Dave, or Miss Dave Mittens to use her full name, is a bionic 21-year-old cat who has shared a lifetime of love with owners Tom Witney and Greville Matthews. Her birthday treat has always been a tin of tuna but now she’s in her 20s Tom and Greville have upgraded her to tuna loin, and hope for many more fishy festivities to come.
Tom said: “As a tiny stray kitten, Dave broke her leg falling from a window. She was fixed back together with a metal pin and we adopted her. Now, at the grand old age of 22, she still perches on my shoulder like a parrot. Grev is a circus performer so acrobatics runs in the family.
The secret of Dave’s long life, I think, is good moggy genes and how well she has trained Grev and me. The pitch of her meow is slightly higher when she wants food or a fuss and we respond to her demands immediately. She looks after us too. Grev works some evenings, so she sees me to bed and then waits up for him. When I was working long hours at home on my PhD thesis, she slept between my hands as I typed. I thanked her for keeping me company in my acknowledgements. We love her so much.”
For 17-year-old cats with a long list of ailments, Katie and Lucy are surprisingly sprightly. Maybe it’s because their retirement home with Alyson Laing (daughter of original owners D-Day hero William and WW2 wren Josephine) is so comfortable. Despite her arthritis, Katie divebombs into hedges while Lucy, who is deaf and lost her tail last year due to an infected cyst, squabbles with her sister over catnip bananas.
Alyson said: “Mum and dad were great cat lovers and Katie and Lucy fantastic companions in their retirement. When mum died in 2018, they were such a comfort to Dad, never leaving his side. A year later, shortly after meeting Prince William at the 75th anniversary of D-Day commemorations, Dad, aged 92, moved to a care home. ‘I’m not going without my cats,’ he said and they spent his final two months with him there.
Afterwards, I adopted Katie and Lucy. Having them to share my grief with was a real solace. They also helped through several painful knee surgeries, bringing garden flowers they’d picked through the cat flap for me! They make me smile every day, especially with their perennial sibling quarrel over who gets the first cuddle in the morning. I tell them Mum and Dad are looking down, happy we are together.”
You can’t keep a good cat down as plucky Seth, now 16, proved two years ago, after a dog jumped into his garden and attacked him. During Seth’s recovery, Hilary slept downstairs to comfort him and he repaid her kindness a year later when she was diagnosed with cancer. Now both returned to full health, their bond is deeper than ever.
Hilary said: “Seth, who my husband Jim, daughter Catherine and I adopted at a year old, is a brilliant cat so to see him covered in blood after the dog attack was horrifying. We thought we’d lose him. He was in hospital for three nights on antibiotics for deep puncture wounds. Then he came home with rest prescribed for his dislocated hip. I slept with him in the front room as he wasn’t allowed to climb the stairs but he was so determined, sneaking up before I could stop him.
Last year, he began cuddling me with his heart over my heart and his paws over my shoulder, purring in my ear. When I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer, I knew he’d sensed it. During my recovery from hysterectomy, I placed a pillow on my tummy for Seth and his ‘cuddle and purr therapy’. He had healed himself and now he was helping me heal.”