I sometimes need to remind myself of my good fortune We're blessed with eight wonderful cats.
Tufty who now lives next door, founder of The Tuftyclub (TC), we rescued him from straydom when he wandered into our garden and fixed on our kennel for shelter.
Finally captured, we had him neutered, microchipped and vaccinated, posted his likeness everywhere but came up blank. He managed a year or so with us before deciding to shift his affections to our newbie cat free neighbours where he made himself a fixture. Since then the residents have moved out, letting the house to friendly tenants with our Tufty in situ. They love him just as much as we do so he is in clover.
No need for us to take matters back into our own hands although he's still "ours" officially, his heart belongs to no.6.
Pursley, our oldest and most revered Lady. She's been with OH since 8 weeks old and is now 18. She is deaf but coping well with that, and although she has never had a "bad" experience in her life has always fended off her human companions as if we were demons.
She is a true FREE spirit.
Only recently has she lost the strength to fight us off and now, at 18 yrs, will allow claw clipping. God forbid we ever try to give her meds
though. Blessed she is with good health so far. I hope she has much more FREE time ahead.
Sam, now 16 and still fully healthy although not so Big Sam as he used to be.
Sam was put up for adoption by the folks who adopted him as a kitten after 8 years. He was half bald having overgroomed, stress and food allergies to blame but the previous owners never bothered to investigate his aggressive behaviour towards their toddler, just put the child first and chucked the cat out.
Only 12 months later he was once again fully clothed and purring like a tractor. That's where he still is, happy relaxed and truly content.
Polly, now 13 years old. Rehomed from Lau2000 who rescued her
when her twin sister was poisoned (we believe deliberately) by neighbours on the estate. Polly is now our Matron and keeps the peace in the Tuftyclub.
She's a pure bred MotherHen who holds her own and enjoys her Mommy cuddles more than anyone else in the Tuftyclub.
(she also has the cutest nose)
Theo, estimated at 9 years old, adopted from North London Cat Rescue having been run over in Tottenham (hes well hard is Theo) soon manged to break his cruciate ligament and is henceforth our most valuable cat (in insurance terms at least).
He is Dadz boy, truly independent and the most beligerent cat in the TC, but still he comes home for his Chikkun and his warmup. Dadz prizes Theo above all he rest, despite his shrugging ignorance, we will stand by him as long as he wants us. One day he will be stolen by someone he will be happier with (this happens regularly, his microchip is the only reason he is still alive as he is regularly picked up by do-gooders as a "stray" because he spends his time in the local playground - he loves kids. He's the only one I have to keep a collar on, with my phone number on his tag
Sylvester (aka Sly da Sly
) came from the same Rescue as Theo and Sam, he was destined to be our "perfect" cat but soon after we took him on as a foster he developed his wobblie legs, so here he stays. Vets have failed to identify his disability, but he's in no pain, on that they all agree. He is our most special boy, the most loving and steadfast character.
George is a foundling. Presented to us on our way out one night, close to the Tube Station, he was surrounded by teenagers we assumed were doing him harm and accosted as such
it turned out these lovely kids had been feeding him for a fortnight on KFC
and their dad had called the RSPCA
who had attended, declared the cat "dumped" before leaving him to his fate and the tender care of the KFC children of this North London parish
.
It is to their credit he survived and did not fall victim to the dreadful baiters I know operate locally.
The kids pleaded with us to find him a home,
and as we had just vacated a cage (check Kato's story
) we could accommodate him
OH took off his coat, wrapped up the cat and we forsook our evening out to bring this waif to safety.
He was struck instantly with young Kuki who had remained after her brother Kato's rehoming, and so George stayed. He was named George as his "rescue" was on the same day as our future King was christened, and seemingly karma, one of his teenage carers was also named George.
Kuki was a facebook challenge. People who cared posted an alert that two cats, "Sweetie" and "Manic" whom I renamed Kuki and Kato, had been shut out by a family who simply did not understand cats but had taken on kittens with a young child in the house
. I'm afraid I lied to OH and went ahead to rescue this pair without his permission
as I felt they were in immediate harms way and inside my rescue radius (well I was off work and had some petrol in the car!)
Kato proved himself to be kid-proof and went to a friend who had been looking for a companion for her 4 year old daughter and lived in the Big House on the Hill
. Kato grew up to be a huge protective panther for that child, undoubtedly because of his attachment to the previous child he'd close contact with in his early life.
Kuki was too young to be rehomed, a tiny thing, just 14 weeks old, shut outside with only her big brother to defend her she had developed so many defensive strategies that made her too sharp to rehome alongside her beloved brother to that small child.
One year on, Kuki is as gentle as her brother proved to be, but she retains much of her abandoned aloofness
So unless Kato's family come and ask specifically for her to join Kato in the Big House on the Hill, she will remain with us and the Tuftyclub as an honourary member.
These precious things I hold close to my heart. I really am a lucky lady.
