Richard Gartside

Boo Gartside

Miss Boo entered our lives in 2020, during the Covid pandemic. A local cat rescue had taken her in, but she had become depressed and was not socialising with staff or other cats.  She had a history of having been in and out of the cat rescue due to her previous owners ill health, and had serious trust and abandonment issues.  Most visitors to the rescue got ignored by her, so they passed her by. I spent some time with her, and she showed a little interest in me.  When I got home, my first words were “she's sociable enough really” We took her in, and promised her a forever home - no more back to the rescue for this kitty! The first night, she slept on top of our wine bottles under the stairs!  Over the next few days, she moved from the bottles, to the mat in front of the bottles to a cushion near the bottles (still in the safety of the cupboard under the stairs) Slowly she moved out and upstairs, where she found a range of spots to sleep - many in secluded spaces, what we nicknamed Boo Caves. She was always a very independent cat, relationships were strictly on her terms.  She never came when called, and generally ignored you beyond a flick of the ears if you called her name. The first time we actually knew she had properly settled and felt like she belonged was when we took her to the vets to have some dental work done.  She had to stay in for the day, and in the evening, when we went to pick her up the vet came out the back with this limp bundle of fur in his arms.  All of a sudden, she caught sight of us, and there was an instant transformation into a cat!  her expression said it all “my peoples!  You came for me!!”  That was the moment we knew she had accepted us and home as hers. She always took ownership of the garden, even before she was allowed outside, she would sit in the window, grumbling at the birds and any cat that had the audacity to walk in HER garden. We were cautious about letting her out, until we were confident that she would come back, especially given her refusal to come when called.  One day, we were in the garden, sorting some plants out, when we noticed this white streak shooting back in the door - that was when we realised she knew where home was, and would return home - we let her out after that. in 2023, we joined the  ‘ Larry the Downing Street Cat for Prime Minister ’  Facebook group.  She soon became a permanent fixture with her stories of the various members cats activities, trips and events.  In recognition of her contribution, she was formally made ‘Princess Boo’ and has her own profile as such on Facebook. Unlike our previous cat, Purrdy, Boo was not particularly into playing with toys.  Her favourite toys were some small mice and a fish/shark that a friend gave us.  Her favourite game was to carefully bat them off the top of the stairs and then chase down after them pouncing on them until they either reached the bottom, or disappeared from view under the stairlift track, at which point they were officially ‘dead’ and therefore not interesting. In the summer of 2024, she started to fall ill and was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma, a type of cancer that spreads through out the body via the lymph nodes.  We were determined that we would give her the best quality of life and not put her through unnecessary suffering to prolong her time with us. Her last few weeks with us were passed in blissful ignorance on her part, as she enjoyed all her favourite activities, and discovered the joys of spending time around us, including fish off the dinner plate. On 7 November, her walk with us finally came to the end, and she crossed the rainbow bridge.  She passed away in our arms.  She has touched the lives of hundreds of people, and will be sadly missed by us all.

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Boo Gartside, Princess