posted on Dec, 20 2011 @ 04:59 PM
I had a Lakeland Terrier for 16 years aged 11 he became ill an we thought he was going to die,He had diabeaties an once we started him on insullin he
perked up an lived another four years,Shortlly after he passed my wife had to go into hospital for a week to have a benign cyst removed from her
asophigus pouch in her throat.I was lieing on a soffa underrneath a breakfast bar in the liveing room.I was thinking about Toffee the Lakeland terrier
an my wife an how this was the first time in decades I had been alone.Everyone knows the feeling of being watched an I felt it strongly looked up at
the breakfast bar ledge .An a young tabby cat was stareing at me after a stareing match he jumped on my chest an started massageing me an licking my
nose,My Wife calls the massageing moneymakeing an says its what kittens do to encourage milk from the mother.My wife was the go to cat person I was
ignorant to there ways back then.Anyway after the massage an nose licking he Toerag sealed the deal by biteing my nose hard an bolted out the kitchen
window,He returned later that day an moved in shortly after .He had no collar an no posters or wanted flyers went up.Took him to the vet an he was a
young male nutered tabby beetween 9 months an a year old .He is huge an muscular now the biggest cat in the neighbourhood by far but he is a gentle
soul .Eight years he has been with us there is a pair of Magpies nesting in a tree in our garden.Every Spring one of there babys leaves the nest to
early an ends up cowering in our garden hideing best it can.Toerag finds it an brings it in doors to us unharmed.We know a Lady whom rescues wild life
hedgehogs foxes badgers ect .An she comes round an takes the baby blackbird and raises it .An then releases it near where it was found.At first the
parents would attack toerag mobb him an give him a hard time,However when there fledglings started turning up later unharmed.Its like they realize he
is not hurting them.Haveing blackbirds outside my house over the years you get to recognise there calls,,Alarm screeches over there never ending turf
wars with the blackbirds,Greeting calls morning 3am?time to get up calls ...found some tasty food calls...Stay away from my tasty food warning calls
to other birds,Now I can tell when they have spotted Toerag as they have a special call for him.He also helps other cats out one Lady told me that all
the cats would bully her young ginger tabby except toerag,The ginger tabby was a bit mixed up in its social skills one second submisive an
compliant.Then it would switch to be hissing an aggressive an back again within seconds,The other cats couldnt deal with thease weired constant
changes an ended up beating on it.Wich was makeing it even worse She noticed that Toerag would stay with him though an put up with his strange
behaviour,We got to talking an arranged playdates for Toerag an Fred in his owners house,.Like I said Fred was pretty young about a year old at the
time.Now he is a loveing cat with many freinds socialy competent an mixes well.....Toerag once brought a very sick skinny cat home about 5 years ago
no collar no chip at deaths door,It stomach was rumbling an it was louder than id ever heard even a human stomach make,He started devouring the food
we placed down for him.After a few mouthfulls he.....PEPE........screamed in agony an shot out the window,,,,,Toerag ran out after him an they both
returned after a couple of hours,I gave him some vitimin enriched milk made for cats an placed him in the cat transporter.The woman whom rescues
wildlife also does a vets to pets taxi sevice so we took him to the emergancy P D S A vets at about 4 am. His teeth were all rotten an green plus his
gums were inflamed an red.He needed an emergancy full mouth teeth extraction,Also had chronic gingivitus gum disease,..When we got him home he was so
relaxed an happy constantly purring,He must have been in agony with toothache,Although he had all his teeth removed with the help of a blender he was
able to eat a normal diet,,Turned out the gingivituss was chronic an could not be cured only managed with monthly antibiotic shots,Poor wee Pepe had
had a rough life an was infected with Feline.H.I.V. we found out a couple of weeks later as results of the blood tests ..Like Humans it meant his
immune system was comprimised an unable to fight of infections.My first priority on learning and hearing this was the safety of Toerag an other cats
contracting it.Like humans it is spread through sex or blood.The vet assured me that as Pepe was nutered an now had no teeth it was safe an there was
no chance of the HIV spreading.After all he had been through I an my Wife felt we had to keep him an help him.Pepe only went out for the toilet an
then he would come straight back in.Loved being curled up by the fire an was Toerags shadow when he was indoors.They loved each other so much it was
palpable, After two years Pepe became immune to the antibiotics an we had to put him to sleep.