When we bought our house, back in 2001, one of the first things we wanted to do was get a cat. I had grown up surrounded by dogs, as my parents bred Newfoundlands and my Mum, with the dogs, were registered as PAT (Pets As Therapy) dogs. So when Martin said he wanted a cat, I was a little nervous as I had no experience with cats, at all, but that was when we got our first one, Pudney.
We adopted her from a local rescue centre but sadly she passed away, unexpectedly, after we'd only had her for three and a half years.
Soon after we bought home Barnaby, he was approximately 6 years old, again from a rescue centre.
After we'd had him for a while, I had the bright idea of getting a second one so we bought home a 6 month old called Kit Kat!
All I could see was both of them cuddled in with each other.........unfortunately that never ever happened!
We moved to our wheelchair accessible flat in 2015 and were able to bring both cats with us.
We lost Barnaby in 2016 and Kit Kat in 2021 and decided we needed a break. Kit Kat had really bonded with Martin......actually they all do but we think that is because he feeds them, and even though we were both heartbroken when we lost her, it was sudden and she was only 14, Martin struggled with her loss so we didn't contemplate getting another one.
I am on Facebook and on this particular day it was international pet day and there were photos of pets and people celebrating the day. I decided to put a post up wishing everyone a happy day, saying that we would get another cat one day! I was then contacted by a relative of Martin's, in Bournemouth, who explained she had a friend who runs a rescue centre in Poole and there was a cat that they wanted to get out of the area. She then sent a photo of the cat and she was a Persian!
Now a little back story! A few years ago Martin had seen a Persian cat and fallen in love with the breed, this was before grumpy cat! We had accepted that we would never get one though as we only ever adopt ours from rescue centres and a Persian cat would never end up in a rescue centre, would they?!
Apparently Rosie had been owned by an older couple, who didn't know how to deal with her, and subsequently she ended up at a wonderful rescue centre in Poole.
After a serious discussion we decided that it was too good an opportunity and we have a lot of love to give a pet who just needs a bit of attention........Little did we know then what we were taking on or just how much attention she'd want/need! 😹
Having only ever rescued moggies, we approached this with the same attitude, the cat would guide us with what they wanted........she certainly does that! We knew that Persian cats were known to sleep a lot but we didn't know how fussy she'd be with her food or that she would come with SO much fur! We've only had domestic short haired cats before, never a long haired one and yes, she looks beautiful but that coat takes a lot of maintenance! So does the floor, Martin has never done so much hoovering! 😹
It is something that, although we joke about her maintenance, we genuinely had no idea what would be involved. I groom her every morning but that wasn't enough to stop her getting huge knots and matted fur all over when her new coat grew. We ended up needing to get a professional groomer to deal with it all as she was in quite a mess 😿
She had previously been allergic to the spot on flea treatment that we'd got from our vet. She had horrible patches over her and her coat didn't look good so her flea treatment was changed to a tablet, don't get me started about the production it takes to give her that......she is so intelligent, on one occasion she kept the tablet in her mouth until we put her on the floor and then spat it out!
We are lucky because we are at home all day so we are able to give her the attention she needs but we really had no idea what it would involve. She definitely tells us when she wants attention and if she's not getting what she wants she will sit on the table and stare at us until one or other of us gives in! 😹
So our advice is to do your research!
Another thing that has really surprised us is just how entertaining she is and she really can be an absolute nutter. She uses the area going from the hallway into our lounge, through the kitchen, as a speedway track and it is hilarious to watch! 😹
Even now, two and a half years down the road, she still entertains us on a daily basis and I know this helps me be able to concentrate on something other than my pain. She also finds new positions to sit or lie in and my phone is full of photos of her in a huge variety of different positions. She doesn't use the same space for too long either, she definitely appreciates different views!
Last year we bought her a tower because she was sleeping on one of our tall speakers. The trouble was she goes into such a deep sleep and the speaker surface wasn't very big so she would fall off!
They really are a huge commitment but, in my opinion, absolutely worth it. It is not only the love and entertainment that a pet gives you, it is the knowledge that you are giving an animal a second chance and in our case, as we have no children, our cats are our babies.
We have a lot of love to give and how can you not love this face?! 😹
XxXxX 💕
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