Sad personal news. My daughter has informed me that our ancient tomcat Roo had to be put down tonight because of acute kidney failure. He had been under treatment for several days but was not responding. He was 24 years and 7 months old. Roo had been with us since he was weaned. My daughter, then 8 years old, named him. She was very attached to him, so he went with her when she graduated from college and moved to a place of her own. He had a very long and happy life and seemed to enjoy his final years, though he slept most of the time. He was healthy right up to his final illness. He was the last of the pets my late wife and I had. Our calico cat, Barsoom, died in 2004 and our little dog, Roswell the Atomic Poodle, followed in 2010 at the age of 16.