In February 2008 The Castle gained a new inhabitant and I wrote;
“Ringo is just the loveliest, lively, affectionate, very trusting, well mannered and house trained cat. I just can't believe we picked up such a nice cat in a rescue centre. He still scampers a bit and is not comfortable being picked up but he is settling in great and has given himself the run of the house. Because he is so active we have had to clear perches on the kitchen and bedroom windows but even then he is careful - he really has been no trouble, at night he goes into the bed in the front room but when we wake he is at the bottom of our bed but even then he is careful not to disturb you. I just don't understand how people gave him away.”
Well for the past four years that proved to be more than true. Ringo had been neglected prior to being rescued by the RSPCA at Blackberry Farm – his coat (he was a half long-hair cat) had been badly matted and he had conjunctivitis. He had been over 4 months in Blackberry Farm before we adopted him as visitors tend to want to re-home younger cats. We had been told that he was 6 but our vet said this was unlikely he was more likely to have been around 12 years old, pointing out to us these centres tend to be “optimistic” on ages of animals looking for new homes. More seriously when we got him home we noticed after a while he seemed to be in pain and his breath smelt bad. To cut a long story short the checks at the RSPCA shelter had not picked up that his teeth were rotten. Our vet was angry for there was no way Ringo should have been in that condition and he was able to remove a couple of teeth with his fingers. It made us and our vet wonder about his previous neglect and diet.
No matter, with his teeth removed he adapted, stubs grew back and all the time Ringo let us know how grateful he was to be with us. Coming home in the evening he would be in the window waiting and by the time we got the door open he was there waiting. In the evening he would be on the desk with his back to a warm laptop and then go into bed to say “goodnight” before going off to keep guard at the top of the stairs. In the morning he would come in like an alarm clock but somehow he always knew when it was the weekend and he could sleep in. When the Mistress of the Castle comprehensively broke her ankle and had to sleep in a bed downstairs for 5 months I put a chair by the bed in case the leg in plaster fell out. This became Ringo’s perch to look after his sick owner and he would not leave her until somebody else came in. How we wondered about his bladder control. Similarly when visitors came he always put on a display and introduced himself.
Deep down he was a needy cat who loved company, probably a function of being taken from his mother too early and the previous neglect he suffered. Sadly, he went off his food during December and we brought him for the usual checks at the vet where they tested for diabetes, kidneys, thyroids, etc; the usual cat health suspects, gave him antibiotics and a steroid injection. When he slumped again after Xmas we brought him to Hampden Veterinary Hospital (the one featured in the BBC programmes) where he was X-rayed and examined under sedation. Unfortunately they found he had two tumours on his pancreas and in his lung. In another 6 days he had lost 10% of his weight and we couldn’t let him continue to suffer.
He was such a needy, loving and affectionate animal that the place feels strange without him and I find myself going around kicking the doors and sad we couldn’t do anything to help him. This is a metaphor, my doors aren’t really good enough to kick but I had explored the symbolic loss when a pet goes before;
Nothing in this little tale should discourage you from taking on an older rescue pet. As we found when Ringo choose us with their hunting days behind them and their need for affection they make lovely pets, there was never any prospect of our little fluffy friend straying. Thanks, little mate Ringo, for the happy memories.
