I took Maestro to the shelter as soon as Jay got home with the warm car.

What tipped the scales was when I discovered an attitude-ladden Maestro lying impassively on top of a screaming Elisha in his crib.

I dumped the cat out, and told him, “That’s the end. That’s what I needed to know.”

My decision only felt confirmed when the girls came to say goodbye to him, and he slapped away their gentle pets. And then (this really ticked me) while Natasha sat quietly beside him, talking to me, he began to swipe and bite at her nearby hand.

All we can guess is that the “adult personality change” I’ve read about (yes, he’s neutered) hit him really hard at the same time as the flooring project disrupted his world and pushed him over the edge.

But at least this way Natasha was reminded at the last about the why we were doing it. She was sad when I first told her, and said, “But he’s nice now.”

Her responses seemed unformed and hard to nail-down, really. Her first response was, “Can we get a dog?” and when told that now wasn’t the time she became sad Maestro was leaving.

She snuggled into my shoulder a little while before going out to say goodbye. I think Maestro’s lack of affection helped this whole process.