I had to have Rusty put to sleep yesterday at 10.15am :(

He was 7 years, 1 week and 2 days old - I wanted him to live at least twice that long. He had been seen last Tuesday at the Queen's Veterinary Hospital (Cambridge University) where they diagnosed some sort of spinal tumour; we could not afford the MRI scan (approx. £1600) to determine the exact cause of him losing the use of his legs and in any case any surgery would have been extremely risky (not to mention expensive). Many thanks to Gordon my vet and Wendy the nurse for their kindness yesterday morning.

Rusty was my example to potential kitten owners of the joys of Burmese neuter boys. I have no reds or creams left, for the first time since 1988. Not a good situation.

In fact I now have "only" 13 cats (including Sophie the Asian kitten who I didn't really intend keeping) - I don't think I want to be left with that number for too long........

Teemu went to his new home last Friday, Theo went in May, Kimba earlier in July. Just one (Burmese) stud boy left now, for the moment (although Dexter is more than likely capable, but the only potential queen for him has never called - at the age of 14 months!)