Mew's story (Cats in General)

Member Name: SusanLesley

Product:	Cats in General
Date:	04/10/08 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: He's lovely, he makes us laugh, he's fussy

Disadvantages: I have to vacuum his hairs from carpets and sofas!

Since a few of you have commented how cute Mew is and have said how much you enjoy reading reviews which feature him I thought I would tell you something about him.

To give you some background information we had decided that when we moved to our cottage we would eventually like a cat and that we would go to a cat rescue centre to choose one, but Mew had other ideas!

We moved in here in May of this year just after my mom had died so I was a bit of a mess emotionally to say the least. Dave (hubby) is an IT Consultant and we run our own business, but due to the credit crunch he couldn't secure another contract and we were using up our savings. So due to emotional and financial constraints we decided that getting a cat would have to wait, but Mew had other ideas!

The cottage is on the slopes of The Great Orme in Llandudno which is now designated as a country park (I have done a review if you are interested in finding out more about the Orme) and was originally a quarry manager's cottage when it was built in 1896. At the back of the cottage there is a tiny garden set into the rock of the Orme and the view from the front is of fields and hillside sweeping down to the sea and then to the Snowdonia Mountains beyond. This gives you an idea of just how ideal a place it is for a cat to live.

Not long after we had moved in we were visited by all the local cats who came and were suitably fussed, but one white cat kept coming back. One or two of our neighbours asked if he was our cat but of course he wasn't - not yet anyway! Someone told us that he had been living rough on the Orme for at least a month

He was white, although not very clean, with black patches on his face, one on his back and a black tail. He was very cute but his coat was in poor condition. In fact whenever we stroked him we felt as though we had to wash our hands straight away; it had a sort of greasy feel to it.

He kept on coming to visit us and trying to get into the house and he was always very vocal, meowing constantly so I nicknamed him Mew.

Dave wanted to take him in straight away but I was more cautious. I pointed out that we couldn't really afford to keep a cat and wouldn't have the emotional energy to look after him, but Mew had other ideas! He kept coming to see us and we gave him food and milk which for he was very grateful, so I eventually relented on condition that he went to the vets for a check up before he was allowed in the house.

We borrowed a cat carrier from a neighbour and took him to our local vets. He didn't make any fuss at all; in fact he was as good as gold. The vet checked him over and confirmed that he was a neutered male, about 2 years old and in generally good health. He had a tick on his face which the vet removed and she gave him a treatment for fleas. The vet also checked to make sure that Mew didn't have a microchip as he had obviously been looked after by someone at some time or he wouldn't have been neutered, but there was no chip.

So that was that - we had officially been adopted by Mew, the cat. We did consider giving him a proper name but we just couldn't think of anything that suited him as well as Mew. Now I tell people that I asked him what he name was and he said, 'Mew'.

Incidentally my sister told me that it is very lucky to be adopted by a cat. Others thought that he had been sent to look after me because I was so sad after loosing mom.

We went to Asda and got cat food and bowl, litter and tray, toys and a brush. Then we moved some stuff around to make room in the little sun room at the side of the house for Mew - now known as Mew's room!

He took to it all straight away - he seemed to know that we would care for him. With regular brushing and good food his coat improved very quickly and is now beautifully clean and soft even though he does moult everywhere!

We started by giving him a sachet of Asda Tiger food, some dry food and some milk each day and initially he thrived on it. After a while he started to be sick every few days so I looked for help on the internet and found that we shouldn't be giving him milk as cats are lactose intolerant (fancy that!) and that he was possibly eating too much too quickly. So we began giving him half a packet of food at a time and changed his milk to water and that solved the problem.

He is quite a hunter and regularly supplements his diet with lizards, mice, pigeons etc. My sister told us that the only part of a catch that a cat will not eat is the bowel and we do often come home to find a small bowel on the floor in Mew's room. This is why the door between his room and the rest of the house is kept shut when he is out!

He did once catch a homing pigeon which Dave and my sister took off him and tried to save but it died. I then went on line and reported the death on the pigeon fanciers' website using the number from the ring on its leg. Can you believe it - the owner rang to thank us for letting him know what had happened to his bird! Dave spoke to him and told him that a cat must have got him, but he omitted to mention that the cat in question belonged to us!

Mew now has his cat flap installed so he can come and go as he pleases during the day but we do put the shutter down on it at night and he stays tucked up in his room. I draw the line at him sleeping on our bed! He has a nice pile of cushions and soft towels to sleep on, which have now been placed inside one of the big boxes he loves to play in so he is out of any draughts so I am sure that he is fine. He would soon let us know if he wasn't!

He comes into the lounge for the evening and curls up on the sofa next to Dave and sleeps for most of the time until they both have a mad hour! Dave plays with Mew who loves to chase his favourite toy of a feather on a piece of string attached to a stick (review written) and he loves to play at jumping in and out of boxes.

So, even though I didn't want a cat as soon as we moved in, I don't regret accepting Mew into the family and he has certainly given us many laughs and lots of fuss in the time he has been with us. I couldn't imagine the house without him now, even though I have to keep vacuuming up his hairs!

Summary: We wouldn't be without him!