Hubby and I have had various cats over the years.  It started off 25 years ago when we purchased
our first home in Durban.  The previous
owners graciously left their big fat ginger cat behind.  I was pregnant with son no 1 when we moved
in.  This cat used to drive me nuts – it
did nothing but meow all day and it just could not get enough food – it always
wanted to be fed and I used to trip over it all the time when I was in the
kitchen.  I used to spend a vast amount
of time in the kitchen in those days, especially after my son was born.  Disposable nappies were a luxury item then –
I had an old twin-tub washing machine and spent hours washing cloth nappies
every day.  I don’t remember what
happened to the ginger cat but we obviously got rid of it somehow.

After that we moved to  Amanzimtoti  and then to Centurion and then we moved into
our current house in Johannesburg 16 years ago.


Tiddles & Lick

We then took ownership of a cat named Lick – don’t
remember where we got him from.  He was
black and white.  He was very friendly
and used to lick everything and anything (hence the name).  We were of course obliged to get a companion
for Lick – a tabby called Tiddles. 
Tiddles was very timid and a lot smaller than Lick.  Lick used to enjoy the great outdoors and we
seldom saw him.  Tiddles spent her days
following me around and sitting on my lap and occasionally going for a wonder
outside.

So one day I went out shopping – I drove a Chrysler
voyager back then as I had 3 kids at that stage.  I drove about 1km down the road only to hear
a screech and saw a cat diving off the roof of my voyager in the rear view
mirror and running off.  Dear little
Tiddles had gone to sleep on the top of my car and I had not noticed her and of
course I drove off with her on top.  I
spent weeks looking for her, knocking on doors and even setting traps with the
help of my local vet after someone reported a strange cat around their
property.  I never saw poor Tiddles
again.  My family like to bring this up
regularly and have a good laugh at my expense!

It was not long after when Lick returned home one day
with all of his insides hanging on the outside. 
He was either in a bad fight or had been caught in some barbed wire and
his stomach had been completely torn open (shame).  Not sure how he had made it home alive.  He of course could not be repaired and we had
to put him down.

We then adopted 2 little kittens from the SPCA – Gizmo
and Slush.  They were both very cute.

Gizmo & Slush

We have a security gate on our front door that closes /
locks automatically.  There is a gap of around
5cm between the door frame and the gate. 
I went through the gate one day not long after we adopted them and
slammed the gate shut (as I always do). 
About an hour later we could not find Gizmo – we eventually found him
strangled to death in between the gate and the door frame.

We felt guilty about not having a friend for Slush and
started looking around for a companion for Slush.  I eventually found a little kitten at the
Fourways vet who was the offspring of a wild cat they had captured.  We named him Charlie.  He was not comfortable being around people
and it took us weeks to get him to come out of hiding and comfortable enough to
be held.

Charlie is still with us and is now very friendly.  He is more of an outdoor cat and will not sit
on my lap, but loves a good stroke and tummy tickle and likes to sit on your
feet.


Slush

I have left Slush for last,  we have had her for quite awhile now.  She is pure white and is a real
princess.  She is very set in her ways.  She is an indoor cat and does not like the
big outdoors.  According to my vet she is
deaf – although I swear she hears us. 
She likes to sit on my lap and sleeps at my feet at night.  She does not like other animals at all.  She spends her days in a box in my storeroom
hiding out and when I sit down and relax at night, she will come out of hiding
and sit on my lap.  She has this “I
hate you more” relationship with my cocker spaniel – they cannot be in the
same room as each other.  My cocker spaniel
lives outside (to keep the peace).  We
have a glass sliding door between our lounge and outside.  When the glass doors are closed – Slush will
deliberately lay on the floor right next to the glass door and tease him.  She will roll about and stretch and do anything
to attract his attention.  They then play
the staring game – my poor dog always loses. If you open the glass door, Slush runs back into hiding. She has got such a personality and she is like having
another child around the house.

I love my cats to bits and I suppose I need to treasure
them dearly as one day when all my sons have left home – It will just be me and
my cats…… ( and hubby of course).