Pepper

 Our son rescued Pepper almost 20 years ago. She was living in a filthy room with a man with severe mental illness.  She is a pretty cat. Tricolor.  I think there is a name for that kind of cat

Pepper has always been skittish around people.  I've never had a cat so maybe that is within the normal range for cats. Maybe because of her early environment she wasn't particularly friendly.  She became an outdoor/indoor cat pretty much doing her own thing.  They had a cat door to the house.   When our son and his family went away I would go over to replace her food and water,Pepper would hear the car and run out to "greet" me but didn't typically let me near her.  Once she rolled over exposing her clean white belly.  I leaned down to scratch her the way I scratch dogs.  She bit me.  Sometimes she would cry when I drove up and I think she missed her people.. If she didn't show up I worried that a coyote or other creature had gotten her.  She always turned up the next day.

Over the years our son acquired a dog for the kids and a kitten that his wife found at the side of the road.

Pepper ignored the other creatures.

Recently she has slowed down.  Their vet found cancerous tumors.  Our son made an appointment with a vet who makes house visits to euthanize sick pets.  The night before the appointment the family said goodbye to Pepper who was up in her playhouse (which she had not climbed into in more than a year).  The next morning she was still in her playhouse.  Then she went outside about 5 minutes before the vet arrived and disappeared. 

They can't find her.