RIP Alley - for a bad tempered cat, you were well loved!
Our main consolation is that you were only actually unwell for a week - and only badly ill for a couple of days :-(
David Thomas RIP Alley Thomas 17/9/88 27/10/2012 Peacefully with people she loved After biting Kathy and drawing blood Aged 24 and one month. Best smartest most loved cat ever. Best ratter ever. Wonderful wonderful cat. I guess we put off your birthday party just a bit too long. Died in my arms at about 1 in the morning.
- Lisa Coutts I'm so sorry, Kathy and Dave. RIP Alley. She had a wonderful long life and was so loved.
- David Fawkner I remember her getting up and offering me her chair - much to Dave's consternation - the first time we met. R.I.P. Alley.
- Murray Nicholas That's very sad news Kathy. Sympathies to you both. Been there, done that, ain't easy. Take care.
- Edward Hore That is so sad you two, sorry about this, I understand the loss, this is going to be a bad and long recovery, but remember she always loved you two, always gave lots of cuddles, and I do believe she fully understood you Dave, cats are smart.
- Edward Hore Thats up to you guys, if it is a good reminder, then keep it, if it is a painful reminder, then bring it over when you are ready. {HUGS}
- David Thomas Alley memories . Her biting me when the vet microchipped her. Straight though the thumb. Then apologising. The way she would not forgive an insult until she had got even.... I smacked her once for something it turned out she had not done. She hid all day.. sneaked into my room that night and in the middle of the night ripped one of my toes open and then ran and hid for a week. But she would forgive an accident if you said sorry..and never ever held a grudge. She came in to the bathroom one day and found me with my eyes closed and one of them under the water (easing conjunctivitis) I opened my eyes to find her hanging to the side of the bath reaching out over the water and trying to snag me with a claw. For years after she would rush in and anxiously watch me have a bath. She bought home rats bigger than her.. once to ask for help cos she had a claw stuck in its backbone.. And one really big one when I was on the way out and did not applaud enough .. when I came back she had arranged it precisely in the centre of the step and was posing on it in classic great hunter mode. She was mysteriously ill for a week once and then a year later went rigid in horror before leaping on a bike cable on the floor and hitting it so hard her claw had to be freed from the carpet. We figured out that she must have been bitten by a little snake. She had bad kidneys her entire life... and I never thought she would get into her teens. I got in a fight out the front once and she tried to take the guy down. She ripped one blokes arm up for daring to pick her up one day. She used to run down the end of the block when we lived in north balwyn and greet specific school kids. Who .. and I have no idea how new her by name. She had a bf who was a brushtail possum and he tried to talk her into walking on phone lines. She got as far as a step or so.. but is not silly. She had a pet owl in North Balwyn and I would come out to find the owl and her both on the roof of the garage.
David Thomas This last year is the first time she ever felt the cold. Before she would always get up and open the doors in the middle winter. This year she had no down. She used to sleep on my bed and occasionally in it and when she was too active I would go to sleep with her stuffed in my armpit. Usually bum up where she would caress my ear with her tail. She was the most tailcentric cat in the world.. used it like a paw and always knew exactly where it was. This year she had no down layer, really felt the cold and slept in the bed. She loved her laptop and cried when her first one died. By then she had figured out how to make it do all sort of things. She never figured out that the same button could turn it on and off tho... thats just not a cat concept. She died snuggled in my arm She was the only person who thought I was a brilliant guitarist. And would listen to me entranced. She has not spoken in a few years but she had a vocabulary of two english words. "No" and "Now" and always used them in appropriate context She was very good at threats. But we had fights when she went on her heart medication, in which she woud put a paw on my eye .. pull the claws in then push me away. She didnt like most people .. did not like raised voices or crowds but she shared houses with many people over the years and all of them loved her.27 October at 11:42 · Like ·
David Thomas She mellowed a lot over the years. Became even a little overtly affectionate. But she mostly put up with affection. Sometimes she would give a kiss. Or a purr. Most cats purr for themselves but Alley would only purr to let people know she was happy. She considered you would know she loved you if she was nearby. She would snooze on the hood of my sportscar making an Alley shaped ding in the vinyl or on the seat of my Kat motorcycle. Which had to be on the centerstand so she would not slide off. SHe loved watching me work. She was a hell of a sprinter. Only a few months ago she was across the road where she is not allowed (looking for Shadow her admirer from down the road) and was sprung. I recon she did that standing 100 metres in 3 seconds. And then she stuck her bum up in the air curled her tail out of the way and just waited for her smack.Kathy Exley She had decided that I made food more exciting - David just put the food out, I could never get him to be enthusiastic about it for her. So, if I was trying to complete some work, I would tell her I would look after her in 5 mins (which she understood). But heaven help me if I didn't actually do something at the end of that 5 mins - OR if she decided she really needed to be dealt with NOW... I have a number of small holes in my chins - from the Alley claw that would follow the Alley paw on my leg.
She also sometimes decided to be a lap cat (again, due to the cold) - and if I had my legs tucked up on the chair, she would jump up anyway, climb onto the top of my legs and wait for me to sort out her lap.
She will be dreadfully missedSally Cloke So sorry guys. She had a lovely life with you two.David Thomas I,m raving here... bear with me. SHe was very non talkative. One loud "mew" a day to get your attention was a talkative day for her. ONe day in Glen Iris tho she was up the 40 foot gum tree. We just told her to come down. At the flats there she ended up with a bunch of spectators all desperately worried about her.. and me .. entirely disinterested. She sat up their yowling occasionally and looking more and more forlorn as people looked for ladders or talked about ringing the fire brigade. Eventually I just told her to 'Come here'. She ran straight down the side of the tree and landed on my shoulder. That entirely non expressive face of hers was laughing hysterically.
Norm Gray Commiserations & empathy for Alley's passing. Seems October is the month for losing furry friends & family.David Thomas A maltese terrier with an owner who didnt believe in leads went her one day. He thought he had tangled with Freddy Kruger. Apparently it cost thousands to put him back together. If I had not rescued Alley she would have killed him. She never thought she was a cat. Would only drink water out of a cup. Enjoyed people food including quite hot food. You looked in those eyes and a smart aware person looked back at you. Yesterday morning that was a sed and loving person who did not want to leave me but was entirely aware what was happening She had the most amazing sense of time.. She know what 5 minutes meant. And she knew what 10 minutes meant. To the secondPenny Robinson Sorry to hear your sad news Kathy and Dave.
When I was over in September, I enjoyed watching her snuggle on "her" laptop ... and even manage to turn it back on again once!Roger HammondJulieanne Beckham oh poor old Alley, I didnt know she was leaving us. I am very sorry for your loss of your dear old gril. David I am so sorry I know how much you love her xxxxxxxxxxxKathy Exley She got sick on Monday, Julieanne, was very off her food, but we thought she'd probably come good, as she's had upset tums in the past. But this time she didn't. So we took her to the vet on Fri night (VERY scared about it). The vet suggested some things we could try, to see if she'd improve, but she didn't really want to try anymore. We did everything we could to make it work, but it was not to beJulieanne Beckham I love your stories about her David, I think they need to become cartoonsHelen Evans So sorry to hear you have lost your friend, but glad she is at peace love to you all xxDavid Thomas WWhen I was driving taxi,s she would be wide awake and waiting for me at 5:30 in the morning when I knocked off and she would clearly be worried if I was late She would harrass for food and say goodbye and vanish. When I woke up she would always be there. Never acknowledging me and usually facing in a completely different direction. But by sheer coincidence her tail would always be touching me. When she was thinking deeply the tail would move like a metronome. When she was agitated it would swish. When clumsy people passed near it would be straight up so it could not be stepped on. She used to go outside or use the people toilet. until she was about 15 when Robbie trained her to Kitty litter. Damn it. When I had a bad day and I had a lot for a while... little grumpy miss show no affection would come and sit beside me. Stroking me with her tail We would have fights sometimes where I would try and ticke her tummy and she would try and stop me You could see the claws coming out and going back in as she tried to force them in and the excitement tried to force them out as she tried slap my hand away as I tried to tickle her. In spite of her I used to get shredded in those fights I bought her a catnip mouse and a helium balloon once .. setting it up so that the mouse was just touching the ground, She loved it, She was an easy minimum maintenance mate SHe loved motorbikes working on cars, music., she figured out how to make her first laptop play music... the outdoors... weather...wind and me
- David Thomas Always the teeniest daintiest eater she could never be given the same food twice in a row She had to be on a low salt diet but would never eat any of the low salt special diet cat foods. literally never. She liked the CD crunchies dry food and never got bored with them but that was it. I arbitrarily decided after discovering that a single meal of normal wet catfood would hurt her and get blood in the urine that we would buy cat food up to 0.03 salt. Which leaves very little. But we stuck with that for 20 odd years and as we did the number of foods available steadily dwindled. It must have worked tho because she lived a good long life. I hoped she would go for the record. But there you go , Feeding her was always a problem.. was always a pretty small cat under that fluffy shape. We threw away many times the cat food she actually ate It was the only way in which she was at all difficult.
- Kathy Exley Thanks for the offer, Edward - but we will be terrible company for anyone tonight, so we'll take a rain check if it's on offer
- David Thomas Everyone had advice on how to give her tablets. No one managed to do it. Even though she was a very old lady. She was a stubborn tough grumpy dangerous little shit. My best mate.
- Kathy Exley Yes, we did manage to give her tablets... it just took both of us and at least two towels and generally resulted in me getting bitten!
- Hadley Jones Just found out. Yes, Dave, you were raving but you probably needed to. Very sorry (slight sniffle here) - I SO wanted to hear that "the Bitch was back" but, as you say, she had done quite well to live as long as she did, all things considered. I'll miss her too.
- Kathy Exley She has such a widespread family... one of the toughest things about today is trying to contact some of the people who need to know quickly - it doesn't matter how many times I tell people today, it doesn't get any easier or hurt any less
And you wouldn't want it any other way.
And then, there's having to let the important people in her life know the bad news - which, it turns out, is NOT any easier by email than it is by phone. Along with the general 'getting on with life' stuff.... I knew that washing this week would be tough - but I don't think I realised quite how tough such a simple process would be
- David Thomas Although I can now roll over in bed without care for the small feline I might be squishing.. turns out I cannot. I would like to say one thing. Jenny is annoyed I mentioned Alley did not take to her. But Alley actually did not take to most people. Not at first. She had the odd person she loved at first sight especially in her later years. But I was not one of them. It was at least 6 months and maybe a couple of years before I was convinced she loved me. Most people she did not take too. SOme. Her upstairs (as Robyn calls her) in Glen Iris. and her dog... THe turkish guy down the road.. some of the schoolkids.. children generally with some exceptions .. .she despised or hated on sight. And you really did not want her to hate you... some of the time she was a stone killer. Most people she was OK with.. Very very few people did she like and even fewer were loved by her. But if she loved you.. she loved so seriously... People she loved were mer enthusiastically years later. clearly remembered. She would sit beside them.. looking away.. touching them with her tail. She loved Ian. Adam.. Me .. Kathy .. Robyn.. Roger and of course Marky not of course in that order. Only I really got to do the cat tail pull.. she would tolerate one or two from all those she loved. The thing is she was basically an unfriendly cat. She did not love almost unconditionally like.. say Ms Breens cat Ollie.. she loved after careful consideration and thought. And yet somehow she touched peoples hearts. Including mine. I have no idea how she did that. Perhaps it was that it was obvious she did not care for most. And if she cared for you it was special. I dont know. She made an entirely disproportionate impression for 4 Kg of fur that at her death weighed two. Rather a lot of people loved the little girl28 October at 23:35 · Edited · Like · 1
- Murray Nicholas Sounds like she was one pretty damn special moggie. Hang on to those wonderful memories.
- Kathy Exley She was definitely that, Murray - and we're working on the positives - but it's tough as yet.
- David Thomas We could not have rows Alley hated fights. She would look up anxiously at a raised voice. A full blooded row would always end with a worried little cat standing between us.. looking alternatively from one to the other of us and mowing urgently . (often talking more than in the last week) Those big expressive alien eyes looking at us. (and more recently peering as she tried to make us out in her cloudy vision And in earlier days she would yell "NO" in her tiny little voice She hated rows. Between people she cared about anyway. She would listen not terribly interestedly to rows amongst neighbours. She was a terrific calming influence on me for one.29 October at 12:15 · Edited · Like · 1
- Kathy Exley One of our friends is in trouble for removing a skink from her cat's ambit - AND throwing away the tail (which, it being a skink, it had dropped in an attempt to escape)... One of the mixed memories of Alley here in this house... she caught a mouse - and eventually! killed it.... was told to eat it... and did, except for one kidney - which was, of course, bleeding gently on the carpet - so I asked her to finish it, she didn't, so I picked it up and put it in the bin (and mopped up the mild blood stains on the carpet) .... Of course, a couple of hours later, she came back... and looked very confused... was I in the dog house for having to tell her that I'd thrown it away because it was bleeding on the carpet!!?!
- David Thomas If you kill it you eat it is my rule for Alley. Except for rats. Rats apparently taste bad.
- Kathy Exley I tried to enforce it - but the remains were bleeding on the carpet - so I took it away... !?
- David Thomas Lots of Alley stories. She was a person. Smartest cat ever. She did not think like us... she was of course alien. But smart. If you could explain a rule to her and she got it... well mostly she would stick to it forever.. or try and explain why it was wrong. Or ignore it and let you know it was stupid. I bought 2 boxes of 24 tins of the CD wet food for cats. She ate one third of the first tin. Ever. When she was about two. On thursday the vet tried to feed her a teaspoon of it. When she was too sick to walk Not a chance 22 years later. He told us.... expressing some surprise. We didn,t. Not a chance. She was one stubborn tough little shit. And smart. I dont think she got computers exactly.. but she knew if she stepped here then here then here. it would play music. And if she stepped here it would make a noise. And if she climbed on Daddys laptop she would get attention. We wont see another cat that smart I dont think.
- David Thomas I miss the nightly tradition. Very into tradition the little cat. THis one is only a couple of years old but still Pick up the cat.. take her into the bed... put her under the blankets. Go into the lounge. Wait 5 mins. THe escape happens. ALley sneakes into the lounge. But the heater is off. Honor is however satisfied. Pick up the little cat. Take her to bed. She snuggles up into armpit.. bum first. Goes to sleep. Strokes my ear with her tail. Its a tradition. IN the morning .. the alarm goes off. I try and ignore it.. Little shovel nose pushes the blankets away escapes.. Comes back a few minutes later and walks up and down me until I wake. Or goes into the lounge and mews loudly. When I was younger and driving cabs and had to make a shift I had no alarm clock. And I used Alley. I could say to her. "OK 5 oclock.. 5 in the morning.. thats 5 oclock... got it? . And come 5 in the morning a frantic little cat would be running up and down my body trying to wake me and doing a good job. SHe had an amazing sense of time. I dont think she could read a clock... she just knew what 5 oclock felt like and what 5 minutes felt like. I have met people with the same gift. At that time I had a house in Airport West and Alleys uncle H had the unit out the back.. So after I had gone to work she would go and visit him.
- Kathy Exley Well, 4.30 this morning, I woke up thirsty - so went into the kitchen to get some juice. Which is fine. Except that there was no little one demanding an early breakfast - cos if I was awake and upright, it was obviously breakfast time
- David Thomas She loved storms. Not being in them although she was perfectly happy in them until the last couple of years. But watching. We have sat behind windows watching many storms. Her just that little distance away... bu always with her tail just touching me. Sometimes a really impressive crack of thunder would have us both glancing at each other. Very companionable.
- David Thomas Misses being welcomed home. Misses not having to talk but just the affectionate touch of a tail.30 October at 21:47 · Like · 1
- David Thomas She used to never leave a mess on the floor at dinner.. I would touch her nose and point at the spilled crunchies and she would eat them. Often with a note of sufferance "Oh if you insist.' but sometimes enthusiastically "See i AM a good cat" In her last few years various unnamed people managed to train her out of this but one of my memories is how litrle mess she made. On the other hand... stale food in her bowl.. and cat food must go off REALLY quick was not to be tolerated at all .31 October at 09:09 · Like · 1
- David Thomas Only cat ever that would knock on doors. People knock on doors. Alley was a person. Hell she didn't actually like cats31 October at 11:48 · Like · 1
- Kathy Exley Last night we had possums hissing and howling outside... today the boyfriend came calling... The possible partners - potential suitors - wishful friends - have visited, and been told that she's not here to greet them any more. And yet - despite the fact that she attacked some and followed others - the hole is no smaller or less painful1 November at 21:43 · Like · 1
- David Thomas I would come home.. to find her sitting on the petrol tank of the motorcycle waiting for me. Or ust randomly sitting on the petrol tank.. actually waiting for someone is apparently very uncool. Except that once I was home she would lie on the seat of her motorcycle and snooze. And she never.. not once clawed the seat. And anytimeI cam near her the tail would come up and touch me1 November at 21:49 · Like · 1
