Our lovable and sweet Billy died yesterday. He was 15. Billy came into our lives as a kitten in November of 1995. We lived on the 5th floor of a block of units that did not officially allow pets, so Billy was confined to the indoors for the first 6 years of his life. He was an outdoor cat at heart though and we had to be careful when we went onto the veranda as he would always try to escape and on one occasion, he did get out and almost fell off! As soon as we moved to a place with a backyard, Billy spent most of his time outdoors. He was not the most skilled of hunters and although he caught a few unlucky birds here and there, in general he was not a threat to native fauna. In fact, he was never a threat to anyone as he was a gentle and kind cat his entire life. At the height of Billy's powers, he was a robust 7 kilos. Unfortunately, ill health got the better of him and by the time of his death, he as a frail 3.2 kilos. Letting him go was a difficult and sad decision, but as his kidneys had failed, there was little that could be done to ease his discomfort. We will miss Billy always.