Fond memories of Katie Cat

Almost two years ago, I was lucky enough to have my beautiful tortie Katie Cat come and live with me. Regular visitors to the blog will remember Katie Cat’s Story.

My Katie Cat was a lovely lady of mature years when she arrived, enjoying sunshine and snoozing in equal measures. Food also featured highly with Katie Cat, especially squeezy cheese and prawns on special occasions! She had a very charismatic personality and I was never in any doubt as to how she felt about something – she always made her feelings known, especially if I dared to try to groom her! She would shout at me, take swipes at me and stomp away in a huff – before I had even had time to do more than a few strokes with the brush! Grooming was not her favourite thing and no one could sulk like Katie Cat.

When Treacle the tabby cat joined our family, Katie was quite put out, but soon realised that there was plenty of food to go round, just as many cuddles coming her way and a patch of sunshine for each of them!

Then Rita arrived and Katie Cat was intrigued – another tortie! After believing I had kept them separate for a couple of weeks, I discovered that Rita had in fact been jumping over my carefully placed barrier and joining Treacle and Katie in the rest of the house. Katie thought Rita was acceptable as she respected her status in the household and didn’t steal her food or favourite sunny spots. She could stay.

Katie’s favourite toy was originally her spider and she could play for ages, chewing and boxing the hairy fiend! However, that was until I introduced the catnip filled fabric champagne bottle. Well, what spider? The champagne bottle was her toy of choice from then on.

Katie Cat loved to sleep on my bed, not moving a muscle all night until I woke up and prepared her breakfast. Sometimes, she preferred to sleep curled up in her own bed, snoring happily, dreaming feline dreams.

Every time I think of my beloved Katie Cat I smile. We had only a relatively short time together before she passed away, but I felt we had known each other forever. Many, many happy times were spent with this funny little old tortie and I thank my lucky stars she chose me to be her willing slave! Thank you WADARS for bringing me so much happiness.

Brave Treo collects his Dickin Medal

Photo from BBC website

Beautiful labrador, Treo, is now enjoying a well earned retirement having saved hundreds of lives during his career as an army sniffer dog in Afghanistan.

In recognition of his work, Treo was awarded the Dickin Medal by the PDSA. This medal is the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross and was first awarded in 1943 by the founder of the PDSA, Maria Dickin CBE. 62 other animals have received the award: 27 dogs, 32 messenger pigeons, 3 horses and a cat.

Having seen him on television this week, it seems Treo is very much enjoying his retirement, playing with his favourite tennis ball!

It’s not just cats who have nine lives!

If you were watching Meridian this week, you might have seen the remarkable story of Poppy the Springer Spaniel. She was out walking with her owners near cliffs, when she spotted a seagull and set out in hot pursuit – straight over the edge of the 300ft cliff.

Her distraught owners were astonished when she was found by the coastguard, shivering and terrified, but relatively uninjured, having fallen into the sea and swum ashore.

Suffering only a partially collapsed lung, Poppy is now fully recovered and back at home with her family.

Tragically, another dog fell from the same spot but did not survive.

Please be very careful if walking your dog near heights. Chasing is a favourite pastime of many dogs and if they set their sights on a target, they will not notice any potential hazards until it’s too late. Either avoid walking along cliffs altogether, or keep your dog on a short lead. As you can see, not all dogs have nine lives like lucky Poppy.