Ginger's Story |
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Ging, stray cat came 12th February 1985, ours 6 years when he died on 3rd February 1991  |
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Ging
adopted 12th February 1985 Ginger came to us in the same way as Snowy and Ptoly did - they just appeared and reappeared! So did he. We first noticed that a new cat was walking across in front of the house who we had not seen before. He appeared rather thin but he was wearing a collar with a medallion, so maybe had moved into the area with his owners. Over a few days we kept catching glimpses of him and he was frightened to approach us and didn't seem to be looking in better condition. We couldn't manage to get close to him and after a few more days noticed that his medallion had disappeared which meant we would not be able to trace his home. Becoming worried about him I noticed that he would follow the scent of our cats and wander round near to the cat flap in the kitchen extension door. In the hope that we could get him to be approachable I left a little food and water a few feet outside the cat flap overnight and in the morning it had gone, but so had the cat! I continued to leave food for him and he must have depended on it as there was never any left. (At nights the cat flaps were locked as our cats were kept in after supper every night.) We kept this up for many nights, but gradually moved the bowls closer to the cat flap so as to get him more used to the house. Eventually I propped the cat flap open (the interior doors to the living room were closed) so that the ginger cat could come in to more bowls inside the extension. Over a period of time he was eating from those bowls and the outside ones could be dispensed with. All this time he still kept his distance, but at least he was eating properly. By then the collar had also disappeared. The next step was up to him! As the weather was warm I left the cat flap propped open in the evening while we were relaxing in the living room. Lo and behold!, a worried little face peeked around the kitchen door and looked at us! Gradually he got the idea and cautiously crept into the living room. It took many months but gradually he came into the living room and wandered around - tha magic moment came when he walked past me and jumped onto Myrtle's lap. It took another year for him to be able to cope with walking through the living room and investigating the rest of the house, finally finding his way right through and in to the pool house where he decided the warmth and loungers were good for cats! After three years he had also found the extra cat flap and when it was supper time he would go out there, walk round the house, and come back in through the extension for his food with the others. They had long ago got used to his ways and made him fully part of the cat family. He was a fine looking and loving cat in the end, but one night when I called him he did not come in. We had heard the pool flap bang but he did not appear in the kitchen. After the other cats had their food I went looking for him by following along his usual route from the pool house. There I found him laying on the path as if he had just fallen over while trotting, picked him up and brought him in so sadly as he was quite dead. We are so glad that we were able to love him and get his love in return for a long six years. He was part of our family for 6 years from 1985 until he died on 3rd February 1981. |
