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CATS' OWN PAGE

Rusty (Lazarus - 1970 - 1983) Miranda (1970 - 1972) Sandy (Alexander Graham Bell - 1972 - 1986) Cassandra (1974 - 1988) Marcos (1985 - 1998) Bounce (b. 1997)

We were never "cat people" until Rusty changed things for ever. He was a waif my father brought home, the sole survivor of a litter of kittens cruelly buried alive and discovered quite by chance when a bulldozer was used to level a site for a temporary car park. My parents' cats would not accept the newcomer so with some misgivings I brought him home to meet our Labrador, Bruce. Bruce loved him from the start, so the kitten came to stay. We called him Lazarus, Rusty for short, and in spite of his ordeal and the permanent kidney damage it left him with, he lived for a full and happy 13 years. He was soon joined by Miranda, another bewildered stray, plucked from amongst speeding traffic. Sadly her life was brief, as she developed an inoperable liver tumour after only two years with us.	Rusty
Our next cat was Sandy - the only cat I ever went out to choose deliberately. I got him from the RSPCA animal shelter and brought him home as a companion for Rusty, who was missing Miranda. He didn't meow like normal cats, but did a passable imitation of the Trimphones so fashionable at the time, and so we named him for the inventor of the telephone! Cassie joined us next to make us a three-cat family. We went to visit my mother on my eldest son's third birthday and he came in from the garden, where he had been talking over the fence to her neighbour, saying, "Look what Dot gaved me!" and how do tell a three-year old he can't keep his birthday kitten? Her name came from his lisping attempt at "Little Cattie" and so Cassie it was.	Sandy (L) and Cassie
After Rusty and Sandy had both died, leaving just Cassie, Marcos came to stay. He was a street cat, four years old, and fourth-hand. I took him in when his latest owner moved into a flat where she couldn't keep pets. He took one look at the dogs, hissed and slashed at them, and became the boss - for the rest of his life, Suki was terrified of him and even Beamer, all 70 lbs. of her, treated him with healthy respect!	Marcos doing what he did best- SLEEPING!
Our present cat is Bounce ("because she did.") She was picked up at the roadside after being hit by a car which failed to stop. She was terribly injured but survived after months of nursing, although she can't climb or jump very well and her tail, having been broken, is now limp at the end, and always falls into a rather interesting "question mark" when raised. A few months after Bounce arrived, Marcos died peacefully in his sleep and we became once more a one-cat family. Since by this time we had three dogs, for the present that is how it will remain, although if another stray arrives........

Our present cat, Bounce, looking elegant and aloof as always.

Bounce at the edge of the garden pond
indulging in her favourite sport of frog-hunting.

DOGS' PAGE

PONIES' PAGE

The cat featured on this background set is Bounce.
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