I consider myself fortunate as both lived till they were 17 & Smokie was possible older than that as he came from a lady who rehomed them. Smokie was like a little dog & only took to certain outsiders, used to follow my Dad to the shop & always had to be on someone's lap. He loved company. As for Robbie (the silver tabby) we had him from being 6 weeks old (I know too young but I was only 14) didn't matter anyway 'cos it only took a few days for him to adopt me as his mum, literally as he kept kneading for milk. In fact that was a trait he kept most of his life, he used to sleep with me, with his little head on my shoulder. I had no choice in this as he's scream the place down if I didn't let him
So Robbie ended up as the most spoiled, soft natured cat you could ever come across. When he was on my knee I could even lie him on his back & rub his back paws, he would then spread his little toes so I could get inbetween them!!! How many cats does anyone know will let them do that???? It's funny i've never bonded so strongly with a human let alone another cat than I did with Robbie, mind you I find that cats are far more loyal & trustworthy than most people. Robbie & Smokie, my lads, babies you'll always live on with me as you can never truly be gone when someone always remembers you, love you both always