Henry came to us from the Cat's Protection League.
http://www.cats.org.uk/ The lady we dealt with from them was very fond of him. She said she was glad to have found him a home but would miss him.
They didn't know much of his backstory. He had arrived at the local Cat's Protection League shelter under his own steam. He tried to make his way into the house of the couple that ran the shelter. Unfortunately one of the resident cats wasn't having this. There were a couple of scuffles and he gave up his attempts to get in. He was found outside under a bush a while later and taken in as a rescue cat.
He was definitely a cat with a character all of his own. It took him quite a few weeks to settle down with us. A lot of which he spent under our bed. After he started to feel more relaxed he came to trust us more. Which gave us a wonderful feeling. 'We must be treating him right.'
Henry came to us with what we termed 'his fang'. One of his lower teeth often protruded from his mouth and stuck up against his upper lip. The Vet said it wasn't strictly necessary to remove the tooth but nor would it do any harm. We decided to remove it as it was obviously rubbing against his top lip. He was always left with a tiny mark where 'the fang' had once been but he looked much better.
His other scar was a little V nicked into the top of one ear. I'm guessing a battle scar. It gave him a little toughness to his face. 'I may be good looking but I have a tough core.' You could see this little V when at exactly the right angle you'd catch the silhouette of his ears. One of my favourite silhouettes is that of two little pointy ears.
Before we'd even had Henry with us for a year he became ill. His back legs just seemed to lose all strength overnight and his tail was so limp it just dragged behind him. The vet suspected trauma, maybe he'd trapped his tail badly. With no improvement with treatment and no visible causes on X-Ray he was referred to a referral centre near Chester. Here he was given numerous tests including an MRI. The bad news was he had a tumour on his spine. There was a good possibility that an operation and chemotherapy could give back a full lease of life. We decided to go ahead. Henry was operated on and most of the tumour removed. Not all could be taken as it would endanger his spine. The rest was to be treated with chemotherapy tablets, given by our local vet. He had to remain at the referral centre for a few days. Visiting a cat in hospital was bizarre and traumatic. When he was released home he had to be kept in an empty room where he couldn't jump on anything. Any jarring could damage his spine. He also had a myriad of tablets to be given many times a day. This was an awful time. Without the real hope of a full recovery we couldn't have done it. He did make a full recovery and miraculously seemed not to hold a grudge.
Over the next few years we really began to see his personality come through. His tendency to bite virtually disappeared. Although he never took to being picked up or cuddled he would spend hours sat on the sofa with us. He loved company but on his own terms. Terms we were more than happy to abide by. He liked nothing more than to settle in the crook of my husband's arm. My arm was a poor second! To see him lay there, purring after everything he'd been through made me so happy.
When we were out he would spend most of the day on our bed. An area he seemed to see as his own. To move him from it didn't endear you to him in any way.
He didn't drink from a bowl. He much preferred what became termed 'his Batman cup'. A pint glass with Batman on. He seemed to prefer that drinking angle. Maybe he had a comic interest we knew nothing about.
He got into a few scrapes in the alley. There were occasions of meowling and 'loo brush' tail. I was worried that he was being bullied by other cats. We kept as close an eye on him as we could without without cramping his style. With my husband assuring me Henry could look after himself out there. From worry to embarrassment as it was discovered that maybe Henry wasn't being bullied after all. On more than one occasion he took the bullying to other cats.
One of my favourite memories is of seeing Henry sat on the back wall, surveying 'his' alley with the wind blowing through his fur. He always looked so happy there.
Unfortunately late last year Henry's cancer came back in a few places. We took the trip to Chester again and he was once again given all the tests. Chemotherapy was suggested. Unfortunately this time intravenously. He hated the treatment so we decided it was unfair. Henry didn't have the fight left in him to beat this. With no guarantees of recovery and definite misery in the treatment we had to let him go. It's the hardest decision we've ever had to make. The vet agreed that it was the right thing for us to do. She came to our house, sedated Henry and then put him to sleep. He left this world in our arms with the least amount of fuss possible.
We miss him terribly. The house feels so empty. I'm just glad we gave him everything we could. He was a wonderful cat with great character, the likes of which I doubt I'll see again. He was one in a million. I even miss his stealing of my pillow midway through the night, on most nights.
One thing that Henry received throughout his life was fantastic, caring treatment from the staff at our vet's and the staff at the referral centre. All of which we will forever be most grateful for. This was also made possible by the insurance policy we had. In awful times they never once quibbled anything or made life more difficult in any way. Although Henry's treatment was extremely expensive, well over £10,000 over the years.
I thoroughly recommend all pet owners to take out pet insurance. My experience with Henry has taught me that you really do have no idea of what is around the corner.
The referral centre was ChesterGates Referral Hospital, CH1
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