Happy Birthday, Hazel

Miss Flum reminded us that today is the 7th anniversary of the day that we brought Gizmo home, to be greeted at the door with a hiss from Bramble. Regrettably, she has never changed her opinion of the cat who was intended to be her companion and growls at him if in close proximity.

We know nothing of his early life nor his exact age when he arrived in the rescue centre, taken to be between 1 and 2 years old, we now think he was on the young side, making him much the same age as Bramble. His immediate history is traumatic, apparently he was to be used as bait for a dogfight in a flat in the north of the city, in a room covered with blood....rescued by a visitor and kept by them overnight before collection by the rescue centre, where we met him next day and decided he needed a happy, stable home. While he awaited the usual tests at the centre I visited him a couple of times so he wouldn't forget us.

How the experience of being snatched and the subsequent fright affected him psychologically is difficult to tell, but it has taken several of these 7 years with us for him to understand that we are his humans who love him, he still spooks at sudden noises and rustling bags. Even now he is quite aloof and only rarely seeks affection, preferring to come and go (often) and ask for food (frequently). Perhaps this is just his character. How he reacts to dogs we do not know, although we live near a park and there are dogs - and foxes - around.

We disliked his 'Rescue' name of Gizmo and renamed him Hazel, to fit the theme of plant names, established by Holly (RIP) and Bramble, after a male rabbit in Watership Down. This still causes confusion in some parts (including the vet) though I doubt it makes any difference to him!