“I was having an OK day doin' my mornin' munchin' when BAM"
aka Loouchbolt, Loouchbaby and Boy Cat
The phone call came at 7.30am. A good Samaritan had picked him up and rushed him to the vet but he was already dead. He'd been hit by a car, a massive trauma to the head - it would have been pretty swift.
I had cussed Luka just the day before for showing an unhealthy attraction for cars and builders vans - especially if they had blankets in them. He always liked to find a nice warm hiding place and the window fitter nearly took him home.
We didn't think his death would hurt us as emotionally as it did. And to see the loss in his sibling as she very carefully and very gently sniffed his body. Luka curled up as if asleep, looking normal except for the blood on his chin and a mark on his shoulder from a surgeon’s skill.
We buried Luka's body in the garden knowing he was ‘only a cat’ but with the tears and sadness I imagine we would give for a family member. That was Friday morning.
Flashes of light, moving shadows, the odd noises of a sleeping house. Our hearts wishing for Luka to come sauntering in as he did, our common sense reminding us we buried him the day before.
Sunday morning I woke to find Sasha sitting under next door's bird feeder as she always did with Luka in the hour before their breakfast. A blue tit or a nut hatch was worth two cat food pouches. She was still waiting for him to come home, or maybe taking some comfort from the memory.
We gave him the freedom of the house, the garden and the fields behind knowing there was always a risk from other cats, foxes and the main road
Where she pitter-patters through the house he would strut like a dandy - ironic since he had been neutered. That arrogance where he would walk into the middle of the room, sit and clean his privates. He would sleep in the bathroom sink or on my clothes or in my sports bags.
He never fouled the house, never bit or scratched or meowed for pity's sake.
He loved the snow, the rain, chased the leaves in the wind, ate flies and spiders, mice and birds including their bones and feathers. We hoped he would have been around for this summer when the long grasses and the grasshoppers come into season
He couldn't understand how to open a door - he would get his sister to do it. When we walked down the garden they would follow - her on the left, him on the right flank - hunting mode. At one point through team effort they were bringing in a bird every hour - we had to arrange some judicious prickly planting around next door's bird feeder to stem the problem. One day he brought me a live rabbit - I thanked him and let it go, along with the nuthatch, the bluetit, the blackbird..... It would have been interesting what they would have done with the muntjac had he lived another year or two. Together he would always lead and she would always follow. And if she went missing I could send him out to collect her
He was a good cat; the best of cats; my beautiful baby Luka.
My Prince among cats.
Nic and Suzanne
Five Good Reasons for Having Your Cat Neutered
- Reduces fighting, injury and noise
- Reduces spraying and smelling
- Much less likely to wander and get lost
- Safer from diseases like feline AIDS, mammary tumours and feline leukaemia
- Reduces the number of unwanted kittens
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