. I'd asked a neighbour (the one who'd seen her) to leave water out for her but it was too little too late.
I miss her so much. She was my favourite. I can't even look at my other cat, he was mean to her.