Merry and Samwise Come Home

This is Merry (left) and Samwise (right).
They (along with 26 of their whiskered comrades) were rescued by the RSPCA on December 3rd 2007.

Last week my boyfriend (aka The Boy) and I travelled an hour and a half to the RSPCA centre in Ashford, Kent where we met them for the first time.

After ooing and ahing over all the cats (and weighing up the pros and cons of taking them ALL home) it eventually came down to two pairs: Merry and Samwise (16 month old Bengals) and Nobus and Isiah (9 month old Bengal/Havana crosses). After a great deal of deliberating we chose Merry and Samwise, primarily because we like what we've heard about Bengal personalities.

A week has passed since then and we've gone cat crazy.

We've bought toys, baskets, treats ... you name it. The RSPCA told us that because Samwise and Merry have only ever known small spaces, it would be wise to keep them confined to one or two rooms for a while, and introduce them to bigger spaces gradually. So we've prepared the conservatory for them.

They will also have access to the kitchen, which we've had to cat-proof. The Boy and I have had nightmares about the cats jumping up on the electric stove when the rings are hot and melting their paw pads (it doesn't have a lid). We searched high and low for a solution ... and eventually found two hob covers. It's not ideal, but it'll do for now. The cats are safe.

Now it's only half an hour until we set off to collect them ... and I don't know whether I'm excited or nervous. The Boy and I have both had cats as children. But not as adults ... and from what we've heard about Bengals, they're HARD WORK!! Yikes.

The RSPCA does an AMAZING job. But they always need donations. To donate, please send a cheque made out to RSPCA to: RSPCA Ashford Garden Cattery, 34 Station Road, Ashford, Kent, TN23 1PH