Esther lived a hardscrabble life on the backstreets of Dartford for an unknown number of years. A teenage mother she never grew to full size, weighing in a a mere 5kg. Her muscular control meant that when you picked her up she barely weighed enough to register. After endless pregnancies she was finally rescued and her last litter weaned, was neutered. She came to me when I moved into my home in Chatham, shortly after the arrival of Smidgen (a large 17 week old kitten from Cheshire). Smidgen, despite being fully weaned, immediately took advantage of the fact she was still lactating, despite being half as big again as she.
Shadow and she became friends from the outset - a quick hiss and a surprised look from the dog, and they were friends for life.
Smidgen, once convinced that suckling was not acceptable, continued to accept her mothering instincts for the rest of her life, and she offered it to all other animals that came into the household over her time with me.
In February 2009 we returned to Australia, and after a brief stay in quarantine, she came to join me in the country. Here she enjoyed freedoms that might never have featured in her wildest imaginings - hunting rabbits, mice and birds with a conviction it was astonishing to watch. During the mouse plague she accounted for five mice a day for weeks on end!
Two years ago, during a hot summer, I became aware of a significant increase in the snake population, so considering her hunting tendencies decided it was time for the cats to remain indoors - a change she accepted with her usual calmness. She was getting noticeably old, and the vet considered it likely she was approaching or past her 20s. Yesterday she took her last visit to the vet - her breathing had become severely compromised and she was wasting away. She left calmly in my arms, at the hands of a vet who was well familiar with her childhood haunts. Today she is with Shadow at the bridge, no doubt curled up with him and having a good rest.
