Just a story about little Lucy, she was a stray black and white kitten we adopted when we lived in Edinburgh. We lived above a pub then at the top of Leith walk, and as with most Scottish pubs things got very rowdy at closing time with numerous fist fights and noisy arguments spilling on to the street. I had noticed a little black and white kitten shivering on the pub steps one night, very tiny and dirty and I noticed there was something wrong with her face.
The publican told me that a drunk had one night left the bar and in a fit of drunken rage had kicked the little animal. This resulted in a smashed cheekbone and that side of her face paralyzed. I took her in for the night as it was very cold and she immediately began to purr and follow me around. The next morning took her to the Vet who found numerous problems but easily treated, she had colitis which was the worst thing for her but a course of antibiotics helped her. We named her Lucy and she stayed with us for 6 years. Despite her treatment by this horrible person she still liked people very much and was very gentle. a result of her injury was that she slept with one eye open, only with the second eyelid closed so she looked a bit strange but
it never seemed to bother her.
My Wife and I moved back to Perth sometime later and took Lucy with us to our new house, together with another cat Rouquin, a Ginger Tom who was also an Edinburgh stray. Sadly Lucy was hit by a car a year later- I was serving at sea at the time when my Wife phoned me to tell me- and it upset me when the Captain of my ship asked me why I was upset. ‘Its only a cat’ he told me.. that annoyed me a lot!-some people.
Well Lucy was a special cat to us- treated so badly by a drunkard- but I hope in our way we made up for it by looking after her for 6 years.
The fact that she trusted and liked people so much in spite of her bad start in life was very moving.
We will never forget her.
| Lucy |
| Phil Hannah |