LITTLE OLLIE AND THE BIG BROWN CAT

by Joyce Briscoe (UK)

We have lived with Siamese cats for over 25 years, all with a very special place in our hearts.  A few years ago realising that the present household were getting rather elderly, we decided introduce a youngster into the pack. 

In the year 2000 we acquired Millie “Millennium”, an Oriental Havana, or Mad Millie as she was later to be called.  The older cats accepted her immediately and looked on in amusement as she would race around the house at top speed. 

Sadly but inevitably our older cats passed away and Millie was left alone.  She was so full of fun and completely mad we set about finding a playmate for her. 

The Secretary of our local Cat Club had a litter of kittens and we decided to choose our first boy cat – Dexter.  Millie was delighted, he was a little quiet at first, but Millie soon sorted him out, and they would spend most of the day having mock fights, poor Dexter usually coming off worse, but he loved it and always came back for more. 

Dexter grew up into the most beautiful, affectionate and noisy Siamese we have ever had.  He loved to drape himself around my husband’s neck so that he could be carried around the house, always shouting for attention but always loving and gentle. He was a lover of the great outdoors, making friends with other people on the estate, going into their homes including the inhabitants of the local residential home, from where he would often return with the odd lamb or pork chop.  On the 1^st November 2006 at the age of 5, after chasing Millie around the house, he went out of the backdoor and five minutes later was attacked and killed by a dog that was not on a lead. The owner and dog ran away.  We were totally devastated, how would we ever get over losing him? So many people came to me and expressed their sadness and shock – it was amazing how one little cat had made so many friends on his rounds.

The house was so quiet; we had lost cats before but nothing like this.  Millie was wandering about the house looking for him and we knew we had to get her a companion, as she had never been on her own before.  We contacted a local breeder of Siamese, who had just one male kitten for sale, a lilac tortie.  We explained the situation and she kindly let us go and see him.  My husband liked him immediately, and we brought him home. He settled in with us straight away, and decided he was going to make friends with the big brown cat whether she liked it or not. 

We called him Ollie but soon became worried for him as he never made a sound, had we acquired a dumb cat?  Every night he would bravely venture into her bed, bracing himself for the onslaught of spitting and hissing from Millie, who would eventually get up and walk away leaving him alone.  He looked so puzzled, why didn’t she want to play with him, after all he had been loving and playful and never shouted at her or squeaked at all?  A week went by and things were not improving, and then one evening Millie after a lot of hissing and spitting decided to remain with him in her bed.  A few days later the odd lick was exchanged and we knew they were going to be friends.  15 months on and they are inseparable, and both quite mad!  Ollie adores his big brown cat and follows her everywhere and she loves it! He has now also learned to shout (well just a little). Could it be he was not dumb at all but quite smart and just waiting to be accepted by his new mum?

We still miss Dexter as do our neighbours; he was so very special, had a huge presence and remains totally irreplaceable.  Ollie is a very different “chap”, quite small, squeaks a lot, tears about and is an absolute sweetie, who always loves to bring us little toys to play with, usually at 4 a.m. in the morning! 

Sometimes when people lose a much loved feline companion they feel unable to bring another one into their home straight away.  In our case we are so glad we did.

Joyce Briscoe

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