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| Name: |
Harry
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Age: |
Two years old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
British Domestic Shorthair
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| Home: |
Cheshire, United Kingdom
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I fell in love with Harry as soon as I met him, as a tiny cute ball of ginger fluff who immediately fell asleep when placed on my lap. He was only seven weeks old and very brave, as he showed no sign of pining for his mother or litter mates. I had expected him to cry and be subdued, but he took his new home in his tiny kitten stride and determined to make the best of it.
I took him up to bed with me the first night and placed him on top of the covers. When I woke up he had burrowed under the covers and was asleep in my arms.
Harry settled quickly into his new home and tried to make friends with my old old cat, Leo, by washing his ears. Leo was not impressed, but soon learned to tolerate the newcomer and even sometimes sit beside him.
Harry grew with amazing speed and almost overnight, my tiny kitten turned into an enormous cat, the largest I'd ever shared my life with. He weighed 13 pounds at his last check-up with the vet. He has very long legs and a huge tail!
He has grown into an affectionate companion to me who always runs to greet me when I come home. He sits on his cat tree and watches for me through the window.
As I live on a busy road, Harry is an indoor cat, though I do take him out into the fenced yard under close supervision when the weather permits. Outside, he loves to chew grass or chase bugs.He usually decides to go back indoors after 25 minutes or so.
Despite my best efforts to keep him safe, Harry has had several hair-raising adventures and already used up four of his nine lives, though he is only two years old.
A friend came to visit and we ate some cake with raisins in it, which I placed in a plastic box when she left. I then called round at a neighbour's who asked me in for a cup of tea so I was longer there than expected. When I returned, I found the cake scattered over the floor with some of it missing. I recalled reading that raisins were poisonous to cats, so I phoned my vet who said I should bring Harry in at once.
Harry was whisked into the presence of the chief vet who took his case very seriously. My poor cat had to spend all weekend on a drip at the vet's. He refused to eat, as surprisingly, did Leo! Luckily, Harry returned home with a clean bill of health a few days later. He was rather subdued for a while, though, and it was months before he was his old playful self again.
Harry waited until summer for his next adventure when he climbed out of an upstairs window while I was asleep. I had it covered with netting, but he managed to squeeze through a gap and jump down into my small front garden, only feet away from the busy road!
When I realised he was missing, I rushed out fearing the worse with my heart in my mouth. I heard a pathetic mewing and Harry raced into the house, dripping wet and hardly recognisable, as there had been a heavy thunderstorm. He spent the rest of the day grooming himself.
A few days later, Harry had yet another adventure. My decorator came to do some work for me and Harry was not impressed by the upheaval. When the decorator left, I heard a pathetic mewing and thought Harry was shut in a bedroom. I searched the house but could find no trace of him. Then I realised that the mewing came from up the kitchen chimney!
I tried to coax Harry down, but in vain. I hastened next door to ask for help. The neighbour initially thought I was joking, but agreed to come round. He tried vainly to get Harry down and phoned a couple of agencies that are supposed to rescue animals, but both refused to come. I begged him to get a sledgehammer and demolish the wall to save Harry, but he had a better idea when he remembered the chimneys in the row had a hatch built in the wall to help the chimney sweep. He climbed up a ladder and rescued my Harry and brought him home to me. Harry was no longer ginger, but grey after his adventure. I did my best to clean him up and he groomed himself back to his usual immaculate state.
I hoped then that Harry was now grown up and would give me no more frights, but one day he started to cough and I thought he must have a hair ball. When I went to clean it up, I found he had coughed up a whole disposable plastic glove! I now have to be careful to keep plastic out of his way.
Harry has a lovely nature and has only growled about three times in his entire life. He is very playful and especially loves his bird toy. He has a sense of humour and teases me when it is time to come in from the yard by darting in and out or rolling over just out of reach.
He is a great favourite with everyone who comes to my house and is a perfect host. If he really likes a visitor, he will lick their hand. He is most partial to people who have cats.
He is very deferential to Leo, who is now 19 and always lets him eat first and usually he will not come on my bed if Leo is there.
I love my Harry very much. He is a real character who vastly enriches my life. Ginger cats are special and Harry is an extra special one.
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