From Adorable Kittens To Wonderful Cats

This article was inspired by Ruth (Monty’s mom) who asked on another article if I missed the kittens who Walter and Jozef once were and the answer is, yes I do! But I love our cats as adults too and as the years go by I love them more than ever.

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We rescued Walter from a horrible home when he was 2 months old, we had to pay the people £5 to bring him away. The woman was wearing dirty clothes and then the man came downstairs equally as dirty and with a tiny kitten clinging onto his pullover for dear life. He was to be our Walter. Sadly we had to leave his sister, they wouldn’t part with her, maybe they were planning to breed kittens from her to sell.

Walter was shaking but we had to take him to the vets, he had fleas, worms, ear mites and a heart murmur. Ebony was 11 years old and hated him on sight. When he felt better from his vet treatment and good food and tlc he was a real pest to her. She only spoke to him in hisses.

So our solution was to find him a companion and this is how Jozef came into our family. We heard about a farm house with kittens needing homes. Jozef’s mother Mrs Champ had 7 kittens and no milk left to feed them. His 6 ginger brothers were spoken for and going that day too, they were really too young to leave their mother but she couldn’t cope, she was very young herself and all the kittens were already eating kitten food. His gran they called The Other One (strange name) had 4 kittens of her own and had been trying to help her daughter out but she wasn’t coping with 11 of course.

Mrs Champ had one more kitten at Christmas that year, they called him Noel and kept him, then thank goodness they saw sense and had all the cats, both male and female, neutered.

But back to the day we went to see them, Jozef toddled across to us, he was like a little house brick on legs lol. He definitely chose us. Walter leapt up in the air with happiness when we arrived back home with Jozef and wanted to play, poor Jo ran for cover. He said ‘Who is this madman, I haven’t even had time to unpack yet!’ But he soon settled in and they played together and Ebby was left in peace. Jo was so tiny he couldn’t even climb into the litter tray, we put a book next to it as a step up for him.

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Walter was hyperactive, he ran up the curtains and struck the wind chimes constantly. Poor Jo was jealous, we had to lift him up to have a go. But we did have fun, we invented all kinds of games, it was exhausting and we used to shut the boyz downstairs to sleep at night so that Ebony wasn’t bothered by them. We could see the relief on her face when we said goodnight to those little livewires.

Tamuri who was around a year old, lived next door, he loved to come and play with them. He loved Ebony too, he made himself quite at home and his family knew where to find him. Walter was almost twice the size of Jozef and went for neutering a long time before him, Jo still hasn’t caught up in size but isn’t shaped like a house brick any more.

Eventually Popsy came to live with us too, she loved Ebby and Jozef but mostly steered clear of Walter, as he grew up he became ‘the cat who walked alone’. Tamuri’s people emigrated and rehomed him. It broke our hearts as we loved him like our own. Sadly we heard he was run over and killed in his new home by a main road. I wish they would have left him with us.

Popsy died at only 5 years old and the following year Ebby died of old age. So since then we only have our boyz, Walter has anxiety if anything changes, we think the bad start in life caused it and he’s a bit of a bully too. Jozef puts him in his place but we feel it wouldn’t be fair on either of them to take any new cats in, maybe depriving them of a home where they would be happier with no Walter to rule them.

Ruth aka Kattaddorra

42 thoughts on “From Adorable Kittens To Wonderful Cats”

  1. All very good points, Michael, RuthaAka, Barbara.
    I’ve never really had a huge problem with cats despising one another, just some that don’t want anything to do with each other.
    I think, because I have never had one cat alone ever in my life, I was a bit baffled with the comments. I just don’t have that experience, so I trust that ya’ll know what you’re talking about.
    I don’t know how a flat is different from an apartment, condo, or house.
    I’m guessing that it may be what we term a “studio apartment” that is usually quite small and may have only 2-3 rooms.

  2. Totally agree, a stressful home environment is not healthy for a cat and can cause illness like cystitis for a start, plus over grooming and all manner of feeding and litter box problems. I don’t agree with the shove them in and let them find their place theory, I think each cat deserves consideration, especially the resident cat who has been the sole cat and who is not a young cat any longer. It’s a fact that there are thousands more cats than there are homes but sometimes, for example as in Michael’s case and in our case it just isn’t possible to take more in and make it work so we just have to do the best we can for homeless cats in other ways.

  3. I love your concern about making sure a new cat fits in. Too often people assume they can bring a new cat to a home where there is a resident cat without problems. Cats are still essentially solitary and territorial. These emotions and the cat’s lifestyle are barriers to accepting a new cat. I would like Charlie to have a cat friend but I don’t think he would accept. He is too set in his ways.

  4. I respect your opinion Dee but it can be very stressful for the cats as well as the humans if a new cat isn’t accepted by the resident cat and in a small home it can be a nightmare. When Popsy came into our family it was hell on earth protecting her from Walter who has hated black cats all his life, we had to be on guard all the time incase he bullied her or Ebony, she and Walt never got along. Sleeping arrangements were very awkward too as both Walter and Popsy chose Barbara to sleep with, I had Ebony, Jozef and sometimes Tamuri too, there was no one we could shut downstairs by that time without making any of them feel unequal, so we didn’t have very peaceful nights being on the alert for any trouble. I think Charlie at around the same age as our boyz are now would find it hard to share Michael, yes cats need homes but is a fraught home better than no home? I think ferals adjust better to sharing, their lifestyle is to live in colonies, domestic cats with a loving caretaker don’t need companion cats. Only my opinion of course but I don’t think Michael should feel guilty about only having only one cat, as he says they are ‘joined at the hip’ and it would be a tragedy if that happy relationship was spoiled.
    I think Michael does more than his bit as he cares about the welfare of all cats worldwide.
    Love you Dee x

  5. I’m pretty sure you can guess my thoughts about adopting another cat considering my life. The decision is really a human one and not a cat one. Cats adapt. It’s not necessary that they be best buddies. We can’t predict how it will be until it happens.
    It’s all about what the human is willing to accept and how much effort they’re willing to put out, ie. dividing their time and attention, deciphering two different personalities, and providing a share friendly environment.
    I don’t believe that my presence, alone, is sufficient for any cat. They like having their own kind around even if they’re not on “speaking terms”.

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