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Up until 5 years ago I had never been a great fan of cats – I was definitely a dog person. All that changed when we knocked our house down and rebuilt in 2004. We had to rent while the demolition and building took place. People 2 houses up from us had a cat that used to hang around our house a lot. Eventually he pretty much “adopted” us and I’m sure he spent more time at our place than he did at his own home. I used to come home and he would be waiting for me at the front door. And waiting at the back door every morning for us to get up. When the time came to move back into our own house, I realised how attached I had become to this cat and it was really hard to leave him behind. A few months later I was walking past the local pet shop and found myself drawn to one of the kittens in the shop. I still really missed the cat from the rental house so decided that it was time to get our own cat and to buy the one at the pet shop. Meet Ruski

He certainly wasn’t a lap cat, he was fiercely independent but loved being close to us. Quite often he would curl up on the lounge next to us when we were watching TV, or if I was home during the day he would just sleep somewhere in the house, appearing occasionally for some food. He had a load of personality and was great fun to have around. He was a mixed breed, but more than likely mostly Russian Blue with one parent probably a tabby as he had as I called them “tiger stripes” where some of the fur was darker than the rest.

Every now and then he would go out after he had dinner and not come home. A couple of times he was locked in a store room under the neighbour’s house and we could hear him meowing from our back yard. We just had to wait for the neighbours to appear to unlock the room so he could get out. Other times he would be at the door in the morning waiting for us so he could have breakfast. Wednesday night he didn’t come home – nothing too unusual about that and I wasn’t about to stay up all night waiting for him to come home. Thursday morning he wasn’t at the door waiting to come in when I got up. That was highly unusual. I went out the back to listen for him meowing from the neighbour’s store room. No sound

I went through the house to make sure he hadn’t been locked in a room by mistake. No sign of him.

I was worried by this stage but really had no idea where he could be. I had to be at the dentist at 9am so the kids and I rushed out of the house at about 8.45 and still no sign of the cat. While we were at the dentist I left my phone with Tiger in the waiting room as I was expecting a call about a delivery that we were getting yesterday.

Unfortunately our neighbour rang while I was with the dentist. She thought that it was me on the phone and not Tiger. She told him that she had found Ruski and that he was in their front yard and that he was dead. Poor Tiger was in the waiting room by himself and he told me later that he was very upset but he didn’t think that he could come in and see me. We left the dentist in a rush as we had to be home for the delivery. Tiger told me he had to tell me something and I put him off while I paid the bill. We then ran over to the shops to get essentials like bread and milk and while I was paying for the things we had bought, Tiger told me about the phone call from the neighbour. The three of us in a huddle and crying in the middle of a small, local shopping centre.

Ruski looked very peaceful lying on the grass in the neighbour’s front yard and he didn’t look at all like he had suffered so I am grateful for that. We had no idea what happened to him, but after talking to the vet today she said that its more than likely that he had been hit by a car and probably had internal damage. She also said that from the way that he was lying that he would have died quickly and fairly peacefully too. There is some comfort in knowing what probably happened, especially because he was so young and hadn’t been sick.

We have laid him to rest in our back garden and we will get a plant to put there to remember him. The kids are finding it hard, as I am too, and DH. But we will be OK, once we get past the shock of it happening and the initial grief.

If I had just one wish it would be that I could spend just one more minute with him, a chance for me to say goodbye to him properly. The hardest part is that it was so unexpected and it’s this that I am struggling with at the moment.

So, rest peacefully Ruski and know you will be missed. A lot. Thanks for the smiles, the laughs and just being you over the last 4 years. We all love you.

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