In the summer of 2000 we bought our first house, I always longed for a little cat and for our first Christmas in our own home my then boyfriend (now husband) made my wishes come true.  We visited all the local cat rescue homes and at Gables we found a gorgeous little cat, just begging for our attention.  Her name was Boggy and she was estimated to be between 4 and 5 years old.  Boggy!! – who could call a cat such a name so I immediately changed her name to Twinkle, much more fitting.

She became the baby in our life, she curled up on our bed each night, awaited our arrival home from work for playtime and cuddles.  The next few years passed by with her being a key part in our everyday life.  Then Miss M was born.  From that day on Twinkle decided that she didn’t like noise of babies crying in our bedroom and settled herself in the spare room.  And a few years later came Mister B but we could rely on Twinkle to appear for her evening cuddles on the sofa or find her exploring the garden during the day.

In April 2013 we discovered a large red sore on her stomach and immediately took her to the vets.  The news that it was a large tumour was devastating but we decided to go ahead with an operation to remove it.  After we found out that the tumour was larger than expected and they had to cut her body from neck to tail in order to remove as much as possible.  She came home looking a lot thinner and a little poorly but we anticipated a good recovery.  Just a few months on, unfortunately Twinkle was looking skinnier than ever, literally skin and bones, she had definitely slowed down and wasn’t the vibrant, lively cat she once was.  We took her back to the vets for a check up a few weeks ago to find a new tumour had grown again on her stomach the size of a golf ball, and she had only a few weeks left to live.

Although we were saddened by this, it’s almost difficult to accept this is reality.  It’s only when you see poor Twinkle unable to climb the stairs, neglecting to come in the front room and spending her days curled up in the hallway that you realise she isn’t what she was, no longer a young playful cat looking for love, now an older cat suffering the symptoms of old age and cancer and bearing up as best she can.

I loved poor Twinkle dearly and gave her the best life I could, encouraging her to chase a piece of string, tickling her with a feather and cuddling her each night enjoying the sound of her loud purr.

I’ll miss her dearly, 12 and a half years with a pet is not something to be forgotten and having her for the majority of the time living in this house now leaves us with an empty space.  We’ll never forget, and always remember her by her pictures on the wall.  Rest in peace dear Twinkle – I love you! xx