Orca, a very large un-neutered stray, was bought into our care last March. Orca had managed to survive by stealing food from the local resident cats and was not very popular. Once he was neutered and in our care he was found to be a very friendly and affectionate cat, but there were no enquiries about adopting him until Linda saw him on the website and fell in love with him and he was finally adopted by Linda at the beginning of December. The following is the letter I received from Orca telling me of his adventures:-

DEAR AUNTIE PAT, (AND CAT’S PROTECTION),
THANK YOU FOR MAKING LINDA OBEY SOME OF MY INSTRUCTIONS- SHE IS GETTING THE HANG OF THE WAY THAT I LIKE THINGS DONE. I JUST THOUGHT I WOULD TELL YOU ABOUT MY FIRST FORAYS INTO THE WORLD OUTSIDE... THAT STUPID LINDA WOULDN’T LET ME OUT FOR THREE WHOLE WEEKS- SHE TOTALLY UNDERESTIMATES MY INTELLIGENCE, AND KEEPS THINKING THAT I MIGHT GET LOST... AS IF I DON’T RECOGNISE THAT I HAVE LANDED ON MY FEET HERE!!!!! FOOD, A WARM BED (I HAVE ABOUT THREE PLACES WHERE I CHOOSE TO SLEEP), A WINDOW TO SIT AND WATCH PASSERS BY, AND NOW FREEDOM OF THE MANOR.

MY FIRST VENTURE INTO THE OPEN WORLD WAS A BIT FRIGHTENING….. BECAUSE SHE LET ME OUT AT THE BACK, AND THEN WENT TO PUT SOMETHING INTO HER BIN AT THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE...AND BECAUSE THE BACK DOOR WAS OPEN, THE FRONT DOOR SLAMMED AND SHE WAS LOCKED OUT WITH NO KEYS, MONEY, PHONE, COAT OR ANYTHING. (I THINK SHE MIGHT BE A BIT SIMPLE).
ANYWAY TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT... IN THE END SHE MANAGED TO CLIMB (WITH SUCH DIFFICULTY- THESE HUMANS ARE USELESS CLIMBERS) SEVERAL FENCES, AND GET INTO HER OWN BACK GARDEN WHERE THE DOOR WAS OPEN. MEANWHILE… I AM USED TO BEING THE BIGGEST CAT AROUND BY FAR, SO CAN YOU IMAGINE THE FRIGHT I HAD WHEN I SPOTTED THIS ENORMOUS, CLUMSY, NOISY CAT CLAMBERING OVER THE FENCE. I ADMIT THAT LINDA FOUND ME COWERING UNDER THE BED UPSTAIRS.

OK, A FEW UNEVENTFUL DAYS, AND THEN HER SISTER CAME TO VISIT- A SOFT TOUCH- IT TOOK ME NO TIME AT ALL TO SNEAK OUT PAST HER VIA THE FRONT DOOR- WHERE I HAD NEVER YET BEEN. WELL THAT STUPID LINDA SPENT TWO HOURS WANDERING THE STREETS CALLING ‘ORCA ORCA’... WHAT AN EMBARRASSMENT SHE IS. I SUPPOSE SHE THOUGHT THAT I WOULDN’T KNOW WHERE I WAS. MEANWHILE I HAD FOUND MY WAY ROUND TO THE BACK IN MINUTES (YOU JUST SNIFF OUT WHERE THE OTHER CATS GO), BUT IGNORED HER UNTIL I WAS HUNGRY, THEN SHOWED UP. WHAT A FUSS!!

RIGHT FINALLY, THAT LOVELY KEVIN HAS BEEN HERE, AND HE UNDERSTANDS CATS. HE SAYS ‘ORCA KNOWS WHERE HIS HOME IS AND WILL COME BACK.’ HE HAS EVEN SAWED A HOLE IN THE BACK DOOR AND PUT A FLAP IN, (I KNEW WHAT IT WAS SO USED IT IMMEDIATELY). I CAN NOW COME AND GO AS I PLEASE. LAST NIGHT I WAS OUT ALL NIGHT, (ALTHOUGH I DID POP BACK FOR A LITTLE MIDNIGHT SNACK), AND HAD LOADS OF ADVENTURES. I THINK I HAVE SORTED OUT THAT GINGER CAT TWO DOORS ALONG- WE HAD FUN WAILING AT EACH OTHER.

RIGHT NOW I AM LYING COMFORTABLY WITH A FULL TUMMY PLOTTING MY NEXT OUTING. THERE IS A BLACK CAT NEARBY. TIME TO PUT HIM IN HIS PLACE. OH BY THE WAY, LINDA WOULD LIKE YOU TO KNOW THAT I HAVE BEEN TO SEE A VET AND HAD MY WORM/FLEA STUFF, AND CONTINUED THE INSURANCE THING…WHAT’S SHE ON ABOUT? THAT KNOW-ALL VET SAID I WAS TOO HEAVY- CHEEK- A FINE FIGURE OF A CAT AT 8.36 KILOGRAMS. ANYWAY I HAVE ALREADY STARTED TO LOSE SOME WEIGHT THANKS TO MY OUTDOOR EXPLORING.

TIME TO GO. I WILL SEND YOU A PHOTO ONCE LINDA GETS AROUND TO SORTING IT OUT. MEANWHILE HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR, AND AS MANY SPRATS AS YOU CAN EAT,
MIAOW WOW WOW
ORCA.

On 6th January Lucy, a very very young cat gave birth to four babies upstairs in Karen’s back bedroom.

She came in the day before Christmas Eve after living quite rough, we presume for a while. It was obvious after a day that she was not 100%, however it was also obvious that she was heavily pregnant. After a few antibiotics and lots of TLC she began to improve and settle quite well.

She is a very quite loving little cat, the only time we have heard her meow was the morning of the 6th January (I now know why).

Karen was not at home when she began to give birth. When she got home one baby had been born, however unfortunately it had been born dead. The second was a healthy jet black kitten, the third and fourth were tabby’s with a tinge of tortie (like their Mum). All was good and Mum seemed to get the hang of feeding and cleaning her new family, however her concentration span was poor. Enter her extended family (the hired help). Unfortunately five days later Karen went into her first thing in the morning and one of the tabbys had died. So now we were two! Karen is pleased to say that at the time of writing both are doing very well and today they had their eyes open.

So hopefully its full steam ahead from here on in.