The Catfather (Part 1)

David and I decided that we didn't want to have children together.  In my case I'd been there, done that, worn the T-shirt spattered with baby-sick and David said he didn't want to share me; he was very happy to be stepfather to my two boys, so our "babies" had to be furry and have four paws.

With very little encouragement I could be a crazy cat lady.   So it was fortunate that David loved cats as much as I did.  He would always stop to chat to any cat that would talk to him.  

When we first moved in together, we would see a majestic ginger cat patrolling the Bowling green opposite.  He had a military air, so we nicknamed him the Colonel.  There was a smaller ginger cat we called the Major. Ginger cats were officers in the Cat Patrol. Black & white cats were NCO's, the more black the higher the rank.  We often stopped to chat with the Lance Corporal, who was very friendly!  

Our first cat was a half-Persian who we named Angel.  My mother-in-law thought it was because we'd got him just after Christmas 1999 (just before the Millennium).  In fact, he was named after a character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We originally thought he was a girl and we were going to call 'her' Drusilla, until I noticed small but definite boy's bits when he crawled over my lap. He grew up to a very handsome cat.

Angel didn't appreciate David's efforts to learn the harmonica.  He'd sit next to David and when David began to play, he'd raise one paw and rest it lightly on David's arm until the music stopped.  If David started playing again, back would come the paw.  He was clearly saying, "don't do that.  No, don't!"

Angel enjoyed company and would usually follow one or the other of us around the house.  On one memorable occasion, he launched himself from the edge of the bath onto David's (shirtless) back while he was bent over the sink brushing his teeth.  David's natural reaction was to straighten up sharpish, which caused Angel to extend his claws in an attempt to cling on...it didn't end well.

Angel's "best friend" Smudge lived a few doors away and was a regular visitor.  Smudge helped himself to Angel's food, but that was OK because Angel went into Smudge's house and ate his food.  When Smudge was put in a cattery for a couple of weeks when his people went on holiday Angel didn't know what to do with himself. They were like two small boys and would torment the dog next door by sitting on the patio and LOOKING at him.  The dog would go crazy and eventually the next door neighbour lady (who wouldn't have the dog in the house) would come out and shout at it.  Those cats could be downright nasty at times.

We were both devastated when Angel had to be put to sleep.  He became unwell very suddenly and was in a lot of pain.  We both cried for days.  

A couple of weeks after he died, I found a feather on the kitchen floor, where Angel would leave his "trophies" ( feathers or, for some reason, elastic bands...I have no idea why!) .  The doors were closed, the windows were closed - I couldn't really explain were it came from.  However, the cat flap door was still unlocked so I supposed that Smudge might have brought it in and dropped it.  So I locked the cat flap so that nothing could come in or out.  The next day I found another one, first thing in the morning, right on the middle of the floor.  I have no explanation.