Sylvester in Memoriam

I went by my parent's house yesterday evening. When I go over there, I'm accustomed to being greeted by a friendly cat that took up at their house. I'd nicknamed it 'Sylvester' because when it first showed up, it had a 'meow' impediment, al la Sylvester the Cat from the Warner Bros cartoons. Sylvester's real name was 'Muffin', but we had a cat when I was a kid named Muffin, so I had to give a more accurate name. This day, however, I didn't see Sylvester. From time to time, the cat would be off playing, or killing or doing what cats do, so I wasn't too concerned by the absense. When I entered the house, my mom gave me the bad news: Sylvester is dead.