Finn (2020-2025)

(Photos from March, 2025 and August, 2020)

If you told me last weekend that I'd be writing this today, I'd say that was crazy. We very unexpectedly had to say goodbye to Finn yesterday. Likely the combination of early stages of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and feline infectious peritonitis took him very fast. I'll write about that later, because for now I want to celebrate the time that we did have with him, even though it was less than five years.

The Finnster and his brother Poe, named after the Star Wars characters, came to us during the pandemic, in August, 2020. We had just lost Emma, who lived to be almost 18, and Oliver didn't make it to Christmas. Gideon left us two years earlier, and Cosmo back in 2013 before we moved to Florida. Our blended cat family got pretty old, and it would be just weird not having cats around. Despite working with a foster agency, we really wanted ragdolls, as we grew to appreciate them with our Seattle family. And we were finally going to have cats that were "ours" together from the start.

It was pretty obvious early on that Finn would be very laid-back and floppy, total breed standard personality. He was a lover from the start. He didn't necessary try to cuddle with you all of the time, though Simon often forced the issue, but he was content to be near you as much as possible. He very early on mastered the stretch-and-flop, where he would go to where you were standing, stretch out his front legs, then flop on his side so you could rub his belly. He did it pretty consistently for me when I was getting dressed in the morning, at least once a week, even last week. And he didn't have to be a cuddler, because he was beautiful and glorious and large. When he was younger, he would often "monorail" Diana in bed, which is to say he'd spread his legs out around her and nuzzle his head into her hair.

Finn could be hilariously lazy, too. Sometimes he would lay next to the water bowl, upright just enough to drink. When he'd play with toys, he had no interest in jumping or trying to catch a feather on a stick. But give him something that he could rear-dig while on his back and he was content. Wadded up gift wrap was a very brief interest in the few Christmases he had. Unfortunately he was also kind of lazy about grooming, something that Poe would generally assist with.

But the main thing was that he was skilled at making you feel at ease, just being around. He was never particularly skeptical of strangers. He was happy to hang out near you, and give you a slow blink with those blue eyes. He was a lover, not a fighter, which led to some bullying by Remy (who seems to be looking for him the most now). It's hard to put into words the way he made you feel, other than "better," even in the worst of times.

I'm going to miss him so much.