"I would like to tell you about our first cat, Fluffy.
We had Fluffy for thirteen years, he was a stray when we got him so we
didn't know how old he was really. He was fully grown, but he seemed quite
young in appearance. A few years ago Kath and I both worked and
sometimes I would come in and she would be still at work. Sometimes
when I was feeling really low Fluffy would help me through those times and
once when she was in hospital he kept me company. Fluffy was always
there when we needed him. Here is a poem about Fluffy. By the
way, "Heartbeat" is a British TV program about life in rural Yorkshire in the 1960's. It
is interspersed with the music of the period, which I find quite nostalgic,
as I was in my teens at the end of the the '60's.
No "Heartbeat" Tonight. Sunday evening at six forty-five, Kath and I are heading home. We call at the local off-license on the way. I get some wheat beer to drink While we have our tea. Italian food, wheat beer and "Heartbeat" on TV. Great! We go into our street and I remember the way That our cat, Fluffy, used to run to us When he saw us coming. His joy at seeing us was something genuine That no human could fake. He died in a cattery while we were on holiday, Fluffy never seemed to get on with other cats. We go into our house That seems so empty now. "Seven o’clock, I think the bar is open." I say to Kath, she laughs and agrees. Then I remember that "Heartbeat" Finished on TV a while ago. "There is no "Heartbeat" tonight, is there?" I say, and realizing what I have said, I think of Fluffy again. The house was so empty without Fluffy that it was unbearable to come home and miss him so much. This was why we got another cat so quickly afterwards and our new cat, who we have now had for two years, is Tiddler. Tiddler is not as friendly as Fluffy was but she has her own peculiarities and her behavior is quite different to his. Tiddler never knew Fluffy, which is a bit sad in a way, but I think that it might not have been good for Fluffy if we had got another cat in his later years. Tiddler is helping us to cope with Fluffy's death. Fluffy had got quite thin before he died and we had taken him to the vet about two months before to find out why. The vet had said that he was thin because he had a bad tooth which was causing him pain and stopping him eating. He removed the tooth but Fluffy didn't put on weight. When we arrived back from our holiday the news that Fluffy had died on the day that we left was devastating. I had taken Fluffy to the cattery and he had been meowing all the way that he did not want to go. What made it worse was that the lady at the cattery said that they had had a post mortem done on Fluffy when he died and it had shown that he had had cancer. Fluffy's body was at the vet's. The thought that not only had Fluffy died when we had been away, when he needed us most, but also that he had been cut up by strangers and put into a freezer was very, very painful and really I have still not got over it and don't think that I ever will. The only redeeming feature of Fluffy's body still being at the vet's was that we were able to take him home for one last time to the place that he loved and then bury him ourselves. We put him into a beautiful place in the woods which we go and visit quite regularly. Although when I lived with my parents as I was growing up we had had a number of cats, one at a time that is, none of them had ever made such an impression on me as Fluffy had. He had shared a part of my life which has so far been the happiest, almost from the time when Kath and I had moved in together, and the three of us had really been a unit. Fluffy had shown me the enormous value of love and the insignificance of intellect. Here are a couple of photos of Fluffy, one on his own and one with Kath". -Nigel (Fluffy's Paw)
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Fluffy |
Fluffy and Kath |
Music: "I will wait for you" by Rick Rowan I know that Fluffy waits patiently and lovingly for his family at the Rainbow Bridge. It will be a privilege for me to finally meet him. -Tiddler |