Happy Birthday Ms Lizzie

Lizzie the cat celebrates her 11th birthday today. This middle aged puss is one of the best cats I have ever had the pleasure of befriending. Unlike the wild and wilful Willie she is a steadfast human and home loving cat. Almost dog-like in her devotion, she follows you around from room to room and sits companionably by your side wherever you happen to be. She appreciates attention and is very affectionate. She comes with alacrity whenever she is called . As you can see from the photo above she's got a middle aged spread these days - a far cry from her former slender self. She can be quite a pest sometimes with her determined efforts to get noticed. An in- your -face demanding cat, it's hard to be stern with her. Her face is very expressive - it's the finely delineated eyes that give her expression. Her coat colouring and markings are quite exquisite - her coat sparkles in sunlight and her face markings look as if they've been painted on with water colour. At certain times she looks like a wild cat, but there's nothing wild about her personality which is gentle and good natured unless Willie is around. Even after three years she still won't be friends with him and generally greets him with a hiss or growl, though he never reciprocates the aggression.

So now she's 11 years old and so far in good health and spirits. Long may she continue to flourish.