Bella,
I hope putting pictures in this reply is going to work...
Anyway, I thought I'd post piccies of my 'babies', that have since died
The first one is Pudding. He was a long-haired silver tabby boycat. My NMum used to breed long-haired silver tabbies, but she didn't sell this one, because he was a 'failure', so I had him. (He was born very spindly and weak, and had a U-turn kink in his tail that made the end of his fluffy tail double-thick, so he looked a bit lion-like!) He was also very, very pale for a silver tabby - hardly any markings at all - more like a silver blob than silver tabby. But his temperament was absolutely wonderful. He was such a softie. I had him from when he was six weeks old, and I used to carry him round my flat in the pocket of my dressing gown, like a kangaroo would (not that they wear dressing gowns, but you know what I mean). Trouble was, he wanted to do that when he was an adult, too! I used to 'wear him' like a fur collar, when I did the vacuuming, because he was scared of the vacuum noise. I lived in a ground floor flat for six years with him, before I moved to a house with stairs - and he NEVER worked out stairs! He used to sit at the bottom and cry to be carried up, and then sit at the top and cry to be carried down...the other cat couldn't teach him, either. He was just always daft as a brush, but so cuddly. He lived till he was 10, and I was so sad when he died of a bladder infection.
My other cat was Gizmo. I got him soon after getting Pudding, to keep him company. Gizmo was a half-breed short-haired silver-spotted, with an outgoing (read: naughty!) temperament, but he was really clever. He could work out how to hook open the fridge door and help himself to chicken leftovers, and then shut the door again! I would hide behind the door to watch him doing it - it was so funny! I used to put him in for cat shows when he was young, and he got to be a Supreme Grand Champion in his class. I've still got the rosettes to prove it. I was so proud of him. He used to adore being shown - he'd show off in front of any audience.
When I lived with my NBoyfriend, the boyfriend took a dislike to Gizmo in particular, and was very spiteful towards him. Once, he dragged him out from behind the cooker, breaking his tail in two places (either side of the hand grip). It paralysed him from the middle downwards for a couple of days, and the vet thought I might have to have him put down then (at 4 months). But another vet came in and tried 'feeling' along the spine, like a chiropractor does, and she managed to put the nerves back in properly, so he lived to be 17 eventually, with no lasting side-effects from using up one of his lives so young!
When he had to be put down at the age of 17, I took him home afterwards and held him until his body went stiff, I just couldn't believe he'd gone.
Weren't they lovely??
Janet
