By Ray Petersen — My wife and I currently have a house full of pets.
We have four cats and a dog, and as my wife is away for a couple of weeks I have spent some serious ‘pet time’ recently.
It’s been fun, and comforting that I’m not alone.
Regular readers will recall that last year we lost our much loved ‘Spongy’ a Sharpei/Spaniel cross canine, to an insidious and persistent cancer.
We have kept some nice pictures of ‘our boy’ but we didn’t really need them, as the memory is still strong, and every feature is indelibly printed on our consciousness.
We actually planted a couple of memorial trees to him, so a little of him will always remain in Oman, where he spent most of his life.
Anyway, to the current pet family. ‘Bron’ and ‘Stannis’ are ‘Rag Dolls’ which I think are an American breed originally, they have beautiful, lustrous coffee, cream and white coats and look amazing.
They are intelligent too, but, though they are brothers, are incredibly different in their mannerisms and behaviour. ‘Stannis’ is the more outgoing, and though he rarely meows, he is always up to something, and it’s often schoolboyish pranks, and ‘stirring.’ He specialises in ambushing the other cats, and pouncing in a way that, though it’s physical, is more like a human saying boo!
‘Bron’, on the other hand, is more of a delicate individual, but who always has a fair bit to say.
If he’s inside, he wants to go out.
If he’s outside he wants inside.
If he’s got ‘wet’ food, he wants dry food, and so on, and he doesn’t half let us know about it all.
One thing the two of them have in common, is that they like to snuggle up to my feet.
I don’t know whether my feet don’t smell, and they are showing affection, or my feet do smell, and cats just like smelly feet.
These two boys were once our daughter Sasha’s cats, so I guess she’ll want them back one day? Hmmmmmmm, we’ll have to think about that.
‘Lily’ and ‘Antar’ are two cats that Lena couldn’t resist when she saw them being given away by an expatriate on his way out of the country.
I wasn’t keen, but it just goes to show who wears the pants in our house doesn’t it?
Anyway ‘Lily’ is as hard as nails, and yet so affectionate when she wants to be.
We think she likes me the best, as when she snuggles up to me, she will rub herself against my feet, legs’ arms, anything, for an hour without stopping.
It means of course, that her steel grey hair is always stuck to my clothes, my chair, and often in the air, so my hay fever gets a proper old tickle-up.
Last of our four is ‘Antar’ and I have never known a cat like him.
He was an absolute nightmare when he came, as he would mess everywhere, beat up all of the other cats, hissing and growling all the time.
To be honest he was very hard to live with.
Anyway, Lena took him for the “unkindest of all cuts,’ and from a few weeks later he was a changed boy, man, it........ um, cat.
He loves Lena! He has conversations with her, comes when she calls, and now and again does something really funny.
A couple of weeks ago, for example, I put down one of those cartonned flavoured milks, and you wouldn’t believe it, he started trying to drink from the straw.
I even got a photo of him doing it.
Our resident dog at the moment is ‘Lychee’ but we are hoping to re-home her soon.
She is a wadi dog whom we had found a home for, but the family was unable to sustain the level of care the dog needed.
So, for the last few months, ‘Lychee’ has been our star-boarder.
She is a lovely dog, and all she wants to do is play, and be a good companion.
Unfortunately, for me, the memories of ‘Spongy’ and the level of affection I felt for him, can’t simply be transferred.
I feel so sorry for ‘Lychee’ and hope we can find a home for her, as she deserves some love and affection, not just care.
If there’s anyone out there...?
— petersen_ray@hotmail.com
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