Tito was born in May 1990, two months after we got married. In July we took him to our home to be a companion to his one year older sister, Tera. They almost immediately became inseparable friends and he began to treat her as if she was his mother. We quickly realised that he was very playful, sociable and communicative.

Unfortunately, when Tito was only seven months old, he was hit by a motorcycle and therefore seriously injured, having the head of the left femur removed. He recovered well but since then he became slightly crooked just like the crooked end of his tail, and consequently his walk and jumps became a little clumsy.

Throughout the years, we adopted more cats and also a dog, Maggie. Tito liked every cat that we adopted. That was a good thing because when his sister died of CRF two years ago, he wasn’t alone, he had the companionship of his good friends Kika, Izzy, Stimpy, Mickey and Saffy.

He was our most clever cat and very communicative, too - his name is short for “chatito” which means “the little annoyer” - he really “talked” to us. Every time we were petting or giving any kind of attention to another of our pets it was certain that he would appear to claim his share. He liked to be the centre of attention.

Fifteen years went by and he was happy and healthy, it was a pleasure to live with him.

Last July we began to notice that he was becoming thinner but other than that he seemed well: he was eating normally, was happy and playful as usual. When we took him to the Vet for his annual vaccination we commented the fact.

In September he was even thinner and almost stopped eating. So, we took him to the vet again for blood tests and an ultrasound and Tito was diagnosed Cholangiohepatitis, an inflammation of the liver and bile ducts. We started to give him the prescribed medication and to force-feed him, too. After 15 days he didn’t seem better and he was taken for another ultrasound, this time showing something new, a tumour in the intestine that had grown very rapidly in these few days.

We were shocked, we didn’t expect it. In the Vet’s opinion, Tito’s only chance was a surgery to remove the tumour. He underwent surgery the very next day but didn’t survive as he was already too weak. We brought him home and buried him in our yard, side by side to his sister. We have never been much for the afterlife, but we like to think that they’re together again, exchanging licks.

Tito and his sister were with us since the beginning of our marriage. It’s been fifteen years of happiness for which they contributed a lot. This feels like the end of an era.

We miss him a lot. Our home is much sadder without Tito and quieter too, his friends are not as “talkative” as he was, we miss his “Meows” and purring.



He will be forever in our hearts. 



Adriana & Filipe

Porto, Portugal