Pussa the cat passed away after around 16 years of happy cat life, on February 3rd. She had lived in three households in the Highbury neighbourhood, moving according to which humans provided the best service for her.
She moved in with us when the cat tenancy of our house was vacated by the death of Sam, some four years ago. She had lived with Sarah, our neighbour, but decided that a house with a cat flap, and more human laps to sit on was more to her liking.
In later years she slowed down with arthritis, and no longer gave random bites to people stroking her. She was never a great hunter - one sparrow and one mouse was the total of her catch in four years (and she lost the mouse under an up-turned bath on the back lawn!). We can be sure no more defenseless creatures were killed, as she would parade around with her catch proudly mieowing for hours - making absolutely sure everybody knew about it!
She liked to sleep with any homestay guests or Wwoofers who allowed her in their beds, and more than one person was awakened by her extremely loud snoring! She never favoritised people - a warm lap was a warm lap to her, she preferred to be randomly affectionate.
In the last month or so of her life, her appetite worsened, and her breathing rate increased. A trip to Andy’s work place revealed a cancer in her lungs. Was she a secret smoker? Despite palliative treatment, she lost weight, though seemed to still enjoy life. However, on one of her regular expeditions out of the Sky Room window onto the house roof via the scaffolding, she fell (due to her weakened state) onto the roof below. The fall was only about four feet, but she paralysed her right hind leg. The only option was for Andy to give the final injection. She was buried under a Pseudopanax bush in the shrubbery at a small ceremony.
