My life has been filled with 7 cats in my short life of living with these amazing creatures ! Unfortunately due to life circumstances they don't live with me anymore - but my love for them continues and I think about them often and wish for their company and soft cat purrs.
The last few days Ive been craving the company of cats - the gentleness of a cat curled up next to be .
My life with cats only started late in my 30's - my mother was petrified of cats so we never had them as pets and most of my friends well they had dogs ! My first cat - gloriously, beautiful Harvey - was a feral cat found in a shed in Scotland - barely 4 weeks old and tiny .His first few weeks of his life he was called Meg as we thought he was a girl , went a little crazy shopping at the pet store in Inverness - bought everything in pink ! and Surprise little Meg soon grew into magnificent Harvey.
He loved the car and he loved the beach.On our days off in Gairloch , North West coast of Scotland we'd take him to the beach with us fishing , camping ( until he got his claws into the blow up mattress !) and in general just for walks on Firemore beach or our closest beach in Gairloch.
Others would look at us like we were crazy - but hey dogs are allowed on beaches why not cats ! He loved the sand , digging holes and exploring the rocks - he wasn't event that afraid of the water .
I miss him till this day - we flew him from Scotland ( after a 5 hour journey from Gairloch to Edinburgh - where he pissed all over my lap - nice when you about to board a 11 hour flight to South Africa) .He spent a week at a travel vet before he arrived in Cape Town via Amsterdam -in one piece.
His life was short in South Africa - he got run down in Greyton - a very grey , painful day .
Ruby joined us in our brief stay in Durbanville - a stray cat that one day turned up at our flat , hungry and crying - we took her in , fed her and she made herself at home on Harveys hello Kitty blanket - we advertised , tried to find her owner - but in the end she moved to Greyton with us. What a strange little cat she was, didn't liked to be touched only when she was eating , shakes her head like an old Indian man when you talk to her and would sometimes just stare at you with those big eyes.When I had to say goodbye to her a few years ago it tore my heart in two - but with so many blessings she now lives with Elizabeth in Pringle bay and I couldn't ask for a more beautiful, loving , serene home for her- and on visiting her I see how well she is cared for and loved ! Thanks Elizabeth - but Ruby still looks at me that way ! Like she knows everything and I know nothing !She is probably right !
One day in Greyton a friend arrived and said he had many kittens if we would be interested - Of course already having two cats I was a little concerned but who can resist a kitten - and there she was the most beautiful , adorable , feisty little ginger girl - Mackenzie soon settled into life with Harvey and Ruby in Caledon street. Not long after Harvey left us and there we were with a pregnant Mackenzie . She wasn't even 6 months old - but soon we had Fionn ( who sadly lived a short life on the Blue Hippo and disappeared into the mountain) , Willow ( who lives with Lisa )
and two others who left Greyton . What a beautiful experience to see these kittens born - incense , a velvet blanket and some good music helped Mackenzie along to give birth . My first litter and last of kittens. I was in awe at nature. Mackenzie now lives a happy life with Malcolm - after some months of terrorising our poor neighbours Susan and Rupert and their cats.
Mackenzie moving out was due to the arrival of Cairo and Indiana. She point blankly refused to accept them and left - it broke my heart - I suppose it wasn't wise to get more cats - but then I was settled in my home and my life at the time and thought it a good idea. The two terrors crept deep into my heart and one of the saddest days of my entire life was when I had to say goodbye to them. Indi lives happily with Jill and Matt ( bless their loving hearts) and Cairo - well Cairo can have his own TV show. This magnificent boy after my divorce could not give up our old home in Greyton and would continuously go back to the house - somedays I would fetch him , whistle once and he would jump in the car and we would go back to the house. Other days he would basically just refuse. The saga continues till today, he is more settled and now called Jack - he lives in the kind heart space of Lilian and Im grateful to the amazing people of Greyton and Buitekant street who have supported him and helped him let go of his old life ! I miss him dearly and find even speaking about him hurts - MAYBE , just maybe one day he can live with me again.
When the opportunity to take care of someone 's cat in Beijing came up I jumped at the idea. Keeping cats indoor in Beijing is essential for many reasons - so there I was with a one year old Chinese cat called Mi - a cat who could defy gravity - leap like a matrix cat - who's personality wavered between Ghengis Khan and Hello Kitty in all about 3 seconds ! This cat was a handful but also a beautiful , crazy companion for 6 months . After his "visit" with me was done and his owner after a few visits had her baby - she decided not to take him back - as I was about to leave China - more than mild panic ensued as I was drawn back into the same panic I experienced with Cairo and Indi. But in less than a half hour I received a message from Pamela ( fellow south african in beijing ) wanting to know where her and her flatmates could get a cat ! He now Terrorizes them !
One most beautiful moment spent with Mi - the hutong cat - was when Marco came to visit for the first time and for his first time experienced cat energy and his amazement as the cat purred. They became good friends ( i must say i was a little jealous as the cat became a little more attached to him than me ! ) - That cat had magic - and for a brief moment of my life I was honoured to share the same hutong space !
for now - I befriend street cats, in china, nepal,tibet , cambodia, tahialnd,vietnam and now here in South America- until I have a home I have fond memories of all the feline friends from my life !Seriously in danger of becoming a cat woman !
RUBY !
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