Blackie's Story


Blackie, kitten from STC lab. head
born about 17th April 1960 was about 10
when she died - had moved to a neighbour's house

Blackie

Blackie
born 17th April 1960

By 1959, I had been promoted to junior engineer in the development laboratory where I worked and the head of the lab had a cat which produced kittens at the beginning of the following year. How it happened I can no longer remember, but one evening we were invited to visit him and meet the new kittens and came away with the long haired black one. I can offer no excuse as to why we named her Blackie, it is such an ordinary name, with no real thought behind it, from the perspective of many years later! She was a pleasant little cat and the boys loved her but she was unfortunate to be overshadowed by an amazing event that happened just a year after she came to live with us. Perhaps we over reacted and she felt her nose was put out of joint, but perhaps we had a good excuse! Richard had been found and was back home after almost two years!

The neighbours to Myrtle's parents had always said that they couldn't cope with having the responsibility of a cat, but were quite happy to encourage the Webb's cat Dinkie to visit them, and gave him little treats when he popped over the fence! He had his very own cat food tin in their kitchen.

After he died, then the neighbours transferred their affection and food to Blackie. We think that she had been rather put out by Richards arrival on her scene and perhaps she was not all that keen on children. She had arrived after Richard got lost and when he came back he did of course reclaim his position! Anyway, she spent more and more time down there, although usually coming home at night when called (we heard the neighbours back door being surreptitiously shut just before she turned up!) and putting on rather more weight than we thought good for her.

Eventually, she just moved out permanently and we hardly saw her. About that time we got ourselves another cat, so that probably decided Blackie as to which side her bread was buttered. Blackie died before she was ten and very overweight. She was happy with her changed life, but it was a pity that she became such a pampered pet.

Most of her story is in Chapters 4 and 5 of our History (link under menu, Text). She lived in her two homes to the age of about 10, dying around 1970

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