"You've gotta friend"
Our beloved ginger tom Ginjatheninja was such a bruiser - at least he was with us. It's difficult to accurately pinpoint when he came into our lives. A shy, hesitate boy who appeared in our garden one day and over time won our hearts.
He rapidly got a reputation, erroneously, as a thug. Neighbours complained that he bullied their pet pussies - that's how he got his name. He was always very nervous and would attack your legs if he thought you'd got too near. That was early on and over time he calmed down. He has formed a very close and special relationship with my wife. Every evening is cuddly time when he stops whatever he's doing and goes into the living room to sit with the missus as she watches the TV. At night he's on the bed staring at her or snuggling up close as she reads or writes in bed.
Ginga had a gorgeous tail which he lost a few years ago. He was in a fight and as a result damaged it. One morning as he was eating we noticed his tail was on the ground, he couldn't raise or move it. A trip to the vets revealed a deep bite which had severely damaged the nerve - and his tail was amputated. I have never seen a more piteous sight that a tailless ginger tom.
Yet after a while all that trauma was forgotten and he took on a new personality as the tailless wonder. As he aged he softened, his angry slashes and swipes grew less frequent and when we got two kittens four years ago he became almost parental. He chases and is chased by the two twin tabby sisters Pixie and Dixie and he formed a close relationship with Dixie - they sit together under the veranda and share food.
The damage to his spine, however, hadn't been healed. Slowly he has found it more difficult to jump up onto tables and chairs. He no longer goes out onto the flat room to sun himself: something quite special as his ginger fur would shine gold like. His back legs have lost their strength and he sometimes wobbles or they give way - to his embarrassment.
The ultimate indignity is that he is so immobile that he cannot clean himself properly. He can only clean his fur half way which means the lower half get clumpy and tangled. He won't allow us to brush him - so it's a trip to the vet to have a thorough brush - he tolerates the young female vet as she untangles and cuts his fur. He can't lick his bum clean so it gets crusted and very dirty. We now clean his arse for him with special wipes: how undignified is that for a gorgeous tom.
Sometimes it gets so bad we take him to the vet and they shave the fur away from his bum! This we did on Friday. He tolerated it for a while and then rebelled - leaving him half shaved and looking slightly lopsided.
He is always wanting strokes and cuddles, following my wife dog like from room to room and looking imploringly with huge green eyes.I'm dreading the time we have to say "Goodbye"so we do our best to enjoy his company wondering how this small sentient creature can engender such love and affection from us.
But then any animal lover will know exactly how we feel and share our amazement at these wonderful creatures that share they lives with us.
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