Willy's Story
Willie
(Sunday name Wiberforce Fortescue Bertram Smythe) was a skinny little kitten
when he was adopted by drug-users in a run-down area of Rotherham.
Unfortunately, they weren’t as taken with Willie as he was with them; in the
freezing fog of December 2000, they turfed him out first thing every morning and
left him to fend for himself all day, without food or water. A neighbour heard
the poor little chap mewing outside their window for hours on end. She also saw
him narrowly escape the wheels of a passing car. Worried, she cat-napped Willie
and took him to live with her Labradors, not allowing him out, until Craig and I
agreed to take him. Days later, his original owners did a moonlight flit,
leaving eleven cats shut in their rented house to starve to death. In the
garden, were hutches containing rabbits and guinea pigs who had been left to the
same fate. The RSPCA refused to help unless there was evidence that the animals
had remained locked in for 72 hours. Our friend and another neighbour broke in
illegally and spent several hours catching and removing eleven cats in various
sorry states, and ferrying them to their own homes in safety. The rabbits and
guinea pigs were also removed. Good homes were found for all the animals within
days, with no help from any charity.
Willie
is an extremely loving cat who outgrew our expectations of him and soon became
the biggest, fattest cat in the house. His favourite trick is to snuggle under
the covers on my side of the bed for a cuddle in the small hours of the morning.
He wouldn’t dare do that at Craig’s side of the bed! His most unpopular
moment was when he jumped onto a newly painted windowsill, skidding orange paint
onto the window and up to his elbows, and covering the floor with orange
pawprints. He
then laid back in Craig’s arms like a huge fat white marshmallow, while I
sponged the paint off laboriously and rang the Vet to make sure he wasn’t in
any danger from the chemicals. Despite having orange paws for quite a while,
Willie was OK!
Photos
Persephonies
Korats
