Remembering Molly 2004 - 2023

 

Dear friends. Sad news. My devoted companion Molly the Mouser has gone to the great garden in the sky. She was 19, we think, and had a long, happy life. 

I first met Molly in 2005 at Paula and Julie's in Swindon, where she had turned up, unannounced, begging for food. A trip to the vet had revealed Molly was pregnant, probably her first litter. She was too lively around their elderly cats so I agreed to take Molly after the kittens had been homed.

I drove Molly to Chingford and told her that she was going to have a lovely life.  And she did.

She was a feisty youngster. Having never been picked up in her pre-humans time, she wasn't keen on that at all.  But she showed affection for me in other ways, usually privately.  I was the only human that mattered to her, poor Mr M didn't get much of a look in.

Although she was feisty, she was tiny. During the first few weeks of her arrival in 2005 we heard a rumpus in the kitchen one evening and found she had been cornered by Pedro, a huge Persian cat who lived nearby. The previous occupants had let him get into the habit of coming into the house and he resented this intruder.  Poor Molly was terrified.  We then installed a cat flap that only admitted Molly.

She was a talented mouser right up until 2021. The last mouse was alive and hid behind the TV and cables for several days before Mr M was able to catch it with a humane trap, and take it to Epping Forest. Below:  Molly meets baby Olive, 2022.

Molly disliked, in no particular order, men, vets and window cleaners.  The trip to the vet every year for her annual vaccination was always dreaded. Vets didn't usually believe that this tiny cat could be so ferocious, even though I always warned they would need a towel, gloves and two people.

Even during her last visit to the vet, yesterday, she still managed to hiss and howl, despite being very frail and exhausted. The picture below is from early March and one of the last we took.  

Cats love routine and develop habits.  One of Molly's most endearing habits was following me to bed every night, jumping up on the bed and padding up to me to present her head for kissing.  

During the night she would often wake up and either sit above my head, or purr loudly around me, to get more kisses. First thing in the morning she would wait patiently in the windowsill for me to wake, and then the kisses would resume until she followed me to breakfast.

When I worked at home she always came  into my office at 5pm looking for her tea.  Sometimes she sat on my desk as I worked. She delighted colleagues on Zoom calls.

I had several nicknames for Molly including Bibs, Bibby, Cuds and Mollypie. 

She loved our little garden and always found a shady spot, or a pot to sit in. She often watched the squirrels but wasn't interested in catching them. When we had the two "tame" wood pigeons, Pidgie and Leg  (read more in my old blog, here!) she'd watch them with a bored look.

It's fitting that when Molly is returned to us, in a few days, that we'll scatter her ashes in the garden she loved. It was a privilege to have her utter devotion and affection. We will never forget you, my sweet friend.

Sharing this post with #AnythingGoes at My Random Musings, Rena at Fine Whatever, Traffic Jam Weekend at Marsha in the Middle, Talent Sharing Tuesdays at Scribbling Boomer

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cats, Molly the cat, remembering a treasured pet, the life of a much loved cat