Albert

We have spent the day in the city of Liverpool, spending our wedding gift vouchers at John Lewis.
After a great deal of debate we decided to buy some cutlery.
Which is very grown up of us both me feels.
Anyhow I am late blogging today.......and that is why!
I promised Scottish Andrew that today's post would feature his favourite Going Gently character
So here is a brief history of Albert The Cat
Albert on his arrival to Bwthyn y llan

In the Autumn of 2008 on a whim I drove into the animal rescue centre at Dyserth and asked a remarkably wizened old lady with an unlit fag hanging out of her mouth if she had any cats who could hold their own against a quartet of terriers. She told me that she hadn't but took my telephone  number " just in case"
That very afternoon she rang me
" we've just had an older kitten brought in by a woman with two staffies" she rasped
" He's a feisty little bugger".
I called down to the shelter later that day and literally minutes after seeing him, I took possession of a tiny wide eyed black kitten with a sad history.
Albert was the only survivor of a littler of feral kittens . His mother had brought them up in a farm outbuilding next to a busy road and had herself been killed the day after Albert's brother had been knocked over by a milk lorry.  Albert and his sister had carried on in a fashion through the charity of one of the farm workers. It was the farm worker who had rescued him after Albert's sister was killed on the same patch of road.
It was the farm worker's wife who had re homed Albert after one of their staffie crosses had taken a dislike to the kitten.
The sob story was worthy of Walt Disney's BAMBI.
Albert arrived wide eyed yet remarkably calm, and set up home inside a cardboard box placed carefully on the dining room table. For six weeks he lived on the table and on the kitchen cabinets without once setting a foot on the floor ( even the cat littler was placed out of dog reach) and for six weeks he drove the dogs mad by remaining just that bit out of reach.
The resulting hysteria bubbled just under boiling point as the terriers lived in a permanent state of cat arousal
It was a long , long month and a half!
Then it all changed.
For one very cold night , he left the safety of the kitchen table and took his place in front of the fire with the other dogs.
And nothing was ever said about this sudden assertion .

For seven years now Albert has been a true delight.
He's been knocked over by a car , breaking a leg, (which he still can't bend properly)
He has killed hundreds of rabbits, mice , small rats and birds
and he has gone out of his way to be an active  part of the cottage dog pack spending a few minutes every day head rubbing each dog in turn in happy recognition of a friend well loved.
Albert is a constant backdrop to the more boisterous animals at the cottage
But he is as necessary to the running of the place as oxygen .

68 comments:

  1. I would expect a cat would need the personality of a wolverine to survive at your place.
    I sent an email yesterday or day before, assume you got it.
    Cheers,
    Mike

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    1. Yes mike
      Thank you from us both for your best wishes...
      Good to hear about the cardiac tests

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  2. I love Albert! Thank you for his history. How wonderful that he found a home among you all. :) There is something really special about black cats.

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  3. I was fine until that last sentence, darn you.
    Sweet story.

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  4. What a lovely post John.Albert is a very handsome lad.any chance of a PIC of the new cutlery?just being nosy!

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  5. Albert's family story sounds a little less fortunate than my Thomas's and his brothers and sisters whose mother came to our farm as an in kit stray and got rescued and saved by my brother J. Albert looks just like ours though. Thanks for Albert's story John xxx

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  6. Albert is such a dear, thanks for his history.

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  7. That last line really sums it up. He is a quiet comfort amongst the chaos. I love that cat. Deb

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  8. Anonymous7:15 pm

    What a sweet wee kitten and what a gorgeous boy he grew into. Thanks for the back story on Albert.

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  9. KITTY!!!! That picture makes me want to run out and adopt a kitten right now. He is a love and good for him and the rest of your brood. What a great addition. Perhaps you should feature an animal a week with their back story. Ya big mush. :)

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  10. Have you met many black cats with no white chest hair? Even just one. They often have a white hair hidden at the very tip of a very black tail. Now you'll be checking, won't you. These things are good to know.

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    1. Albert has a tiny white star on his chest!

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  11. awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

    new cutlery, eh? NICE!

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  12. When our cat first appeared, meowing on my front porch one night, I had NO DESIRE for a cat. None. No more pets! Done! But of course I had to feed her because, well, she was hungry. It was venison and vegetable soup that night.
    You know the rest, I'm sure. She is sitting her with me right now, watching the birds out the back porch. And my husband, who did not want a cat even more than I did not want a cat, calls himself "Daddy" to her. And she is the best little companion I could ever want.
    We love her. And that is all there is to it.
    She doesn't care. She is a cat.
    Albert is gorgeous. And balances your family completely.

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    1. Jthey have a stillness that fills a void...i agree

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  13. Albert looks very like our Jazz. Who doesn't have any white fur that I have found. Jewel has a little bit, but Jazz is as black as his heart.
    And an integral part of our home.
    Thank you and Andrew for this post.

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  14. Still not enough meat on him to make a decent curry though......

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  15. A beautiful story. A well-loved cat by man an beast.

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  16. Yes brilliant post about Albert. Very grown up. Happy Easter to all.

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  17. Wonderful post. A cat of great integrity I would say.

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  18. Albert has it made!

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  19. Thanks John. I have to love Albert.

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    1. However, re "I promised Scottish Andrew" I should point out that other Andrews than me are available in Scotland, and I would not want anyone assuming that any person named Andrew from Scotland must be me (although Andrew Robertson Scott is also me, of course). Clear?

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  20. Such a sweet story. I like dogs but there's nothing like a cat for a good snuggle. I have a recue cat too. Her name is Punkerpuss and she is the QUEEN of all she surveys. Wouldn't trade her for anything

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  21. Awwwwww I think all the doggie upset was that they didn't know who that was. I love that Albert is one of the pack.
    When we had cats all our dogs and cats got along just fine.
    Albert is beautiful.

    cheers, parsnip

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  22. What a wonderful post John. Go Albert! My son rescued an older kitten and brought her into a home with two springers. She keeps them in place by 'tapping' them on the nose when they go too far.

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  23. We had a black cat called Moggs when growing up. Have always loved black cats. In case you are interested I posted more light fixtures on my blog today.

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  24. Well that's just bloomin' great! I've only just finished blubbing my way through an episode of Supervet and then you tell Albert's story.....I'm thinking of billing you for the Kleenex! Animal people are just the absolute best.

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  25. Anonymous8:39 pm

    I like the name Albert.
    Cutlery sounds much cooler than silverware.

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  26. Our cats are worthless when it comes to doing anything Cat, other than eat and sleep.
    Congratulations and a blessed weekend to you all.

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  27. Albert is like our Bramble - a survivour x

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  28. I love a rags to riches story......thanks for sharing.

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  29. no wonder Albert hopped in the car...he's probably tired of being left behind...lovely to hear his back story...he was meant for a life shared with Winnie...

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  30. Oh, I just love Albert! He's my "Going Gently" favorite too! Thanks for telling us his story!

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  31. My last cat was a black cat who turned up one day on my deck, and stayed. Handsome Albert is one of a kind. He chose well when he chose you. As for the cutlery, yes do show us what you and the prof have chosen. (My old mum always used to pronounce it cuttle-ry. One of her many quirks.)

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  32. What a sweet tale of a handsome fellow... he landed in gravy when you took him home!

    We once had a cat magically appear inside our locked (with all windows closed!) house. Nearly scared me out of my skin!

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  33. Anonymous11:12 pm

    What a great story. A good point was made that you did not force things and let the dogs adjust to Albert's slightly remote presence.

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  34. Wonderful story. I knew Albert was special. He has earned his throne.

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  35. What a neat little family

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  36. Just a few more comments now and we will reach the sidebar photo of Albert...

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  37. Aw! replying through the mist! What a lovely end to a sad beginning. We bought ourselves new cutlery to replace some bought in John Lewis's 34 years before (everything gets dated by the "before the child was born ... or After" and this was the trip to England whilst preggers) and By Gosh ... the new stuff is SHARP!! Be careful, new knives actually cut stuff!! Have you noticed??

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  38. I love Albert's story , he is a lovely cat .

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  39. What a houseful of nice people you are!

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  40. I love Albert's kitten photo, and it's nice to have the story all in one blog post. If ever I were to visit Trelanwyd, i'd like to pet all the furfriends in your house.

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  41. Thank you for sharing the story of Albert (one of my faves as well, but of course, we have two, so we're partial). As with everything in life, all our animals end up in our lives for a reason, and Albert is no exception.

    Love your last sentence. Very touching. :-)

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  42. A well-told story, with a hard beginning and a happy ending ... thanks for telling it, and thanks to Andrew for requesting it.

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  43. After an interminable 4 years my cat Freddie has only just stating touching noses with dog Bok. I hope to live long enough to see them snuggle up together, but somehow.....

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  44. Our Cyrano came to our household of two high prey drive GWPs in a similar way, in that a fellow dog nut found him as a kitten running on the road and he wasn't at all scared of her two BCs, so we knew he would fit into our household perfectly. He did, making best friends with our very prey-driven dog, even hugging her round the neck and playing chasey with her.

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  45. "But he is as necessary to the running of the place as oxygen " Exactly! I grew up with cats; met Gran's family who immediately told me they're NOT cat people. Grant winked at me, we married a year later and have had cats in our home ever since. What a beautiful success story of Albert. Thanks for sharing. xx

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  46. That story used up several tissues, but it was just as well to know what traumas he's been through to get where he is, the lucky little treasure.

    My own all-black, imaginatively named 'Blackso', will now be something like sixteen going on seventeen (DON'T!), though still showing no sign of ageing, apart from his fur starting to have an everyday 'bedraggled' look which no end of cleaning and preening improves. What is strangest is that several of his whiskers have turned totally white - equiv of grey hairs, suppose. Set against his coal-black physiognomy they really show up. Like Albert, my Blackso is another one who doesn't know how lucky he is to have such a sympathico owner. (Or does he?)

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  47. I wish Albert could read. Our Blackie is also a rescue cat and Tess loves him as much as we do. Unfortunately we also have Creamie, another rescue cat (beautiful half Siamese) who is much more nervous and will not come into the house. So we discourage Blackie and they both live in the barn - we think Creamie needs him more than we do.

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  48. Please think about the titles more carefully...I read the title as "Albert" written "RIP" unwritten....thought the bugger had pegged it. So I claim the "BART" award - Blubbung After Reading Title.

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  49. Give Albert a stroke from me and coochie-coo tickle under his chin. As the Victorians used to chant - "Long live Albert!"

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  50. As good a story as my Toby's (also a feral kitten), although Albert is identical to Toby's sister Tess who had a little patch of white in exactly the same place. Toby was black all over not a SINGLE white hair anywhere.

    One cat does seem to work extremely well with a few dogs doesn't it and YES they are always the 'top dog' :-)

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  51. Heartwarming. I'm always curious to know what triggers the sudden changes in our rescue pets. Some of it is obvious, but the drastic behavior changes are fascinating.

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  52. This is a loving story John. To have so much taken from him then given so much to make up for it....lucky little guy.

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  53. One of your very best posts amongst excellent posts. I cried.
    XO
    WWW

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  54. Bless him! I've been 'adopted' by a huge neutered black male cat who, I think has been abandoned by people who used to live down the road.
    But, you know what cats are like, he could well have a home but, not like it because of children,loud people, dogs etc and decided I was a soft touch for a good meal and some fuss!
    I've called him 'Binks' after the black cat in 'Hocus Pocus' film, he is so like that cat but, not computer generated lol!
    May Albert live long and pawsper! xxx

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  55. Love the story of Albert! What resilience! What personality! Each rescue animal is so unique. I adopted a little black kitten from a rescue organization. He had been abused right after birth -- a leg chopped off, thrown in a trash can and left for dead -- but, three surgeries later, he is the most wonderful little animal, so loving and sweet. I'm delighted to hear that your Albert is enjoying his life running with the pack!

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  56. I love Albert .... he reminds me of our Toby. Great story John, I like to know the whys and wherefores, I'm a nosy cow like that.

    Jo in Auckland, NZ

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  57. Do all black cats have a white spot on their chest? We have a 5-year-old black cat, and recently rescued an adolescent black cat, and both of ours have white spots on their chests (like Albert's). Good story, John, BTW.

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