May 28th, 2025

Author: donich_admin

It is a far, far better thing…

I love all cats.  I love our girls Saphy and Amber a great deal.  Tora and Schrodi were my very dear boys until their deaths a few years ago, and they are still in my heart.

But at the moment, I have to admit that my favourite and most beloved cat is our ex-stray Lucky.  When he turned up at our house two years ago he was starving, covered in ticks and almost completely wild.  Now he is a big soft mutt who rolls over on his back for tickles and loves his food so much that at certain times he looks a bit rotund.  But Lucky is wild at heart, and Lochgoilhead is his kingdom.  When the sun shines we are fortunate if we are graced with his presence for five minutes a day – he is off all over the village, mooching at tourist cottages and scaring dogs and out in the forests and hills.

So we are going to a huge house (4000+ square feet) with a huge walled garden.  It is all most cats could dream of, and I am sure the girls will be very happy there.  But to cut to the chase, it is still in a town, and there is a busy road about 150m away.  R and I have been over and over it in our minds, and with the greatest sadness we have to concede that if we take Lucky with us, there is every chance he will be killed on the road because he has never seen traffic.  Additionally, there is no wilderness for him to roam; he would just not be happy there.

But in spite of this, we had decided to take him, because we simply had no other choice.  And then we had the most extraordinary piece of luck – the lady who is buying Donich Lodge mentioned that not only did they have two cats already, but they were looking for a third.  So Lucky is keeping his home here, and getting a new set of friends to look after him.

So leaving him is going to break my heart, but at the same time, we know that we are doing the very best for him.

I will really, really miss him – he is some cat.