17. In memory of ........

Dogs and Cats are the epitome of enemies! Which makes the pictures we see floating around Facebook and emails, of huge Alsations and tiny kittens so very, very adorable!

Take for example …. !

But growing up in the same household they do learn to tolerate each other, although I think it is often just that – tolerance – mainly on the Cat’s side of things of course!

My favourite picture of our own pets is this one of Tetris the Cat and Tigara the Lab x Rottweiler enjoying the sun together on the top step!

(Tetris is about 16 years old and living with two other cats and a bouncy dog in South Africa!
Tigara went to friends on a farm when we left SA and we haven't heard about her since)

Bella doesn’t have a Cat house-mate and so has the ‘typical’ response to cats in the neighbourhood!

There’s a black and white Cat who very bravely crosses our back garden regularly when Bella’s safely indoors, and Bella tears around the garden following its scent when she gets a chance!

There’s a black cat just down the road, which manages to slink into the shadows when we walk past.

When aiming for the muddy lane at the corner of our road, I’d often see a streak of ginger, just before Bella picked up the scent!  We discovered this was Vincent, Vinney for short, and he had a few tricks for getting to safety behind a dog’s wagging tail! ('a few tricks up his sleeve' just didn't work for a Cat!)

A message went out on the Villages' Facebook page this week that Vinney was missing, and asking people to look out for him; perhaps he’d sought shelter in someone’s open shed during one of the daily downpours.  When I took Bella out for her walk this evening, a lady was ripping down posters from trees on Vinney’s corner; Vinny had been found, but not good news.  A dog – not Bella! – had got free from his lead …….... The dog owners had taken the injured cat to a vet, possibly not knowing to whom it belonged, and maybe only when the news went out, were able to identify him.

We never got close to Vinney, but will miss his orange streak across the lane.