‘Food and Drink’ – The Two Cats and a Big White Dog
A few days ago @steevc told us the sad story that his 20 year old cat had passed away. That’s a very good age for a feline beast, and it reminded me that our 17 year old cat has maybe not very long with us.
We did have two cats originally, and both were acquired from the RSPCA many years ago; ‘Food’ in the summer of 2000, and ‘Drink’ sometime in 2001.
Why the silly names? ‘Food’ reacted extremely well to that word, he would come racing up to us for… well, Food! Drink was simply named to match her ‘brother’!
The cats had very different personalities. When we collected ‘Food’, there were a bunch of kittens to choose from. He was a distinctive grey colour, more reminiscent of a Persian, though he was obviously a Heinz 57 breed.
He had a great personality, was outgoing, playful and boisterous. He liked to sit on the TV sometimes, such as in this picture, these were the days of the CRT.
‘Drink’ was the opposite. She was the only kitten left, so you could say the ‘runt’ of the litter and was a mottled ‘orange’ colour. She flinched at any movement, and the RSPCA person told us that she might have been hit by someone at a very early age. It’s a real shame that someone could do that to a defenceless kitten, and ‘mess them up’ at such an early age.
Regardless, we accepted ‘Drink’ into our family much to the initial disgust of ‘Food’ who hissed and spitted at her arrival. ‘Drink’ was oblivious, it didn’t last long, and soon they were eating and sleeping together, and making friends to some extent.
I have to say that ‘Food’ was my favourite cat. The temperament, the playfulness, and the way he loved your company was everything you could have ever wanted; this was not case with ‘Drink’. She rarely took the initiative and made no effort to need the want of human company. She was and still is friendly though, likes a stroke and a cuddle but only when it’s eating time.
One day sometime in 2007, ‘Food’ entered the house, struggling to walk and fell over. Something has happened to him, and we rushed him to the vet. They couldn’t tell us much, and we left him there in hope he would recover.
That night he passed away, it was terrible. I loved that cat; he was every thing we ever wanted in a feline companion. @bingbabe still has his ashes somewhere, and refuses to spread them over the garden. She was heartbroken.
When we invited ‘Shadow’, our Golden Retriever into the house in 2012, he was a little white seal, and ‘Drink’ behaved the same was as ‘Food’ did initially. Hisses and spits, which the dog totally ignored.
They sleep together now and tolerate each other, but I would not say are really friends. I think she is the boss, even if he is FOUR times larger!
So this story ends as it starts. It’s now 2018 and ‘Drink’ is still with us. She sleeps all day, does not like going out, and is only active when its food time. She is still friendly, but never like ‘Food’ ever was. How long is she going to be with us?
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We lost one of two brother cats a few years back. We got Ozzy (Prince of Darkness due to his black coat) and his brother Jazzy in 2007 when we bought our first house. He had a tumor grow near the top of his heart which stopped him eating but he seemed to be relatively happy; we had promised we'd have him put to rest when we thought he was suffering. That day came in November a few years back after our daughter's joint birthday party and we found him on the back of the sofa shivering with cold after being outside. It has been raining and all his fur was stuck together so he looked like a skeleton - he told us it was time.
That was heartbreaking but it got worse for a few weeks as his brother Jazzy would search the house for him howling. We stopped that by getting a kitten called Sparkle...again black. She pissed him off so much I think it took his mind off things :D They finally became friends and sleep and clean each other.
I hate the thought of losing Jazzy as he attached himself to me. Like me he doesn't like to go out too much and if a human would sit at home in his dark wood paneled study, in the green leather chair next to the fireplace smoking a pipe and listening to music. For now he seems content with waking me 4 times a night because he wants some attention.
Some of them have great characters, and some have very little. The kitten must have made him forget about the loss. I didn't hear any wails from Drink when Food was gone, or none than I can remember.
There was a little hissing to start off with but it didn't last long. It probably helped that we moved house too as there was a complete change of scenery. Oh and there was the dog just to finish him off :D
Shadow does look like a little baby seal in that picture. Pretty amazing that they all got along so well eventually. That was certainly not the case with my cats and dog.
Interesting and sad story. I understand now because we have the first dog in house, it's a new family member.
It is heartbreaking to lose a cat, I know.
Here in Ontario, Canada, we can only buy alcohol from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario or LCBO. They put out a magazine that they call "Food and Drink." : )
Cute dog! Great name too. We used to have cats when I was a kid, but we lived out in the country, so they more often than not took off and never came back. I don't think we ever had one for more than a couple of months at a time. Cats sure can be funny with their different personalities. Nice post!
Feeling with you - loosing your pet is horrible.
Love their names hahaha. Food probably was poisoned, it's sad but people are insane and enjoy doing this things, I have a neighbor that threatened me if she ever saw my cat outside she would cook a meatball with pieces of glass inside.
It did cross my mind, but you can never be sure.
they are all so cute and I love te original names I think so much better than the common names for pets :)
tip!
Thanks @tattoodjay, I have a bit of a thing for weird names, as you may have noticed :)
Somehow a sad story, R.I.P. Food. Some cats, at least for me, can be like an "animal Soulmate". Glad to hear, that your cat somehow accepted your dog, i heard about some terrible cat/dog relations.
17 years is really good age for a cat to be honest!
My cat :)
