My dear little Mr Misty has a real story to tell of hardship and suffering. He was only four years old when I noticed all was not well with him. He had been ill before, but this time I knew it was more serious. Straight to the Vet and a series of blood tests, X-rays and examinations. The Vet thought it was Lymphoma, a form of cancer and wanted to put him down but I could not do that, I could not part with him. He was given all the medication thought to be appropriate and we took him home. The steroids worked their magic and gradually he improved. He then developed diabetes and had to have insulin injections twice a day. All this he endured without any complaints, he was a model patient.

Misty eventually had to have chemotherapy which proved to be a saviour and he thrived, but we noticed he did not come when called and whereas he used to be so nervous and alarmed at the slightest sound, we began to realise he was now deaf and being a very nervous cat, this was a blessing in disguise. He lived what was now a quiet and peaceful life. At the same time as he lost his hearing, his voice became louder and he would call out as loud as he could and waited for me to go to him, so eager and pleased to see me as I scooped him up and cuddled him like a baby carrying him home and to safety. Willow also did her best for him and frequently gave him a  cuddle.

When you love and care for an animal that needs you, you become one with them and the bond is so incredibly strong, they seem part of you, and this was how it was with Misty and me. Life was as good as it gets! Every time I picked him up I would say to him “Have I told you lately that I love you?” he just purred his own loving reply. We understood each other. Even his Meow’s sounded like “Marmeee!” and visitors laughed when they heard him as they could not believe their ears!

Life was not all suffering and he enjoyed playing ‘cat and mouse’ with the other cats, stealing their mouse from under their noses. Misty was almost toothless after necessary extractions, but there was no stopping him during the baby rabbit season when he would hunt every day by sight and smell and always managed to find a baby rabbit which he devoured with gusto. My dearest Misty managed to reach the age of eleven when the Vet found he had a tumour in the intestine which now signalled his ‘time to go’. I still could not have him put to sleep, so we took him home and we cared for him giving him water and Lactol every hour for the few days he had left. I slept on the settee with Misty in a little bed next to me, available every minute should he call out, and I went without sleep to care for him. We had time enough to say our good-byes and to reaffirm our love for each other.

A broken heart does not do justice to how I felt parting with my dear Mr Misty, I loved him so much, but I pride myself in the fact that he did have a life and a happy one at that, and I was so pleased I made the right choice for him.

The full story and many more are in the book “Viewed From My Window” by Patricia Oliver price £10 + £1.75 p&p. For more details, contact Patricia on 01202 826244. All proceeds go towards the Veterinary and Welfare needs of the 16 feral cats currently in her care.

After the death of our dear timid Miss Misty we decided that we would rescue another kitten from the farm with too many cats and kittens and again instead of one kitten we chose two little adorable bundles of fluff. One of them was the most gorgeous pinky-beige colour, very difficult to describe, but she is the same colour as the floor tiles in the house. Soft and beautiful with a wonderful fluffy bib around her neck, we decided to call her Tamisa which was soon shortened to ‘Tammy’. We had to call the other one Mr Misty as he was the image of Miss Misty and was actually her brother, just a year younger. How could we not choose these two? There were so many kittens that needed a good home, but we really could not take them all, even if we had wanted to.

Willow, took responsibility for the new arrivals and watched them constantly. She was their surrogate Mum. We now had five cats to care for, but they all got on very well together.

The kittens spent their days climbing and exploring anything and everything and if they were not climbing they were taught hunting skills by both Willow and Ziggy both of whom would bring in rodents for them to chase until they were old enough to catch their own. At first Kiqui ignored the kittens and was most disgusted with the intruders, he would not even be in the same room as them, but about a month later we found him placing dead mice in their food bowl, a sure sign of his acceptance. He too then brought them live prey to chase.

When Tammy got a bit older, she decided it was her job in life to walk the perimeter of the field garden every day in search of rodents, come rain or shine we would see her toning her hunting skills. It did not matter how many rodents she caught and ate, she still needed her packet food and her biscuits as rodents of what ever size could only be described as an aperitif.

Tammy has became rather a loner, and seems to prefer her own company, always sleeping in a room by herself, although she will allow us to give her a good cuddle from time to time and a good brush. I think Tammy has developed ‘airs and graces’ as she likes to look down on the other cats, so to this end she has also become an excellent climber, her favourite perch being the olive tree. If another cat attempts to climb into the same tree, she will fight them off with determination. They have no choice but to back down and find their own tree to climb.

Now 14 years old, Tammy is still an absolute beauty and I am sure if we entered her into a competition, she would steal the show. Fortunately she has always been in relatively good health and has not given us any undue worry or concern, except for a touch of arthritis from time to time and if we see her limping we give her the medication prescribed by the Vet. She is certainly still enjoying life to the full.

The full story and many more are in the book “Viewed From My Window” by Patricia Oliver price £10 + £1.75 p&p. For more details, contact Patricia on 01202 826244. All proceeds go towards the Veterinary and Welfare needs of the 16 feral cats currently in her care.

When we first set eyes on Kiqui, he was about six weeks old, so tiny and just a bundle of fluff. His endearing characteristic was that he held his head on one side and stared at you as if to say “Pick Meeeee”. How could anyone refuse? He had a sister with him we called Miss Misty. If we had to choose one of them, we had to have them both.

Now we had four little felines in the house and sleeping arrangements proved difficult as all four of them wanted to sleep with me. Ziggy insisted on sleeping on my head, Kiqui wanted to sleep on my neck, nearly choking me. Willie slept on my shoulder and Miss Misty insisted on sleeping on my hip. Turning over in bed was no mean feat as everyone had to reposition themselves as best they could.

Over the years we have all loved to walk around the field garden and sit on the seat positioned at the top end of the field. At the end of our visit Kiqui’s greatest joy was to run as fast as he possibly could back home. He was so quick and he seemed to get such a thrill from his run especially if it became a race with the other cats. In his younger days he was also a hunter and has had his fair share of baby rabbits, but hunting these days is left to the youngsters, he is content to watch the birds preferably through the big window.

Kiqui suffers with asthma needing continuous medication, but he is very good at taking his pills. One day we found him laid out motionless as if dead. Horror and panic set in, but he was still breathing! An emergency visit to the Vet, blood tests, X-rays, examination, no obvious cause to his paralysis or condition. The Vet gave us two options, he would put him to sleep there and then, or he is given a drip, kept in over-night and we review his condition in the morning. I had to give him a chance, I felt convinced he would pull through.

The following morning he raised his head and called out when he saw us, but still unable to move his whole body, he was so pleased we had come for him. Still no news as to why he was in this state, but he was getting better. So the Vet took care of him until the evening and we visited again. Now he was eating, trying to stand and obviously improving.

A slight increase in his steroid medication and he has now made a remarkable recovery, but has a slight wobble on his back right leg. A further visit to the Vet out of concern for his lack of appetite and possible kidney problems, meant although he was now 15, he was fast using up his nine lives! A few short weeks on his new medication and he is eating really well, tucking into roast chicken, roast beef, steamed fish, sardines in tomato sauce …anything he fancies… We do not mind, we nearly lost him, he is happy, he is eating again, he is enjoying his walks… he is ALIVE and WELL and that is all that matters. We have our Kiqui back.

The full story and many more are in the book “Viewed From My Window” by Patricia Oliver price £10 + £1.75 p&p. For more details, contact Patricia on 01202 826244. All proceeds go towards the Veterinary and Welfare needs of the 16 feral cats currently in her care.

Miss Misty we rescued from the farm with too many cats and kittens all in need of a great deal more care than they were getting. She was a ‘seal-point’ white all over but who later developed dark ears, dark face and a dark tail and she had such strong blue eyes.

Miss Misty was as timid as could be, and agoraphobic, not daring to venture outside. She did not wish to be cuddled but would allow a stroke if forced to do so. I worried about her and felt quite protective, but this worry led to disaster. Our other cats were playing outside with a mouse. They were having such a wonderful time together and I felt that Miss Misty would really enjoy being out there with them and joining in. Perhaps she was too scared to cross the area by herself to where they were playing. Should I take her there and place her with the others, or should I just leave her? I made the wrong decision. I carried her outside and placed her with the other cats assuming she would be excited once she was there. I left them to it and all seemed well, but when it came time to call them in, everyone came back except Misty. 

We called and called, but she did not appear. Fear set in. Where could she be? Torches in hand, we started a search and checked everywhere we could, even outside the front gates, but could not find her anywhere. Back again, and no sign, we went again to the road hoping against hope we would not find her outside the boundary. Too late! It was a heart wrenching experience to find her poor body lying limp by the side of the road, it must have just happened, we had been here already and she was not there, but perhaps because it was dark we had not seen her run that way even though we were looking.

We gently picked her up and started to examine her. Her head was battered and there was no sign of life in her although her body was still warm. We had lost her. It was my fault. The tears flowed, but there was nothing I could do to bring her back to life. My heart was breaking as we dug her grave and buried my dear, timid, little Miss Misty, barely one year old. How would I ever forgive myself? Never again have I ever encouraged a cat to do something it did not want to do, and fortunately we have never again lost a cat to the road.

We kept the other cats in the next day, too afraid to let them out, but Ziggy knew something was wrong and searched for Miss Misty, looking at us and crying. When we did let them all out, he went directly to the place where she had been placed prior to her burial and would not move away for nearly half an hour. He knew she had been there. It was so sad to see him as he said his goodbye.

The full story and many more are in the book “Viewed From My Window” by Patricia Oliver price £10 + £1.75 p&p. For more details, contact Patricia on 01202 826244. All proceeds go towards the Veterinary and Welfare needs of the 16 feral cats currently in her care.

The full story and many more are in the book “Viewed From My Window” by Patricia Oliver price £10 + £1.75 p&p. For more details, contact Patricia on 01202 826244. All proceeds go towards the Veterinary and Welfare needs of the 16 feral cats currently in her care.

The third of the 23 rescued and feral cats that found their way to our door was a kitten we called Ziggy 2. He was rescued from the farm with too many cats and kittens all in need of a great deal more care than they were getting.

Just a bundle of fluff, we loved him as soon as we saw him and he became a life-long friend of our Persian cat Willow who had been so excited when we brought him home. She would run after him, catch him and hold him with her front paws whilst pounding him with her back legs. Ziggy screamed and screamed until Willow let him go. He ran away, then ran back for more. He was tough and this was a great game.

Ziggy would love to roam across neighbouring fields during the summer but when we whistled to indicate we were going to go for a walk around our field garden he ran all the way home to join us. He just loved to accompany us on a walk. We would all end up sitting together enjoying the sunshine (we had other kittens as well by this time) and the cats would either sit on our laps, play fight each other, pretend to hunt through the long grass, or just lay on their backs and sleep. It was a lovely time of togetherness, enjoyed by all and at the end of our visit there was a race back home by the cats to see who could run the fastest.

Ziggy used to enjoyed hunting in the snow, not sure what to make of it all, but now he is 15 years old, he prefers to sleep in the warmest place he can find in winter, however in Spring several cats insist on catching a baby rabbit every day. They eat the skin, the bones, the teeth, the whole body leaving just one back leg and a tail with perhaps the kidneys lying around. I try to rescue them when I hear their screams but the cats growl like a dog if you try to take away their prize. When I can, I put them out to a safe place in the long grass and tell them “I can only rescue you once, so don’t get caught again!”

One misty moisty morning, when there seemed to be a cloud hugging the grass to a depth of about a foot, we spotted a ginger tail held high, Ziggy was buried in the cloud of mist. Every few minutes you would see him jump as high as he could, take a quick look around to get his bearings and then continue with his hunting. It was such great fun and kept him amused for ages.

Foxes would sometimes kill the adult moorhens nesting on our pond leaving the chicks to fend for themselves. When this happened Ziggy would bring me the tiny chicks safely carried in his mouth, so that I could take care of them. This was almost impossible, so I just took them back. He did his best for them and I felt so guilty I could not do more to help.

Ziggy thrives on cuddles and attention and he is so big he can only get half onto your lap, but if you stop stroking or rubbing his head, he begs for more. He is also something of a coward as his annual trip to the Vet for his jabs is always accompanied by his terrible crying all the way there. He never cries on the way back!

The full story and many more are in the book “Viewed From My Window” by Patricia Oliver price £10 + £1.75 p&p. For more details, contact Patricia on 01202 826244. All proceeds go towards the Veterinary and Welfare needs of the 16 feral cats currently in her care.

The full story and many more are in the book “Viewed From My Window” by Patricia Oliver price £10 + £1.75 p&p. For more details, contact Patricia on 01202 826244. All proceeds go towards the Veterinary and Welfare needs of the 16 feral cats currently in her care.

The second of the 23 rescued and feral cats that found their way to our door was Willow. Only 10 months old, her third owners decided they could not keep her. Shut up in the garage all alone and her coat horrendously matted as only a Persian coat could be. I could not leave her there, I had to take her away.

Willow found grooming a painful process. We had to cut away many of the lumps, teased out others and tried our best for her. The local Vet recommended an anaesthetic and a proper de-matt. It took him forever and the huge bill reflected this. We later tried a grooming parlour, but she came back with lesions in her mouth. I challenged the owner of the salon but the girl just said they had put a muzzle on her. Poor Willow! She did not return to the salon.

She had a favourite game, hiding upstairs on the landing, just out of sight. It began with us looking for her and calling out “Willow..where’s my Willow?” As we approached the top of the stairs, she jumped out, paws in the air and screamed at us. It frightened the life out of us the first time she did it, but we had to do it time and again. “Willow..where’s my Willow?” She absolutely loved it, and never got tired of her wonderful game. We just laughed and laughed.  

We thought Willow would like a companion and a local farm had many cats and kittens, uncared for with obvious signs of fleas and worms, matted coats and insufficient food. We chose a ginger kitten and later came back for two more, unable to take them all away we paid with trays of tinned cat food so those left behind would at least benefit.

Willow, thought the kittens were her toys, she was in her element. Soon afterwards we moved to a new home with five acres and her days were spent hunting and exploring. It was a good life for a cat. In the evening she was fascinated by the lights of passing cars, but she never attempted to go to the road, she stayed by the gates. She was so full of character and such a happy soul making the most of life in every way.

Willow had to have her coat stripped by the Vet many times, which proved to be very costly. She needed several dental extractions and her little Persian snub nose caused breathing difficulties, so regular medication was also needed. She developed a heart murmur and when she looked tired, we carried her around. She purred away in grateful thanks for the lift. This was a cat that gave so much love, and everyone asked after her.

At 13 she was diagnosed with kidney failure. There was nothing the Vet could do for her, but we would not have her put down, we took her home and nursed her until her time came, we cuddled her, told her how much we loved her and how much joy she had brought to us. We thanked her for all the care she had given to the other kittens that had found their way to our door and she slipped away. Dear lovely Willow, we loved her so and still miss her today.

The full story and many more are in the book “Viewed From My Window” by Patricia Oliver price £10 + £1.75 p&p. For more details, contact Patricia on 01202 826244. All proceeds go towards the Veterinary and Welfare needs of the 16 feral cats currently in her care.

The first of 23 rescued and feral cats that would ultimately find their way to our door had been thrown out of the house because a new girlfriend was allergic to cats. Abandoned, uncared for, 9yr old Ziggy had no teeth and his matted coat was full of fleas. That was the fate of our first cat. We had to take him in.

A good brush and some flea spray improved his condition and we made sure he would never go hungry again. He proved to be such a loving and cuddly cat with a knack of climbing onto your lap without you being aware. So many times, we had to ask, “How long has he been on my lap?” We never knew. At meal times a claw would suddenly appear by your plate as it stole a tasty morsel, it did not really matter what it was, he just wanted a share of your dinner.

Ziggy enjoyed playing games and a ball on a string would have him running around until he got breathless. He also loved you to join him on the carpet and he would cuddle up close happy and content in his new home. Ziggy soon realized that his new Dad got up at 5am to go to work, and if he didn’t then he would come upstairs and gently touch his face to wake him up. He at least had heard the alarm clock.

While we were at work, Ziggy would like to spend the day outside, but when it was time for our return he would always be by the little front wall looking down the road, ready to welcome us home. He never missed. In the evening when he needed to go outside again to check the perimeter and chase off any unwelcome neighbouring cats before bedtime, we always said to him. “Be back in 10 minutes!” We were surprised when we let him in again and a passing neighbour walking his dog called out. “He was back in 10 minutes!”

He often took himself out for a walk to a wooded copse not very far away where he would meet the other cats of the area, but when we whistled he would come running, stopping short if he saw another cat watching him, he would then walk past them very slowly until it was safe to start running again. He did not wish to show himself up as being under our control. It was so funny to watch him do this, you could see his mind working!

Everyday I would cuddle dear Ziggy like a baby and say to him “What would we ever do without you?” We loved him so much. But one frosty morning I slipped on the doorstep, the milk bottles crashed and smashed, Ziggy panicked at the commotion and ran straight across the road, narrowly missing a passing car, went into the driveway opposite just missed the wheels of a reversing car, ran back at full speed straight in front of another car, but made it to the front garden and I heard him climb the back gate. I had to leave him to calm down. I felt reassured that he had made it home and was probably hiding in the back garden safe and sound.

Later I found Ziggy stretched out by the back gate, dead. His heart had given out from all the panicking and running. I was absolutely heart-broken at the loss of my first and very loveable cat. He had been with us for two years and we missed him terribly, Dear Ziggy!

The full story and many more are in the book “Viewed From My Window” by Patricia Oliver price £10 + £1.75 p&p. For more details, contact Patricia on 01202 826244. All proceeds go towards the Veterinary and Welfare needs of the 16 feral cats currently in her care.