Cats

For many years I was a dog person, and never cared much for cats, but then for a variety of reasons I developed a distaste for dogs, and fell in love with a Siamese kitten that we had adopted when the children were younger. Ever since then I have been a passionate cat person, and my love for these wonderful creatures has been fuelled by some of the writing of one of my favourite authors, Beverley Nichols. Currently, there are two cats in our family, and they are an integral part of our retired, and retiring, family life. The photographs below show our friends and companions who have shared our life with us on Windermere Road during the past twenty years or so.

Nelson under blanket

This is Nelson, whom we adopted in 1989, and who was sadly killed in an accident in February 1997

Amanda as a kitten

We got Amanda from TLC (Tender Loving Care) in August 1997, when she was about six months old. Very sadly, we lost her as a result of unexplained kidney failure in March 2002. She was such a beautiful, amiable friend, and we miss her greatly.

Lacey joined our family, when she was only three weeks old, in August 2000. Her mother disappeared, and left her and her litter of siblings in a tool and die shop on Highway 401. This is Lacey's first dubious experience of snow.

When Lacey first arrived, Amanda was very perplexed by her. In due course, Lacey got bigger, and Amanda stopped bullying her

Shortly after we lost Amanda, we adopted Cagney, and he has turned out to be a beautiful, easy-going animal, who still thinks that he is a kitten, and is a joy to have as a friend.	I have taken numerous great pictures of Cagney, because he is so photogenic, but these two are among my favourites
We also adopted Hayley as a stray, in March 2003, and named her after Hayley Wickenheiser, star of the 2002 and 2006 gold medal Canadian Olympic women's hockey team
	When Hayley joined our family, little did we realize that she was "in the family way", and very soon she presented us with four little kittens, three of whom were adopted out, and one of whom had to be put down, because she was severely handicapped. Uncle Cagney took on the responsibility of looking after the kittens whenever Hayley took a break. Lacey, however, wasn't allowed anywhere near the kittens
Believe it or not, Cagney was once a cute little kitten ,and we think he's still very cute.	We sadly lost Lacey on September 2 2008, after a long illness, and we would like to express our grateful appreciation to Dr. H.J. Sweetman and the staff of the Downtown Veterinary Clinic for their loving and sensitive care of her
Lacey gave Cagney an affectionate kiss before she became so ssick	Every year, we traditionally take a family photograph on Christmas Eve, and this one is from December 2005. It was quite a job, as there were only two of us, and three of them