The Dawn of the Mackerel Tabbies

It’s said that people come into our lives for a reason and I believe this to be true of the cats that find us.  Having loved passionately several ginger cats: brothers: - Garfield and Biggles; Charlie; brothers: - Billy, Timmy and Joey; Ricky and Ollie I wondered if I would ever love again.  Sam proved that I could as he arrived from a neighbour’s house – jet black with an inscrutable expression on his face and little Ellie, who was white with black circles – my only female to date. All were loved deeply and their passing mourned keenly.

The last two to leave were Ollie and Sam but just prior to Ollie’s sudden departure, a little mackerel tabby boy turned up on the decking.  Ollie made sure I was aware that an extra meal was needed and Casey was welcomed into the fold.  Before Sam left, another little mackerel tabby boy started hanging around but he was far too skittish to brave the catflap.  Each evening at 9.00pm on the whisker, Casey would go to the catflap and wait for me to open the door (my cat has me well-trained) and then once he was out on the decking, he and the newcomer would touch noses in a kitty kiss and spend some time outside together.

Gibbs, as I named him (after a character in NCIS), eventually started coming inside and would eat and go, returning later for a top up. He’s been hanging around now for at least 18 months and is still unneutered.  I don’t know if he has a proper family but he spends more and more time asleep in his ‘hobo’ box or on the dining table near the radiator and less time elsewhere.

Gibbs is Casey’s doppelgänger and I do wonder if they have the same father, perhaps, but they’ve been born at least a year apart.  I thought it was touching that Gibbs would wait for Casey out on the decking as if he’d found his long-last brother.  I also fantasied that maybe Gibbs had travelled far and wide looking for his ‘brother’ and, having found him, was trying to persuade him to return ‘home’.  Casey, for his part, encouraged Gibbs that this ‘new home’ was better and why didn’t he stick around here, instead?

Ever since Casey made the transition from the decking to the bathroom (which is downstairs next to my kitchen) he hasn’t left the house other than for ‘business’ reasons.  Although Gibbs still comes and goes at will, he does spend more time with us and he acts as though here is where he wants to be.

So the era of the ginger (or should that be ‘strawberry blond’) Daily Mewsers has given way now to the dawn of the Mackerel Tabbies. And yes, I found I could love again, just as passionately as I always did my beautiful Daily Mewsers – which included Sam and Ellie.

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