Misje's Story |
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Misje
Misje was probably born in 1995, and we gave him an official day of 21st June. He could have been a Danish student's kitten who had served his purpose of companionship when studies were finished and he was not wanted by the next student in that flat. We just don't know. When he ended up in the cat rescue centre he got given a name which I misheard when writing it down - but even if Misha wsa meant, he ended up as Misje! Maj-Britt, one of the centre's volunteers lived near to a block of student flats and it was not the first time that young cats had turned up in her garden after the end of the academic year. She had an open storage area under her house and as there were always some stray cats in the area, she used to keep blankets and food and water bowls there for them while she tried to find their owners. If all else failed, then she might catch those she could and take them to a vet for checks and any healthy ones in to the centre for possible rehoming. In 1997 she noticed a new cat coming for food and shelter and one evening she saw him looking at her through her house window! He had climbed up and was hanging on to the window sill looking in at her and her own house cats. After she had seen him several times, she easily caught him and brought him in for the usual checks! He was obviously used to people and missing affection. The checks showed him as a very healthy and strong young male, maybe two years old (a student's usual length of time at college) ready to be neutered which the centre arranged. There didn't seem to be any reason why he should not be resettled quickly, except for his age. Even two years is seen by most of the centre's visitors as being too old - "we really wanted a kitten" is the usual excuse. Misje moved from his incoming cage at KVO to go free in the office area in the summer when we needed his cage. Unfortunately, he got worse and worse with the other cats, especially as new ones arrived and eventually there were so many squabbles and even fights that he had to be put in a cage again at night. It was a pity as Maj-Britt thought that he was a playful and loving cat. Obviously the situation of not being able to go out anymore plus all the other cats was too much for him. Unfortunately, no visitor wanted him so the month of June then became intolerable as Misje got even worse with the other cats and even the helpers. The trouble was that he wanted to impose his personality on the rest, especially new ones, and if a helper got in the way to try and break it up, then Misje would grab hold and not let go. So everyone got Misje-scars, except us as he seemed to like us. Eventually we took him home to try and calm him down, but he was so happy that within three days we decided to adopt him ourselves. That was on the 7th June 1997. Our cats were happy with him and the rescue cats at the centre all calmed down without him there! He was still a bit of a problem in our home as he was so big and strong and could only play rough. I dug out my spare leather motorcycle gauntlets and he loved to fight me (or get a tummy rub) wearing those! He had also been so used to roaming that our cat run was not enough for him. I solved that problem by fitting a magnet controlled cat door I arranged to work in reverse to allow only him to go out. He was so smart tht if he didn't hear it click when he aproached it, he knew is was switched to the locked condition and walked away. He could come back in through it of course once allowed out, but frequently would come round to a window where he could see us and we would let him in through the garden door. Half an hour or so was enough for him and then he wanted his friends around him again. Bedtime he slept on top of my duvet between my legs; the heaviest cat we have ever had! He was a wonderful cat but sadly at the age of only 6 he developed FIP, the curse of a small percentage of young cats, and died after he was X-rayed to confirm it, on the 3rd July 2001. Four happy years to remember. His whole story will be added to our History soon.
Here is his silly photo when he was posing for a poster
intended to sell catnip mice at cat shows!
 There is an article of mine about FIP - click here |
