Forever Friday: Sen-Chan

#1 here. I can hardly believe it but it was nine years ago, in early January, that we suddenly lost Sen-Chan (aka "Poupounet"). We discovered almost at the last moment that he had FeLV. Sen-Chan was Tommy's first kitty friend, and he was the sweetest boy ever. We would like to remember him in today's post.

Warning bells did go off a little when I first visited the breeder and saw Sen-Chan. He had a cold and a clear problem in one of his eyes. But he climbed up my arm and nuzzled my neck. What could I do? He came home with me.

This was the day I met him:

 

He came home and we went straight to Dr. C who said he had cat flu and put him on antibiotics and cortisone. He started rallying pretty quickly, and even started to play:

 

Tommy had not yet come but he quickly made friends with Madrac, TOWCB Fernant:

 

He settled in and was pretty relaxed!

  

Tommy arrived a month after Sen-Chan and the two hit it off immediately!

 

 

Sen-Chan had a lovely first Christmas:

 

He was a happy boy!

 

This picture was taken about 10 days after we first started blogging!

I don't know how I figured it out, but I guessed that Sen-Chan was a cat I could let outside. He loved being outside and always stuck close to Tommy:

 

 

But there seemed to be something missing from his life and, several times, I found him heading to the "Fairy Tree". I have always believed that this tree is a doorway between worlds. He would go up to it and stare intently:

 

It was a stretch, perhaps, but I decided that he needed a kitty companion, and that is how little Tama came into our lives. At first, she wasn't too sure about Sen-Chan:

 

 

But she quickly realised how very sweet he was, and how well he would look after her:

 

Sen-Chan had remained prone to all kinds of infections over the time he was with me, and Dr. C had always made him well again. Around Christmas 2008, he had what seems like a bit of a cold and an eye infection. Dr. C put him on antibiotics and eye drops. I had to leave soon after Christmas as my nephew was getting married and family was gathering in England. I had very nice house-sitters from Australia and left not feeling too worried. In early January, I got a frantic call from the sitters to let me know he was very unwell and they had taken him in to the vet. I called Dr.C who told me she had run a blood test and found he had FeLV. As we talked she was called to the back. Sen-Chan had just had a massive heart attack and died. It had never even occurred to her to test him as cats from proper breeders should always be FeLV free. I was heartbroken, but Tama-Chan was completely lost. It was Tommy who took over and looked after her in one of the loveliest shows of love I have ever seen.

This is one of the last photos I took of Sen-Chan, with Tama:

 

And that is the story of Sen-Chan who, with Tommy, started this blog, and who will always remain in our hearts. He lived only 18 months but I would like to think he was very happy here. His portrait, by the very talented Kathleen Coy, hangs in my bedroom alongside that of Yuu-Chan who also died of FeLV:

 

Sen-Chan on the right, Yuu-Chan on the left.