Kizzy
I had had Kizzy for 20 years and was heartbroken when I had to finally say goodbye to her. My dad had given her to me when I was 14 years old: I had grown, married and had two children and she had been with me all the way. She had seen my sons grow and they adored her!
As the weeks went by I felt that I could give another older cat a chance of a loving home. I had heard about PussyCat Lodge and decided to give Jennie a call. "What are you looking for?" asked Jenny, "I don’t mind," I said, "one that nobody else wants, and I do love black cats but anything. I don’t mind". "Well", said Jennie. "We have trouble homing the black cats. Why don’t you come down and have a look?" "I can't come and choose," I said as I would be useless picking one and leaving the others - I just couldn't. So Jennie gave me a list of 4. Ollie had been at the Lodge for 18 months and was very nervous; Witch was a kitten and again very nervous; Felix and Lucky had been very well looked after but their owner had died suddenly.
So I was left studying my list! I will speak to my husband tonight, I thought! So that evening I broached the subject. He being of the sometimes miserable sort didn't really want to go through the list of hopefuls, so the decision was left to me! (He always complained in a humorous way that he came behind Kizzy in my affections and my answer was I had known her longer than I had known him!)
I tossed and turned all night trying to decide what to do. I had eliminated the kitten as I thought she would have more chance of getting a home; Ollie I wasn't going to leave as he had been there ages and what about the two brothers, Felix and Lucky! I thought of how Kizzy would have felt if she had ended up in a home.
The next morning, when everyone had dispersed to school and work, I phoned Jenny and said, "I will take all 3 adult cats!!" I had not even seen them and what was my husband going to say?! I'd worry about that later, after all they were all black and he wouldn't notice for a while, not if they all went into hiding!
Sure enough when I got them all home they all hid and I knew they wouldn't all come out together, not yet anyway! What I hadn't banked on was my youngest, who being only 6 couldn't keep a secret! "Laura what have you done? Not 3 cats!!" He wasn't happy for a while but he soon came round! If you have 1 you may as well have 3 was my answer!
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Daisy |
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Rosa |
One year went by and I was asked to foster two black 7 week hand-reared kittens. I thought I had better ask this time and my husband Graeme agreed as it was only for 3 weeks. They were called Rosa and Daisy and everything was great until Rosa became seriously ill. We were all worried sick but she was such a fighter. After spending 1 week at the vet's on a drip she was allowed to come home! "They can't be homed yet" I said, "Rosa is still weak." This went on for a few more weeks: then came crunch time! My sons and I couldn't bear the thought of letting them go. Ollie loved them too - he would wash them and play with them. "They have to go," said Graeme "we can't possibly have 5 cats". He couldn't admit that he too had become attached to them! I called his bluff, "You take them back as I just can't do it", I said. His reply was I can't either!!
There you have it! The story of how I became the proud owner of 5 black cats!
Laura McBride, September 2005
