So, the day, I'd been dreading, happened on Friday 6th January 2017, when I had to say goodbye to Joe, after 19 years. He had been ill for a while, but had some good days when I thought there was a glimmer of hope, although I new deep down that I was facing 'that' decision none of us want to make. However, it was clear in the end, it was time to let him go, and so my vet came to the house and he passed peacefully in my arms. I had him in my life for all those 19 years, from a mischievous 'scruffyjoe' kitten, so I've been lucky he had such a long life - although it's never long enough is it? So this is by way of a tribute to the boy, and some memories of how he came into my life.

I'd never even considered owning a pedigreee cat and had always owned moggies, many of which had been rescues, but after losing a couple of my cats on the road near where I lived, I decided enough was enough and looked into the possibility of building a cat enclosure attached to the house to keep the remaining cats safe. This was in the 1990s and I'd seen a few examples of such enclosures in a cat magazine. At the back of the magazine was a list of cat breeders and I figured that most breeders would either keep their cats indoors or they might also provide garden enclosures for their cats to enjoy the fresh air safely. As luck would have it there was a Persian breeder nearby, so I made contact with Audrey, and she kindly invited me over to see her enclosure set up. Of course I got to meet her many gorgeous Persian cats, but still never dreamed I'd own one. We kept in touch and became friends, I got my cat enclosure built and my cats were safe at last.

Fast forward to Christmas 1997 - I'd recently moved home along with my assorted moggies - the cat enclosure came too! and was reassembled pronto at the new house. I guess I must have talked a lot about meeting Audrey and her Persian cats to my mum (who sadly passed away a few years ago), because on Christmas day she presented me with an envelope, and I still have the slip of paper, with the words 'A Snushee Kitten of your Choice' (Snushee was Audrey's breeding cattery name) written on it. Now this was a huge surprise because mum didnt actually know Audrey - but somehow, she'd managed to find out enough information from me, without me realising, to seek her out, and together they plotted this surprise present for me! Mum must have managed to get enough info to get the road name, but not a number, so she'd walked up and down this road (of considerable length!) to find her, which of course she did - eventually.

After Christmas I went to choose my kitten from a recent litter, and Joe caught my eye, so shortly after that I collected him - and the rest, as they say, is history! Several more Snushee Persians followed over the years, and I adopted many rescue Persians too, but it was Joe who started that passion for Persians and of course when I started my cat grooming service 16 yrs ago, he became the 'face' of the business. 
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