Katy & Lucy

Scroll down to read about Katy & Lucy

Kitten adventures - click to go to our kitten web site

Links page

Cat accessories - favourite things!
Facts page - shows details of our breeding
FRIENDS page

Amy - my first Birman

Katy and Lucy's page

Great Danes

Video Clips - See the trio playing with 'Panic Mouse'

Comparisons - how we have changed over the years

Having lost Amy I was very keen to get another cat to share my life and I have always wherever possible preferred to have two kittens or puppies rather than one as I think it is good for them to have a companion as they grow and two are an absolute delight to watch!

So it was with that in mind that I set off for Elkesley to look at some seal point Birman kittens one Saturday afternoon. I should also perhaps point out at this stage that I am not generally known for my patience. In fact I often say that I think I was at the back of the queue when patience was handed out but that did put me at the front when they were giving out persistence so I do have quite a lot of that!

The kittens were gorgeous there was one group that were 10 weeks old that would be ready to leave in about 2-3 weeks but out of that little there was only one, a female, available. The second litter were about six weeks younger and there were two kittens available from that litter but that would entail a longer wait. As you will probably have gathered already, faced with a choice of one in two weeks or two in about two months the choice I made was one now! Thus Katy joined the household two weeks later, a tiny little bundle of fur who seemed completely mystified about why she had suddenly had to leave all her playmates behind and become the single and much loved pet in a big house in Wetherby.

About a month later I had a call from her breeder. She had remembered that I had been looking for two kittens and she had just had to take back one of Katy's litter sisters - was I interested? Needless to say the following day saw me again making the trip to Elkesley to collect Lucy, a slightly chunkier version of Katy. Naively I assumed that once they saw each other again they would instantly recognise each other so as soon as I got home I opened up the cat basket and let Lucy out. Katy immediately hissed at her, Lucy ran and Katy set off in hot pursuit with me, totally taken aback, at the rear. They shot into the bedroom, Lucy tried to hide under the edge of the duvet and Katy jumped on top of the bed to attack from a height. Suddenly they seemed to recognise one another, the fear went from Lucy, the anger from Katy and all at once I had two kittens engrossed in a fun game!

They never really looked back. Katy of course was always 'boss' cat because she had her paws under the table before Lucy arrived but they loved each other dearly and had lots of fun playing together and then falling asleep with paws wrapped around each other. The picture alongside shows Katy and Lucy. Katy is on the left and Lucy is on the right.

In this picture they are around six months old and, as ever, sharing a knee.

It was my plan to breed from both of them however when they both went to stud cats only Katy became pregnant. She had a litter of three male kittens, two seal point and one blue point when she was around 18 months old. Shortly after that I moved to Suffolk and decided that I would not breed any further litters due to working commitments so I had them both spayed.

Katy was an excellent mother and Lucy played 'aunt' to the babies. Between them they taught the little kittens all the tricks they knew so well. One day when I went to work safe in the knowledge that the kittens were safely ensconced in the utility room and conservatory I came home to find that all five cats were fast asleep in the lounge the kittens having been taught how the cat flap to the conservatory worked. This was no mean feat for six week old kittens to learn because the cat flap was quite high in the door but nevertheless they managed it (both ways) always returning to the utility room when they needed the 'bathroom'!

When we moved to Suffolk they loved it, we were out in the country and once they were spayed they loved to play outside in the garden. They never went far but one day Lucy did not come home as anticipated for her evening meal and I became quite concerned. I searched the surrounding area but there was no trace of her.

Three days later she suddenly appeared, a bit dirty and dusty and very hungry but otherwise just fine. Later that afternoon a neighbour called around to see 'if your cat is OK?' she had found Lucy shut in her garage and when she had opened the door after the Bank Holiday. Lucy had shot out past her and run home.

When they were about fourteen and a half I woke up one morning to find Katy semi-collapsed. She was clearly a very sick cat and very unhappy so I took her straight away to the local vet. They ran a series of tests and x-rays and rang me at lunchtime to tell me that she had a massive kidney infection and would be unlikely to survive. We had a lengthy discussion and because it was clear that Katy was in great pain and distress I took the agonising decision to let her go. I went over to the vets and held and cuddled her as she slipped away and returned home devastated and shocked at the suddenness of her passing.

Lucy sadly went into shock, she had been the one who had ailed from time to time, Katy was never ill and without her trusted companion Lucy did not know what to do. She went into the wardrobe and stayed there and she wouldn't eat. I took her to the vets and they ran a series of tests. She seemed fine to them but once home she returned to the wardrobe and her sadness. I tempted her with prawns and she would eat the odd one. I soaked them in water to keep her fluids up and I sat with her for hours. We went back to the vets and the only thing they could suggest was that she was grieving, I hadn't realised quite how cats can grieve but in time she got over it but became very close to me and used to sleep beside me each night nestled in the crook of my arm or on the edge of my pillow.

She had fits from time to time. The first time she was sitting on my knee whilst I worked on the computer so I rested her gently on the floor and soothed her until she came round. She did it again a few weeks later so I took her to the vets. They prescribed Valium which completely spaced her out so we took the view that it would be better to cope with the occasional fit rather than to suffer the medication and we managed. I learned what precipitated a fit and we avoided the triggers, she wasn't allowed near the computer and crisp packets and sweet wrappers were banished out of hearing. She had a fit once in the vets waiting room - I was used to them but the other owners were very concerned for us and we managed to jump the queue very effectively that day.

She developed kidney failure but this was the chronic version and not the acute which had taken Katy so quickly so we managed it. She had a special diet and lots to drink and it progressed only slowly. From time to time she suffered from cystitis but we managed those bouts with antibiotics. I bought her a heated pad and she would sleep next to the comfort of that all day and in my arms at night. Sadly when Lucy was 16 I felt that she had had enough, her kidneys were failing and the fits became more frequent and one day she was no longer able to curl her tail around her. I knew the time had come for the last farewell so I cuddled her for an hour in the sunshine of the conservatory and we made that final journey to the vets. At last she was at peace and I was alone.

I knew that after the love I had had from my beloved Birmans it would not be long before another furry Birman bundle came into my life and sure enough first Lara and then Max and Oscar came along to heal the hurt.