Gizzy (whose proper name was Gizmo) used to live in the house diagonally opposite us, and we had known her almost since she was born, as her mum Star (a Colourpoint Persian) used to bring her around to us when she was very young. Gizzy used to amaze us by squeezing under the 2-inch gap below our garden gate.
Gizzy and her mum used to live in a house with 4 young children, and Gizzy had never been as laid back as her mum was about this, and she decided when the family had gone away on Christmas Day of 1994 that she would rather move in with Monty, Chloe and us rather than stay in her old home. She was 18 months old and took up residence on one of our breakfast table chairs.
Jim said that she had a home already, and that we should put her back outside. It was at this point that Gizzy started to show part of that obstinacy/determination that she maintained for the rest of her life. Jim persuaded her to go out, and locked the cat-flap. Gizzy immediately started to set about ripping the cat-flap out of the back door. Jim went upstairs, and when it started to rain, I couldn’t leave her outside, and I unlocked the cat-flap to let her back inside. It was at this time that we found that she had an open sore running down her back from her shoulders to the base of her tail.
After the Christmas holiday was over we spoke to Gizzy’s owners about her, and when I got back from work each day I would carry Gizzy to their house and hand her over to them. In the time that it took me to cross back over the road, get to the front door and open it, Gizzy had usually made it out through the cat-flap, over the fence, across the road, up our driveway, under the garden gate and in through our cat-flap in our back door. She would be waiting for me in our kitchen as if to say “Where have you been then?” By the end of February 1995, Gizzy’s old family agreed that they couldn’t persuade her to stay with them any longer, and that she should become ours.
Once we registered her with our vet, got her checked over, and microchipped, our vet said that it looked like she was suffering from a flea allergy, and after treatment for this, and much grooming, she became a very beautiful cat. Initially she must have realized that we were trying to help her because she would let me groom her without a murmur, However, some time after this, she soon let us know that she would prefer it if we kept the grooming sessions short – less than 1 minute for preference.
She had such a sweet nature, and became one of Monty’s girls. He had been smitten by her mum Star, so I like to think that he accepted her because she was her mother’s daughter.
After we were joined by Sooty and Sweep, we thought that she would appreciate the younger company, but she soon let us know that she was not very impressed by youngsters, and when we were joined by Tommy, he was the only one that she didn’t seem to mind sharing space with. We were eventually joined by Suki, Tatty and Tabs, and Gizzy took all this in her stride.
She loved to sit in front of the keyboard of my PC, and whenever I leaned forward to kiss her on the head, she would lick me on the nose. I’m a diabetic, and if I were hypo at night, she would stand on my chest and lick my face. She used to look after me.
On Sunday mornings, if I had Primula cheese on toast for breakfast, she would come to keep me company, and strangely I always seemed to end up with a dry piece of toast with no topping. When it was time to go out for a walk, she would still be sitting on my lap, and I would never have the heart to move her. I was always late for everything on Sundays, but it was would be our special time together, and I would cook her some coley for supper, which she adored.
Her favourite place was on the grey lamb’s wool rug behind the sofa, where I would find her every morning, and I would give Gizzy her breakfast there, hidden away from everyone else.
When indoors, if you picked her up she would melt into your arms, however, if you attempted to do the same thing outdoors, she would head off at great speed like she had an urgent appointment elsewhere.
She always remained the tiniest kitty, with a deceptively huge and impressive fluffy coat. When she was outdoors and the wind was blowing, I always afraid that the wind would catch that coat of hers and that she would get blown away. She used to love to sit out in the rain, and bring bits of the garden indoors with her in that coat. I used to tease her when she came in wet that she was my little grey floor mop.
She was never any trouble at all, and apart from having to keep on top of her flea treatment and vaccinations, look after her coat, and chop up her food really small, she only had to visit the vet once for a liver infection in the 15 years that she was with us. So in those last few days, when we found out she had a tumour, it was totally unexpected and such a shock.
We have never had to do anything as difficult as letting Gizzy go.
You were my special little girl, and I will always love you baby – my little Gizzykins, my Cutie Pie
Here are some of my favourite photos of Gizzy:
Gizzy’s beautiful face (I may be a little biased here)
Gizzy fur caught by the wind
Of course you would never catch Gizzy on the kitchen work surfaces
Or on next door’s garage roof
Gizzy out in the garden with her fluffy coat on
