Farewell, Puddy Cat ? - 21.8.2014

"And they've even had the gall to castrate him!!!"

The prettiest kindest sweetest Puddy Cat

Some things you've said stay with you forever. Another is "If I don't like him after a week, can I bring him back?" said to the nice young lady at the Police Pound where we got our first, and definitely most memorable, dog from.
However, back to the now.
So. Soon after we moved to the Old Rectory we decided cats would be a good addition to the family. We had masses of mices and, we suspected, reams of rats. At that time we used to buy our veg from a chap down the road who, every time we went, seemed to have another litter of kittens; many of them grey and white and very pretty. So we asked if, next time he had a litter, could we have 2 or 3. They were all semi feral so we determined that they would live outside all the time and could sleep in the outbuildings.
 In due course, we acquired 3 kittens for nothing - nobody asked for money for cats in those days - after all, they bred like rabbits..... glad to find homes for them. The three kittens were called Harpo, Chico and Groucho. We housed them out in the old coachhouse. When the builders came to rebuild and extend, we tried to contain the kittens but in no time they were running all over the place and we just hoped they'd be safe. One morning I woke up early and, coming downstairs, looked out the window and saw a fox with three kittens gambolling around its paws. An amazing sight, but after that I didn't worry about the kittens..... As they grew, they got bolder and bolder - I remember one morning looking out of the bedroom window and seeing Chico bounding across the orchard.... followed some while later by Groucho. Harpo was always the quieter one.....
In their second year Chico became more and more adventurous... one day he wasn't there in the morning and then he wasn't there in the evening either.... the next day he wasn't there at all..... A while later, Groucho went.
Harpo stayed behind, lazing in the sunshine and generally appearing for cuddles on what we called the "cuddle chair" when we did evening stables.
Then, around harvest time in his second or, it could have been third, year, he too disappeared. I dreaded that he'd been swept up by the combines - it was that time of year..... we looked and called everywhere but he never came back. I ran off photos and put them up in the local vets and feed merchants.
We heard nothing. For months.
We gave up hope of finding him.
I arranged with the local Cats Protection League rep to rehome two semi feral cats. We were scheduled to pick them up on Thursday.  On Wednesday she rang us and said someone had reported a stray cat who looked just like the photo of our cat that we'd posted in the local vet's practice.
We arranged to go visit the men and see the cat if it was around - they'd been feeding it for a few days and had become very fond of it.  We looked, it appeared identical to Harpo. The photo bore this out. The men agreed. We took the cat. It was a little hesitant. Why wouldn't it be. When we got 'him' home he behaved differently.
"Whoever's had him" I said to the Big Boss "Has trained him to the house...." "Why" said the boss. Well he pooped next to the loo so I produced a litter tray and put it there and lo and behold he pooped in the litter tray - we'd never taught him that so someboy in the intervening months clearly had. And

Queen of all she surveys

so it went on; little changes in behaviours - this cat came in happily whereas Harpo never did; this one pooped in the litter, obviously Harpo never did; this one jumped on the table to eat which, clearly, Harpo never would have done..... and then one day as he was eating on the table in the scullery with his back turned towards me I noticed, for the first time, that he had no 'dibblies'.
"Well, would you believe it" I said to the Big Boss in high Dudgeon "not only has someone hi-jacked our cat for months but they've also had the cheek to castrate him" Initially, I thought of contacting the local vets to ask them who might have brought in a strange cat..... but time passed and I didnt do that.... Meanwhile, the cat whom we still called Harpo continued to surprise us with his 'new' habits.
But we thought no more of it - happy to have the cat home..   Months later  I took him to the vet for the annual check up. During conversation and my recounting the story of the cat's disappearance, including the bit where whoever had him, had the cheek to castrate him, .....well, the Vet looked closer and declared Harpo a female, and worse than that, one that had been spayed!
So not our cat at all. I felt awful. We'd had this cat for some 8 months by now and it had settled in. "No" said the vet in response to my question - "don't give it back to the men who found it". "If it's settled down, keep it".
So We did.

With new pal Waifa

And renamed it Puddy cat because by then we had no idea what to call it.... it not being Harpo..... And gradually Puddy Cat wove herself into our lives and into our hearts. She soon found the way upstairs and slept every night on our bed curled up in the hollow of my side....She had the loudest purr - quite extraordinary in one so small. Later she became the Computer Cat spending all her waking hours sitting on the Mouse Mat (the only mouse she was ever really interested in, although I think she did catch a handful of her own over the years) or the modem.

Loving the fireside

When the fire was lit in winter she'd often be found sleeping there;she was certainly a comfort cat. Feral was not a word in her dictionary.
In summer she'd be found in the garden sleeping in a flower basket or lazing on the picnic table..... such a small thing, she needed the sun to energise her.... it was a rare sight to catch her running, but

Snoozing in the sun on the picnic table

when she did it was an exuberant hop and skip just for the fun of it..... she'd dash about the house as if she'd been stung by a bee... for no apparent reason. Then collapse on the bed & sleep all day.
She was the sweetest thing.... sure of her place opposite the dogs, she never ran away and would happily spit at any who dared to try and bully her..... Gunner treated her with the utmost respect, daring just to give her the merest sniff and then pass on. She respected that. She never spat at him; she often did at the pups tho. Pilot was never on her radar - far too 'strong'. They had nothing to say to each other.
A few months back she started to look a bit thin. More recently she became fussier with her feeding. About 6 weeks back she moved out of the house and into the old stalls on top of the hay. The pups were too much for her I suppose. I took her to the vet eventually. He found a big lump. Tumour on her bladder - gave her a steroid injection and she picked up immensely. Went back a week later and the lump was reduced to tiny. Another steroid injection and for a few days she was quite bright. It didn't last though and she declined slightly day by day until she was just a skinny thing with such a skinny appetite. After last weekend the weather turned cool so I brought her into the house and put her bed by the aga. At night she moved into the dining room to be quiet and away from the bouncing pups.
The sun set beautifully last night.

When I came back in after 'doing' the animals she was curled upon the 'big'chair.
We had a cuddle; she purred - not quite so loudly. Went to sleep.
This morning when I looked, she had passed on.



Miss you already Puddy Cat.

Gunner & Puddy Cat sharing a thought