Diary

Cassius' StoryRSS feed

Posted: Monday 16 August, 2004

by Rosemary at 9:32pm in Cats 1 comment Comments closed

Homer's had quite a lot of coverage on the site and Copper has her spot, but Cassius only gets a passing mention. But, in fact, if it wasn't for Cass, we wouldn't have either Homer or Copper.

When Dan and I moved here, we both wanted a dog. We were dog lovers. So we got Tess. Then we got Meg. Cats didn't really feature and Dan professed to not being a cat lover. Ha!

Although I had never owned a cat, my Gran always had a cat and I've always liked them, although Gran used to embarass me by talking to any cat we met out in a "silly" voice. (Which is exactly what I do now).When I worked on the farm, the cats always became my "pets".

So once we had the dogs, I started to think that "a house isn't a home without a cat". I suggested to Dan that we might get one and he didn't say"no" (quickly enough). So I bought a bowl with "cat" on it, a dish with a picture of a cat on it and a cat carry box. After these had been on the kitchen table for a few days, Dan asked if we were getting a cat.

A few days later, I was out to lunch with a girlfriend at a little place that, when I thought about it, was quite close to the SSPCA shelter. So, after lunch, I popped along to see if they had two tabby kittens (female). These were to be called Merry and Pippin, after the Hobbits. I had it all planned in my head!

But, best laid plans etc etc. The shelter had NO CATS. Oh, hang on a minute, yes, they did but it wasn't a kitten and did I want a look? So in I went to be shown this large, black, "recently ex"-tom cat. He limped out of the cage (he'd been injured). I picked him up. He leaned back in my arms, looked me in the eye, then put his head on my shoulder and started to purr. Was I hooked?

I consulted with Dan, who was resigned. Six days later, Cass came home. He is called Cassius because he is big, black and beautiful. And had one fight too many!

We were told Cass was between two and three. Our vet thought he was between 6 and 10 and had been in a road accident at some time, resulting in a (now healed) broken pelvis and a large (but stable) hernia. He also had raging halitosis, which had nothing to do with the accident, but required urgent action, for no other reason than Cass has a penchant for sitting on your chest, gazing deep into your eyes. One whiff of breath, and you were retching.

We brought Cass home in March 2001. Since then, his claim to fame is having to visit the vet every festive season. In 2002, it was his hernia that finally needed repaired. In 2003, he had a urinary infection, which lead to the diagnosis of a heart murmur. What a bargain he's turned out to be! When the vet sees us coming, he gets right on the phone to his travel agent.

But Cass is a dream. He is such an affectionate cat. We'll never know his story or why he ended up in the shelter, but I'm sure he must have been a well loved pet. Did he belong to an elderly person who passed away? He's certainly never been abused - he is the most confident cat with humans (and dogs!).

He's very beautiful, lazy, lithe and a consummate killer. He can always find the best spots for sunbathing and the cosiest spots in winter. He enjoys a bit of computing and likes reading the local newspapers (if he can read through his bum). He's such a smart cat!

We just love him to bits and he has made us into cat lovers. That's why we have three of them and wouldn't be without them. But if it hadn't been for Cass, who knows...

Comments

claire

Thursday 26 August, 2004 at 8:15pm

thankyou for giving your lovely cat a home! I have a second hand cat(Tansy)to replace the lost cat(Lily) who insists on bashing the origional cat(Daisy)who I got to replace the old cat(Fred). Bashing aside, they are getting used to each other and are marvellous company.

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