It’s with great sadness that I announce the passing of Dunstan on August 18, 2021.

I rescued Dunstan from the Denver Dumb Friends League on September 1, 2005 as a kitten (he was born around June 2, 2005) when I was in college, and he helped me get through those years. He was a well-loved cat.

Dunstan was also a well traveled cat, having made the multiple treks between Washington and Colorado during my college years for Winter and Summer break. This included stops in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, Nevada, and California (sometimes we took a detour).

Dunstan spent the last 10 years with my parents — initially because I had moved into a house that didn’t allow cats, and shortly thereafter because I dated and married Rachel, who is allergic.

There are many stories I could tell about Dunstan: the time he went missing for two days when I first brought him to Seattle, the time he pooped in my lap while driving to Seattle from Colorado with my dad (who has a notoriously bad gag reflex), the time he spent the day in the car in a sleeping bag while I skied at Jackson Hole, the time he peed on (fill in the roommate name) backpack, the time we drove though Las Vegas and spent the night sleeping in the car at the Motel 6 parking lot just off the strip, the multiple times he brought mice home — sometimes not fully dead.

I think mainly, though, Dunstan was a constant that had been around for almost 50% of my life. And that’s a hard thing to loose.

Dunstan’s health had been declining and he was (among other things) continuing to lose weight despite best attempts to get him to eat. We decided the best thing for Dunstan would be to let him go now.

The wonderful Dr. Danielle Hagen from Compassion4Paws was able to come and provide in-home euthanasia.

Dunstan slipped into his deep forever sleep, lovingly held in my arms one last time.