Introducing………..Frankie

I have imported my original site, Gallery Cats and Hens; and anyone reading this may wonder why Frankie isn’t mentioned anymore….please do read this. 😦

Siamesecatz

Frankie was our little man. He was the cat I always wanted. He came into our lives after I’d lost dear Maddy, my wonderful black puss (named after Maddy Prior because she sang all the way home when we got her).

I’d wanted Siamese for years after reading Doreen Tovey’s books starting with Cats in the Belfry. If you haven’t read them – do – they are brilliant. So after Maddy I decided to take the plunge.

Heavens above – what a roller-coaster ride. Frankie was such a character. If he was hungry he’d ring the strings of  bells that I have hanging from the kitchen door. He’d ride on my back, he’d talk to you (not even bothering to wait for you to reply!) and he had several nicknames including Prince Wow-wow (which I’m sure needs no explanation), and Mick Jagger (because of the way he used to strut…

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A Poem for Maddy

Maddy, a very Fine Cat, Indeed.

 

In our house were dogs, and Maddy loved them,

 

They were her pals, and loved her, as well;

 

They’d swap tales of where they’d been, what they’d smelled and what they’d seen….

 

but I’m sure there’s things they didn’t tell !!

 

 

In our house are chipmunks, but Maddy just ignored them….

 

though they race round their cages, and do somersaults too;

 

But she’d give them a look, stick her tail in the air,

 

and carry on doing things a cat likes to do.

 

 

In our house are birds, but Maddy wasn’t bothered….

 

they just twitter in their cage, and never come out;

 

So she’d give a haughty stare, and stick her nose in the air,

 

she had more exciting things to think about.

 

 

In the garden are our chickens, and Maddy quite liked them….

 

they all cluck and croon in a friendly way;

 

So as long as it was warm, and she’d  found a sunny spot,

 

she’d hang out with them for most of the day.

 

 

Our Maddy’s left us now, but we still can sense her,

 

curled up in the sun, or on a comfy chair;

 

Or coming home from walk-about ….jet black…shining…

 

so although we cannot see her….we know Our Maddy’s there.

 

 

Written for her by our dear friend ‘Babs’ – thank you so much Babs!

 

 

It wasn't me!

 

 

 

Maddy; Spring 1998 – 29 Feb 2012

I am very sad to report that dear Maddy lost her battle with the mouth tumour on Wednesday 29th Feb 2012.

I can’t believe we had to make that awful decision for her, just the day after Zeus had died.

I didn’t post this yesterday because our site is in danger of becoming an obituary column at the moment – but that won’t  happen because we will look to the fantastic times we shared with our animals and I will be posting some great photos of them as we go on…………….

Maddy passed very peacefully in the sunshine surrounded by those who loved her.

What more could anyone ask?

Maddy - a very special cat

 

Candles lit for Maddy

For Zeus…….

Yesterday turned into a very sad day…..

We had a phone call in the evening from our friend and neighbour, Claire, to say that Zeus, her beautiful 2 and a half year old cat, had just died. He had been a bit off colour for a few days and the vet wasn’t sure exactly what the problem was – but no-one expected him to die as suddenly as he did.

When Claire phoned me and said ‘I’ve got some bad news for you…’ my heart sank – I knew what she was going to say. I think she had some sixth sense over it as she kept saying , ‘he’s not right’.  We know our animals and Claire knew Zeus.

Needless to say, we shared a glass of wine and talked about him and we went round with Claire to say our goodbyes to him. (And, I guess, like Claire, we were so stunned we had to see he’d gone for ourselves). 

Zeus

He was a real character – the first day he was allowed out – we watched him stalk an empty crisp packet that had blown into our garden – the surprise on his face when he pounced on it and got nothing more than the startling rustle of the foil, was priceless!

He used to nip over to our other friend’s over the road – wait until there was no-one about then sneak in through the window and eat their cat’s food! (Well, they say the grass is always greener….).

He’ll be sorely missed – he was one of those cats that never understood the word ‘no!’ And he’d talk to you. You would go out to tell him off for his latest misadventure – and he’d look at you and go ‘wow!’ and you couldn’t help but laugh.

He lived up to his name, of course, as the God of Thunder as he’d race across our conservatory roof sounding like the wild hunt had finally caught us up! Or you’d go out to see to the hens and you’d suddenly have that feeling you weren’t alone and you’d turn and see his aristocratic face peering down at you from the studio roof.

 Zeus was a clown and a loveable one at that – and we will all miss him.

Sleep tight mate.  Life will never be the same again…………..

Zeus, enjoying the late evening sun

In Memory of Dirk and Meg……

I thought it would be nice to include our last two dogs, Dirk and Meg. Maddy is our last link to them and I feel that writing this blog is such good therapy, I thought I’d  write a piece about ”The Chaps’ (as they were affectionately known) as well.

Both were Lurchers and Dirk came to us at 15 weeks old, his owner deciding that he would be useless as a hunting dog! (He turned out to be right, of course, as a mouse ran over his paws one night and his face was a picture!) Dear Meg was with us from 8 weeks. (And, I have to say, the mouse wouldn’t have got away with doing that to Meg!)

At 7 years old Dirk developed diabetes but with lots of TLC and dedication on our part (we didn’t even have a day out in all that time; we were so determined to keep him stable) he lived to a grand age of 14!

Meg, bless her, had been born with a congenital heart defect and at 14 months old we were told she wouldn’t see her second birthday. We were so delighted when she did, we threw a big party for all her vets and friends (the Lord Mayor of our town officially opened it! She made the local papers and even had a well-wisher form Hollywood, USA!) Thanks to her dedicated team of vets, Meg lived happily to 6 years old and made every minute count!

I think pets teach us so much about ‘living in the moment’ – and Meg and Dirk did just that! 

Dirk passed peacefully on April the 15th 2009 and Meg left us, just three months later on July the 18th. There is no doubt in our minds she died of a broken heart – she adored Dirk. After he died, she never recovered and just seemed to give up.

I will over the months and hopefully, years, include them every now and again in what I write but for now I would just say ‘wherever you chaps are – we miss you – and we’ll always love you’.

Dirk - the Handsome One!

 

Meg - our Little Princess