Farewell to Belle

I never thought I would write this sentence: We have decided to rehome Belle.

We did this reluctantly and with heavy hearts, but after much thought we decided it was the right thing for all of us, including Belle. I took her to the Blue Cross animal shelter on Saturday.

Regular readers of this blog will know we adopted another cat named Joni in November, and hoped she and Belle could live together peacefully. Belle is very much afraid of other cats. Joni is considerably smaller, and her body language was not at all aggressive; but Belle responded with hissing, growling, and pointing her ears back whenever Joni was nearby, occasionally swiping at her with a paw.

We knew Belle had lived happily with Dexter, so we persevered and hoped she would calm down. It was going very slowly, but we believed we were making progress. Then one morning there was an incident, Belle struck hard at Joni, and Joni was bleeding heavily on our kitchen floor. Thankfully there doesn't seem to be any lasting injury, but it was clear we could not continue. One of the cats had to go.

The Hard Case of Fast Freddie

Rehoming Freddie in the style of film noir. What can I say, I was trying to avoid work.

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It was another hard case today. My pal Fast Freddie got in trouble with a dame. It's always the dames. He had to skip town, so he kept his head down in the back seat, while I drove him through the rainy streets to a place where they ask no questions. He can stay there until the heat is off.

Next week he'll be back out in the world, with a new name, far away from the woman who brought him low. He should have known better than to mess with a classy lady like her.

Don't know if I'll ever understand this case, but at least a few beers will help it settle into perspective.

Farewell to Freddie

With the greatest reluctance, we have decided to rehome Freddie.

This is not a decision we took lightly, but it's time to face the facts. Freddie is aggressive towards Belle. His behaviour is not just youthful exuberance, boredom, or fearfulness from being in a new place. He's gotten loose a couple of times in the last week. On both occasions he went straight for Belle, and a fight ensued with fur torn out on both sides.

We've done everything advised to help cats acclimate to each other. We've had very carefully controlled contact between them. Belle is not at all confrontational, and happy to keep her distance. None of it makes any difference to Freddie's behaviour. Carrying on is not fair to Belle, us, our baby son, or even to Freddie himself.

He is a young, healthy cat, very friendly with humans, so I'm sure the Blue Cross will have little difficulty finding a new home for him. It is painful, but we have come to believe it is the responsible thing to do.

The sad and confusing thing is that Freddie is a cuddly, gentle fluffball with human beings. He doesn't even mind being grabbed by our baby son Z (not his real name), who is eight months old and has absolutely no idea of restraint. That is the saddest part for us; Freddie and Z got along so well, and we could see them becoming great friends as Z grew up, but it is not to be. At least Z is too young to really understand what is happening or miss Freddie when he is gone.

As I've written before, cats are not little furry humans. They do not see the world the way we do. You can't reason with them, you can only try to work with their instincts.

Right now, Belle needs some peace and quiet and stability, and in all honesty so do we. At this point we're going to wait at least until next spring before we consider adopting another cat.

We're going to miss Freddie; but we had two months with the most affectionate cat we ever met, and nothing will ever take that away from us. We hope he finds another family soon, and they have a long and happy life together.

If you are interested in adopting Freddie, please enquire with Blue Cross Cambridge (where he is known by the name Steve). He will appear on their website sometime in the next day or so.

Update: On a lighter note, I've retold this story in the style of a noir private eye.

Update 2015-08-27: Freddie is now listed for adoption on the Blue Cross website.

Update 2015-09-05: Freddie's listing has been removed from the website. We hope he has found the loving new home he deserves.

Death and Facebook: Now with extra creepiness

Somewhere in the Facebook servers, an algorithm "pushes" anniversary reminders of your posts. Today, it pushed a photo of my cat Dexter, taken exactly three years ago:

As regular readers of this blog will know, Dexter passed away six weeks ago tomorrow.

How dare Facebook pretend that it cares?

Cute Cat Friday 2015-06-19: In memoriam Dexter

We will scatter Dexter's ashes in our back garden tomorrow.

Below the fold are some more pictures of our much loved cat, as a chronicle of his life with us.

Not just a cat

Something a family member said, talking about Dexter's passing last month:

You tell yourself he's just a cat, but it still makes you sad.

She's lost pets herself, and knows how hard it is; but in fact, I don't tell myself that. There is no "just" about it. He was a cat, no more and no less.

Belle and Dexter in the garden.

Rest in peace, Dexter

Dexter passed away on the night of Friday 15 May 2015.

He was a rescue cat and we don't know his exact age, but we think he was about eleven years old. He died of severe anaemia. He had contracted feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), most likely when another cat bit him a few months ago. The anaemia was likely to have been a complication from FIV.

The picture below shows Dexter enjoying the sun on Monday. At the time, we had no reason to think anything was the matter. His end was very sudden; at least he didn't suffer for long. He will be cremated, and we will scatter his ashes in our back garden where he had so many happy times.

I'll write more later about how much Dexter meant to us. For now, I just want to say he was the warmest, gentlest, most adorable feline companion anyone could ask for. We loved him very much. We will miss him terribly and remember him always.

I have set up a Just Giving page for donations to the Blue Cross animal welfare charity in Dexter's memory.

Dexter, 2004? – 2015

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Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed us –
The Dews drew quivering and chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity –

    — Emily Dickinson