by Ruth aka Kattaddorra
(County Durham, England)
Jozef (left) and Walter, as kittens
Walter came from the dirtiest house we've ever seen, in Walter Street in the town where we live, hence his name. He was a tiny terrified 8 week old kitten and we had to pay the people to let us bring him away. They couldn't look after themselves,let alone a kitten. The vet diagnosed a heart murmur, fleas, worms and ear mites. Not surprising as he'd been fed only on cheese on toast.
He soon settled in with us but once he recovered he was the bane of our older cat Ebony's life and he was the most mischievous kitten we'd ever had. Our solution? To take in another kitten as a friend for him. But we hit a snag, we couldn't find another kitten in any of the local Rescue Centres.
Then we heard of a very young mother cat with 7 x 6 week old kittens but she had no milk left and they'd been weaned very young.They had a houseful of cats and kittens, too many to cope with.
We travelled 25 miles each way to fetch Jozef to his new home. He had 6 ginger brothers but Jozef won our hearts as he toddled trustingly to us.
Walter was overjoyed to meet him and our strategy worked, Ebony was left in peace!
So our beautiful boyz grew up together having great fun and they gave us hours of pleasure watching them. Most people ask if they are brothers as they both wear white shirts and socks and at first glance they do look very alike, but they have totally different faces.
Sadly Ebony died 2 years ago at almost 17 years old. Walter and Jozef are now 8, and unusually share the position of 'top cat'. They've never been able to decide since Ebony died, who was next in line for the job.
They are 2 wonderful characters who rule our house and we love them to bits!
Ruth
