I enjoyed reading your article about people adopting old and sick dogs and cats to love – and be loved (‘They deserve love!’ Last-chance pets – and the people who rescue them, 7 February). On sabbatical in Lancaster around 2005, my partner and I used to volunteer at a rescue shelter for cats. We came across Lenny basking in the sun, oblivious to the fact that he was blocking the pathway. He was elderly and moth-eaten, but the sun lit up his grey tabby coat so that it shone bluish in the spring light. He was clearly a cat of character.
We were told that he was not for rehoming, having survived cat flu and been rescued from a dysfunctional home with 22 cats, six dogs and several rabbits. Impressed by his survival record, we insisted on adopting him. Renamed Felix, treated for chronic catarrh and mutually ignored by Barsie, our resident feline, Felix led the happy lethargic life of a superannuated prima donna, stirring only to plonk himself down wherever poor Barsie chose to sit. We loved him dearly and he returned the compliment.
Barsie died in 2014, aged almost 20, and Felix followed within weeks of his nemesis. RIP! So yes, an aged and even disabled animal can be an unforgettable pet, and give and receive joy as much as any youngster, cats no less than dogs.
Yehudit Keshet
Be’er Sheva, Israel
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