I've had Joey since he was a kitten and we've put the poor thing through the mill bless him. We took him on as a 6-week old kitten from Lisa's Aunt's animal charity, PARRT. Shortly afterwards we also took on his sister Phoebe. Both of them, plus 3 other kittens and Mum were found on a building site in Ashington. Joey and Phoebe had a peaceful life until Phoebe was killed in August 2005 after being run over. A month later we moved into Lisa's mam's house and he was house bound for 3 months as their house was on a main road. Joey took quite a shine to Lisa's mam - so much so we 'lost' him as our cat for a while! Joey put on a lot of 'fluff' (weight to you and me) and turned into an adult cat whilst in Amble. Joey then had to contend with the birth of Abi and all the attention she got (and he didn't).
Once we moved into our present house we took on Jude (another PARRT cat) as company for him and a replacement for Pheebs/Lisa's Mam. We did intend to keep them both as house cats, but they just had too much energy and spent all night every night running around, so they are now indoor-outdoor cats - a calculated risk seeing as we live between a train line and a main road.
Jude's story is less dramatic - all we know is that she was taken in by PARRT at 7 months old just at the time I was looking for a friend for Joey. She's quite similar to Phoebe, she is quirky and girlie and quite independent too. She sleeps for England but likes her cuddles and is still a bit 'kittenish'. Her and Joey get on well - they have their moments like we all do but are often seen cuddled up on the bed together. Jude has a habit of disappearing - she's gone on the wander twice, once for a month and once for a week. Where she goes no-one knows. She's currently walk-a-bout again, missing for a few weeks now. Whether she'll come remains to be seen.
It is quite strange now reflecting on the cats - I didn't want a pet when I was living on my own but it was almost natural once me and Lisa settled down. I had cats as a child but classed myself a dog person more as an adult. However dogs can be hard work and cats are easier to look after (no walkies!) and once Lisa showed me the kittens from which Joey and Phoebe came from I couldn't say no. They were our 'babies' whilst they were growing up, but despite the fact I now have Abi I still enjoy their company - there's never one far away from me when I'm working on the computer. I miss Pheebs a lot - she was such a personality, but that's the risk you take letting cats go outdoors. The night before her accident, she came onto my bed (I was alone that night as Lisa was working) and she had a right cuddling session. It was out of character for her. Although I miss her, I don't think she would have enjoyed life as much as an indoor cat and thus I don't think she would have been so outgoing and full of life. I'm running the same risk with Joey and Jude now, but having seen them as indoor cats, there just isn't any other way unless I want two demented cats and no furniture!
