In memory of Vespasian

This was my lovely old boy Vespasian. His tame human had died and he was in a shelter I volunteered at. Every time I would go to clean out his pen, he would cry and bury his head under my arm - the poor lad was clearly in mourning. Given his age, his colour and his size (as long from nose to tail tip as a panther), he was going to be tough to home. However, he broke my heart so I took him home for a two-week trial with my two bonded sisters who are not good with strangers after terrible abuse as kittens. Much to my surprise, everyone largely got on! Octavia tended to watch from on high but Vespasian & Antonia did play. Hearing Vespy running up the stairs like a sack of potato's during his zooms was an unmistakable sound! Toward the end though, he really slowed down and just wanted to lie in a sun-trap and sleep. One day, just after lockdown began, he went out for a kip in the field and never came home. He was found, returned to me and is now buried in his favourite sunny spot in the garden. Even though I was only his human for about three years, they were lovely three years. From the smile he would give as he sat his 6kg body down on my lap with a 'thwump', to his zooms that made the house shake, to his lovely and loving personality and his incongruously tiny and high-pitched meow - he was just the loveliest puss. When he died, Antonia and Octavia looked everywhere for him in the house for a week, trying to find his scent and his bed and were definitely out of sorts for a while so I like to think that all three of us missed him. I most certainly did. Dear old Vespasian (formerly Salem). Missed every day and always in my thoughts as I tend to my garden near to his final resting spot. Half cat - half panther - all love and affection!

by Neil Lewis