Martha was aptly named - her name means 'lady' and as tabby mistress of a rather posh house in the country, she enjoyed the finer things in life for many years. However, this rural idyll didn't last forever, her humans' sadly passed away and she was left neglected and penniless. One Sunday afternoon, she was forcibly removed from the pantry and taken to a 'charitable' retirement institution – my spare bedroom.
Martha protested. She didn't want to mix with the riff-raff for goodness sake! She insisted on remaining in her own boudoir, demanding room service from first light - and getting jolly impatient if we didn't meet her high expectations! To be fair, she suffered from hyperthyroidism which hadn't been treated, she was painfully thin, and we were told her heart had been irretrievably damaged. So we willingly pampered her, and she became affectionately known as 'Boney M'.
She was bought a £165 air-conditioning unit to cool her in the summer months. In the winter, we forwent our own 12-tog duvet to ensure her warmth and comfort. In addition, she must have been the only cat in CP care to have her own laptop – on which we set up a bird/fish DVD on a loop to alleviate any boredom. Mind you, we suspect she continued to hunt as all resident spiders in her room mysteriously disappeared, and I never spotted a daddy-long-legs in there, not once. At Christmas, she had her own mini, fibre-optic tree and presents of course. I think Martha thought we weren't so bad after all... her health improved... she mellowed... she purred softly, but she would rarely venture downstairs, except if she caught the whiff of a cooked chicken!
Other memories include her disconcerting habit of sleeping with her eyes open... the sinking of her only two teeth into my forefinger when Miss Oink trimmed her claws... and cleaning her litter tray at 1.00am in the morning during an earthquake for Heaven's sake!
Dear Martha, who was only given weeks to live by the vets initially, who developed CRF, and who suffered a bout of flu during which she temporarily lost her miaow, spent over three and a half years with us. Mr Walker, her favourite vet, officially declared her 'amazing'. We thought her immortal... in our hearts she always will be.
