Post #154 - Rescue Cats: Simon Augustus

Finally, in this never ending mini-series concerning my feline adventures, we come to our latest incumbent: the large beautiful tabby cat whom we named Simon.  After the disaster that was Tabitha I still yearned after owning another cat, especially after Tilly's sad demise last summer.  So, in August 2018 we contacted the rescue centre and sought a cat.

I've pictured Simon above as he was when living in his pen, and named 'Cat' by his original owners (how original!) as you can see, he's a bit of a stripy stunner.  Totally gorgeous if truth be told.  At 18 months, he was a juvenile, but not a kitten and exactly what we wanted.    His backstory was that he'd been brought up in a busy crowded bustling rented family home, which was being sold and the tenants, Simon's owners, weren't permitted by the landlord to keep pets in their new accommodation.  This is an all too common tale.

Simon was very nervous of people and when we took him home, he immediately hid in the understairs cupboard and then later, under my bed.  He did, however, come up onto the bed when I was alone with him and playfully 'butt' my hand, purring like crazy and being a complete and utter sweetie.  I hadn't owned a male/gib (meaning neutered) cat since I lived with my parents and quite frankly, they're a bit nicer than their female counterparts - all of my molly cats have flirted with Mr and Master Logic and have been a bit disdainful of me.

Once he was let out in the garden, Simon started disappearing; we once walked around the block three times, knocking on people's doors, trying to locate him.  He eventually returned and was found crying in a neighbour's garden.  Initially Sophie bullied him because she's an extremely territorial cat, but once he'd built up his bulk and strength, he soon retaliated and then the problems began - they fought constantly.  We asked the Vet's advice and she suggested purchasing a a plug-in 'Feliway' diffuser to enable the cats to bond over a pleasant feline pheromone.  We tried it for two weeks or so and it didn't work, it was always Simon vs Sophie - meow, crash, thump.  He also hated my son, Master Logic, which kind of defeats the object of a family pet!

It's now six months on and things haven't improved - although it's currently January and freezing outside, Simon rarely comes into the house.  He eats and then goes on his rounds, ruling the neighbourhood with an iron paw, but, joking aside, this isn't a great status quo for any of us - human or feline.  We think that Simon may have bengal heritage and like Tabitha before him, that kind of gene mix doesn't make for a particularly suitable pet.

*Update*

He was returned on Sunday, 20th January.  The lady from the cat rescue centre told us that his previous owners had adopted him as a stray - hence his wanderlust-type behaviour.  I wish we had been told all of this because it would have made me question his suitability as a family pet. 

Post #152 - Rescue Cats: Sophie Margaret (Whiskers)

So, we come to my bicoloured friend, Sophie Whiskers.  I'd always hankered after owning a black and white cat, especially those Bloomsbury type ones, but after owning Tilly (qv) for many years, she inevitably got old and in late 2014 we decided to adopt another moggie to cope with the former's inevitable demise.  As ever, we're keen to give an unwanted animal a nice home, so off we toddled to the local branch of Cats' Protection.  We didn't meet with the woman we'd adopted Tilly from back in 2003, because she'd since left the organisation under a cloud (reason unknown), so we went to another lady who lived in the same postcode.

The CP lady had a huge extended semi-detached house full of cats and Sophie was in a cage near the door.  I'd especially requested a black and white animal and there she was, a cat of some ten months or so of age and cute as a button.  Her backstory was that she'd been left in a box outside a Veterinary Surgery in a less than salubrious area of south London.  She hadn't been spayed by her careless owners, but it's CP's sensible policy to neuter all pets because it improves their behaviour and most importantly, stops the spread of unwanted kittens.

Sophie soon settled into our house.  Tilly didn't really appreciate sharing her house with another cat, but was kind of old and crotchety anyway.  She occasionally clouted her around the head, which is fair enough really.  My puss started sleeping on our bed, but has defecated on it before, which was, quite frankly, bloody awful.

Post #151 - Rescue Cats: Matilda Hilda (Tilly)

In my previous post I wrote about how much I adore the members of the feline race.  When we moved into our first house, which 'boasted' a garden, the very next month we adopted a cat from the local branch of Cats' Protection, she was already called Tilly.  Tilly, a three-year-old (or so they thought, vets can only really make a guesstimate based on an animal's teeth) tortoiseshell female had been left behind with her brother Milo in a house after the owners moved out (nice people, huh?)  She didn't have a great relationship with her brother/litter mate, so they were due to be rehomed separately and as we only wanted one moggy, she was ideal as we didn't want a kitten rampaging through our new things.

Tilly was our pet for a number of years, she stayed home when we both worked in London and kept the house and garden pest free.  That's pretty much all you want from a cat really.  She also really liked my dad, pets usually do - he's our suburb's version of The Cat Whisperer.  Or maybe he just smells meaty?  Who knows.

Here's a picture of Tilly, aged sixteen taken in December 2016.  I've already written about her sad demise in an earlier blog post: https://faspie.blogspot.com/2018/07/post-140-my-late-cat-tilly.html