Our Cats ...

Benji (March 2009 - 8.8.2021) & Bambou (March 2009 - 19.01.2023)

Benji (grey) and Bambou (red-haired) are two brothers.

Not being able to choose one and as they were inseparable, we took both ...

Eclair accepted pretty well these two turbulent baby cats and played the dad's role although he showed some irritation from time to time !

Benji was always very close to Eclair he was considering as his big brother.

He was a very sweet and calm cat who liked to stay with us on the sofa or, when he wanted to be quiet, he was sleeping in a linen cabinet among the clothes.

Benji was in love with my wife Martine and his loss lets us with an enormous void.

He was used to let him fall on the side when he was going close to my wife, laying all along and could remain there for hours.

Benji was a great hunter and often came back with mices.

Benji left us the 8th of August 2021, hit by a car and letting his brother alone with us.

In few months, we lost two of our three cats, the period is difficult.

Benji also joined our cat's cemetery at the back of the garden.

Bambou was very close to our daughter Maé on whom he often went to sleep, he was so happy that he abundantly drools but he's so adorable we couldn't blame him. Except when we were aproaching our heads and he was giving us slaps ...
He used to sleep on various places: the big cat tree in the veranda, the clothes tumble dryer, a corner in the library between books or on top of the shower cabin.

He left us a day of January following a diabete we could unfortunately not cure. He joined his brother and Eclair in the back of the garden.

Cookie
(Spring 2008 - 28.11.2008)

Cookie started to visit us and our cat-lovers neighbors in summer 2008.

Not well fed, he found better conditions in our home and remained.

After a prolonged week-end, we found him hurt at the chin, part of the skin was peeled off. The veterinarian did a great job in "repairing" him and took the opportunity to castrate him.

Extremely tender, he got along with Eclair very well and they remained side by side on the windowsill or eating into the same dish.

As he arrived very young we tried, in an attempt to protect him, to get him used to remain home during the night.

Unfortunately, the road is very close road and the huge number of cars drive very fast there despite the low speed limits. Most of the drivers try every evening to beat the previous day record and the authorities are not that fast to put in place measures to force them to slow down.

Cookie was killed a Friday late afternoon while he was only a few months old.

His death is very difficult to accept because he was very cute, tender and particularly clever.

I'll miss his small black paws and brown nose for long.

He's resting with Cacahuète, Fripouille and Zoé in our cat's cemetery in our garden.

Eclair
(2006 ? - 19.02.2021)

Eclair (Lightning) appeared a few weeks after Caramel disappeared, around April 2007.
This cat was already adult and had no fear, he quickly and definetely chose our home and shared his presence with our neighbours.

Relationship with Cacahuète was far from perfect and we had to give them dedicated areas to avoid conflicts.

He was a homelover and did his walks regularly but appreciated also to remain on the windowsill to look at the surroundings.

With Cookie, harmony was perfect and they remained side by side on the windowsill: both were gossips !

This cat had very strange habits ...

First, he was not afraid of the car or motorbike to the point he could remain on the car while we were moving it.
He enjoyed to remain near the rear window so, you could see a black car with a cat moving his head and no need to laugh after the driver, the cat was real !

Every time I was coming back from work, he heard the garage door opening and ran, jumped on the motorcycle and on my shoulders. He lead down on the shoulders over my neck and went down only when I throwed him on the sofa otherwise, he would have remained there for hours.

I had nothing against that except that to remain in place he used his claws ...
It was just fine with a motorcycle jacket, but with a T-shirt, I had serious scratches on my shoulders !

Another strange behavior, he wanted to give us kisses but as he didn't know how to make them, he gently bited the chin, cheek, nose or ears ...

Every night, he hurried up to take my place on the pillow, then because I was insisting to get back my cushion, he lied down on me in bed with his nose 2cm away from mine, remained there for a  moment and changed place for a better sleep.

He died of old age and I remained with him the day of his death until he stopped breathing, a very difficult moment for me.
He joined our cemetery at the back of the garden.

Cacahuète
(spring 2006 - 26.6.2008)

Cacahuète (Peanut) appeared two days before Christmas 2006 miaowling like a mad in front of our house ...

We thought he was hurt but luckily he was just starving.
He came back for several days until he remained forever.
Caramel accepted him but showed him clearly who was the boss by lieing down on him and biting the nape of his neck.

Cacahuète had a very strange way of walking, his rear legs giving the impression of not being synchronized with the front ones ...

Very tender and, at the same time, very independent, he alternated naps at home and night walks.

We had very pleasant times until a car killed him on the road just in front of our house.

Our neighbours lost two cats this way, this road and the field on the other side are a true trap for cats.

Since then, he's resting with Zoé and Fripouille.

Caramel
(2004 ? - March 2007)

Caramel was not officially our cat as he was own by another family in the neighborhood but, he was always in our home, eating and sleeping here.

He was a very calm cat, capable of watching cars passing very close to him without frightening.
He was very sweet but took to much place in the bed and from time to time, in the middle of the night, "played" with our feet.

Well, it was mostly with my wife's feet which made me laugh quite a bit ...

As he wasn't our cat we didn't castrate him and thus Caramel was a serious fighter and came home pretty often hurt, luckily not heavily.

After the death of both Zoé and Fripouille, we, mostly I in fact, weren't ready to take another cat.
Caramel just adopted us ...

Caramel disappeared in March 2007 letting us with the very disagreeable feeling of not knowing what happened to him.

Wherever you are, rest in peace ...

Just an advice, when he looked at you in such a way, it was time to move quickly !

Fripouille
(8.1985 - 16.8.2004)

Fripouille (swindler) was the cat of my wife Martine.
He was slightly oversized: 12kg, about 24 pounds at his maximum a few years ago.
He was extremely jealous, it took me several years of efforts to finally be accepted.
We finally be good friends, especially when he was hungry ...
I loved him because he frightened my mother-in-law !
Well, in fact, he was not so bad, he bit and scratched sometimes, but I was (usually) quicker than him ...

he finally joined Zoé in the garden.
We'll need some time before another panther joins us.

Zoé
(5.5.1986 - 22.1.2003)

Although "Zoé" is a female name, our Zoé was a He (well, something was missing ...).
Zoé had an unusual story:
He was the cat of a family in the neighborhood. He arrived one day by climbing our hedge and came back to visit us more and more frequently until he stayed definitely.
He had no collar and we didn't know where he came from, so we gave him the name "Moustache" (whiskers).
One day, we found a note that a big cat named Zoé was missing. This cat wasn't that big (well, if compared to Fripouille ...), but, when we called him Zoé, he reacted immediately, so, reluctantly, we phoned the family.
The lady came and took him, but, less than an hour after, Zoé was back again! This family had him for eight years before their first child arrived. As many children he was somewhat noisy and the cat decided to move away ...

I would like to thank his old family for having let him come with us, Zoé has been a marvelous friend during all these years !

Only a long time will reduce the pain of his loss. 

He rests now in our garden and if he listens from the cat's paradise: "Zoé, we loved you so much !"