GLOSSIE another of your Editor’s cats
Glossie the cat was brought to us nearly 17 years ago by our first stray, Bob. We had made Bob’s life easier by removing a pane from the laundry room window so he could come and go as he pleased. But one day he chose NOT to come in but sat outside the kitchen door making that familiar mournful call. I opened the door and there was Bob with a black and white kitten which he duly led over to a sofa on to which he heaved his new friend. We put some cushions there so that the creature could climb up and down. A couple of days later a LARGE black and white cat walked in.. looked at me, then Bob and then had an exchange with the squeaking kitten. Mother (as it turned out) seemed happy with the situation and walked out ..glancing at me as she left -never to return..
This kitten was here to stay so the next thing was a name. As it happened at that time I was making regular visits back to Oxford from North Wales and since the M40 extension was yet to open, it involved tedious journeys across Cheltenham to the M5. On this occasion I was stuck at every traffic light and the sign at each of them pointed towards GLOSCAT – Gloucester College of Art and Technology. So this pretty creature with the shining coat became GLOSCAT. – Glossie.
Knowing nothing of cats her romping with Bob brought fears of multiplication and she was duly taken to John the vet to be neutered. A phone call later in the day informed us that Glossie was NOT a girl but an underdeveloped boy! Being pretty.. Glossie remained ‘she’! The cats were allowed out all day but brought in at night and one night Glossie was missing. We searched the streets and gardens without success but found her eventually inside the blankets in the airing cupboard. That was the night when we learned the Glossie rule of life. Find somewhere warm and soft and stick to it. She kept that rule for the next fifteen years devoting herself to the quest for warmth. We put a box covered with a towel next to the radiator in the kitchen and she was there in the winter. In the summer it was my sun-drenched office window or office chair – or her favourite window seat – usually on her back with the front paws raised and neatly together and her back feet carefully pointing upwards. At night she moved to the top of the stairs or got into bed stretched out next to me with her head tucked under my shoulder.. when the purring stopped it meant she had gone to sleep
As part of the move back to Oxfordshire we rented a house in Benson taking our – by then six cats – having been adopted by Edward the Tom, Arthur (seen in the illustration on this page), Voodoo and Boots. ..as well as Bob and Glossie. They loved the garden and the stream running through it but Glossie in particular demonstrated a right hook which she regularly landed on the neighbour’s cat. The damage to Glossie was minimal but the next door cat started spending far too much time on the operating table so it was agreed that the two households would allow their respective acts out on alternate days. On Glossie’s day out this meant sitting outside, nose to nose with the neighbour’s cat flap whilst on her days inside the other cat would taunt her through the French windows. Once we moved to Burford all six cats were indoor cats and within a few months Bob who was scarcely seven , was put to sleep and Edward died in my arms… cancer … shortly afterwards. Glossie clearly missed Bob but soon adapted to being senior cat and re-distributed everyone’s jobs only the newly acquired tiny and elderly Poppy refused to be organised by her.
Glossie lost most of her teeth and in 2005 was stricken with thyroid problems and her weight plummeted. An operation in June solved that but on September 12th the beautiful cat with the loudest purr in the world was stricken in a different way. Breathless and not much tempted to eat she was taken the next day to Karen the vet and the lumps meant that it was kindest to end her life – there and then.
We miss Glossie SO much. Arthur (now 19) and Boots (now 12) remain with us and are still puzzled.by her absence. Neither of them has taken over Glossie’s favourite places.
