Double celebration today for Saidi as she celebrates her 15th Birthday and 12 years with us. The second we are 100% about, the first is a best estimate and she could well be a little older.
Sands has known her longer than me as she fed her and at least two of her litters on the street near our apartment in Spain. She re-homed the kittens and decided that we were adopting Saidi, who is mother to Moreno.
She is showing her age a little these days and she was the one we were most concerned over regards the move to the UK, both in terms of the journey and settling in, but she has handled it all extremely well.
No issues with the drive over, she walked out of her cat box and into her new home without a seconds hesitation.
In the summer she was a frequent visitor to the garden (she has always loved the sun) but throughout the winter she has taken rooms upstairs, but that is fine. She has access to food, water, litter tray and cat beds all at ground level (she has a little arthritis in her front left leg) but she jumps up on the bed throughout the night and anytime we walk into the bedroom she appears for a fuss.
She is OK with the stairs and does put in an odd appearance of an evening, but in general is content upstairs.
She has always been a tad grumpy with the other cats. Not that she dislikes them, more a case of being protective of her space, but once she starts growling at them they have had a tendency to corner her. Since we have been in the UK this rarely happens. She may well be calmer, and the others are certainly all older, but I think the main thing is that she has so much more space, the others don’t really trouble her.
Not that she isn’t sociable! In Spain she regularly shared a cat bed with Kasper, and that continues and in the afternoon she often shares a dog bed with Fleur and Moreno, although I think the proximity to the radiator is more attractive than the company!
It is hard not to think how much longer she will be with us but she seems in good health and enjoying life just as much as ever. She has always suffered from a runny/blocked nose but it doesn’t worry her and every three months or so we give her some antibiotics to stop it getting worse. With luck she will enjoy many years to come, she deserves to, and life is certainly better for having her in it, even if she can be somewhat loud when she wants attention!
She loves a brush so we have kept her fur in good condition, and although she is thinner than in her prime that’s primarily a reduction of muscle – she has a good appetite loving her cat biscuits as well as prawns, fish, chicken, steak ….
A very special lady indeed she is much loved and I am very grateful to Sands for bringing her into or lives.