Regular readers will know of Ashbutt, our farm kitten that we adopted back in 2016.He would have celebrated his tenth birthday in the second half of this year . . . but sadly, that won't happen any more.We have a couple staying with us, along with their two cats, which we've segregated in a room behind a closed door, because Ashbutt is very territorial and possessive. Last night, it got much worse than that. He was trying to open the door to the guest cats' room, yowling loudly, and behaving very aggressively when we tried to stop him. Finally, when one of our guests came out of the spare bedroom too close to him for his comfort, he must have been startled, because he attacked her, biting and clawing, drawing blood. When I ran over and tried to shoo him away from her and the closed door, he tried to attack me! He's never behaved that way to us before, but once was more than enough. (Last weekend we had a family staying with us, including an eighteen-month-old infant. We segregated our cats to avoid issues with small children, but even so, what if Ashbutt had got out? The thought of what a big, aggressive cat could do to a toddler is just too scary for words . . . )With my wife's help, Ashbutt was shut in the garage for the night. She and I talked about it, but it was obvious what had to be done. We simply can't risk the injuries he might inflict on our next guest, or even on us, if this sudden violent, aggressive streak continues. With great sorrow, I took him to the vet this morning and arranged for euthanasia. His body will be sent for rabies testing (which is apparently a legal requirement in cases like this), and his ashes will then be returned to us.I absolutely hated having to say goodbye to Ashbutt. He's always been a "daddy's boy", as opposed to our older cat, Kili, who's definitely my wife's cat. He would jump on my lap at every opportunity and snuggle for a while. That won't happen any more, and I know I'll miss him very much . . . but . . . there's the "but" for you. When an animal turns aggressive towards you, you absolutely cannot take the risk that he'll do the same towards others. The injury aspect is only part of the problem: there are legal exposures involved when it comes to damages, reimbursement, etc. Tolerating that sort of behavior could cost a whole lot of money down the road. (Our current guests have been very gracious in assuring us they understand, so that won't be a problem in this case; but that doesn't prevent possible future recurrences.)Goodbye, Ashbutt. We'll miss you very much.Peter