In memory of..

Smokey

Back in August 1991 we came to FOAL Farm having just lost a very precious cat called Merlin, who also came from FOAL. As always it was difficult to choose any one cat amongst all the deserving animals there, but one young black cat made a point of attracting my husband's attention by attacking the toggle of his anorak through the wire. From that moment he had us both in the palm of his paw :-))! We decided there and then that he would be coming home with us, but strangely no-one could find any record of who he was, where he'd come from or how long he'd been there. Of course they did find his details in the end but it was almost as if he'd been keeping hidden until the right people came along.

He was full of character: he used to beat up the girls of the family and was definitely top cat for many years, until one of the girls finally had enough and fought back, chasing him round the entire house!! He ended up on a very narrow window sill with her sitting below him daintily washing her paws; it was some time before she sauntered off and even longer before he came down :-)!

He was a very loving boy, and very vocal but also quite independent. If we went away for a weekend leaving a cat sitter at home, he would very often scare them (and us!) to death by disappearing, only to reappear about half an hour before we were due home. Just making a point in his own special way ...

In 2001 my partner and I split up and although it was very painful for me, I let my partner have custody of Smokey. Since we remain good friends I used to see Smokey and his other feline pal quite regularly and he always remembered who I was.. In 2004 he was diagnosed with thyroid trouble and put on medication - for over three years he continued to live life to the full even though he was a lot thinner and less robust than the picture attached (taken just before he becaome ill) and even caught a bird earlier this year!

A couple of weeks ago he was struck down by some sort of intestinal ailment and spent seven days in the care of our vet and his staff, who all fell in love with his gentle nature. On the Friday the vet was optimistic enough to allow Smokey to go home in the hope that being in familiar surroundings would speed his recovery. However it was not to be and on Saturday morning we had to rush him back. His little face said it all and we made the hardest decision of our lives, but it was the right one for Smokey and our final act of love for him.

He played a huge part in our lives and leaves an enormous void - he gave so much to us asking for very little in return. Thank you for allowing us the privilege of adopting Smokey. I made a donation in his memory yesterday; I would have loved it to have been much more but his vet bill has more or less cleaned us out!