Edward

My story

I am the eldest and therefore the fairest of them all. When I was less than six months I was left behind while my humans went abroad and ‘couldn’t get back into the country’, so the nice neighbours brought me to the local cat shelter. Within a day, two nicer humans came to see me. I literally jumped out of my cage into their arms – sold! I was taken home and met a rather grumpy cat called Smudge, who had also come from the same cat shelter two years previously. I later learned that her son had recently been killed and her humans wanted to adopt another cat to keep her company. Well, I think it’s safe to say she would have preferred to be an only child, whereas I thought it was a hoot to have another cat to play with.

I grew up fast and soon made friends with another cat in the neighbourhood called Crouton. He was very mellow and would often come into my house through the cat flap and go to sleep on the sofa! He was rather clingy too so wherever I went, Crouton followed. Fast-forward to my current home in Italy and I’m sure Ferris is Crouton’s double. Anyway, back to London… and on that note I should point out that I am one of the original British cats who relocated with my humans to Italy in 2017. I didn’t enjoy my three-day journey to get here though, so much so that I sulked and refused to eat much. On arrival, I hid in the darkest corner I could find, which wasn’t hard. It took hours for my humans to find my hiding place!

Life today

I have seen quite an impressive collection of cats come and go through these doors that I’m beginning to think I’ve been tricked into living in a massive cat shelter. Oh, and I should also mention that a less impressive collection of dogs come and go too, but they are an inferior species and therefore irrelevant. Imagine the horror when one of them turned up and never left! It was a tiny white thing which needed to be fed every two hours or so – as I said, dogs are inferior not to mention less intelligent. Anyway, we share our house with this one dog who I understand is called Leia but also answers to ‘Dog’ … I rest my case.

For about a year now my liver has been acting up as it doesn’t seem to be doing what it’s supposed to. I have to have cyclical supplements to help my liver function properly, regular blood tests to see if the levels have improved and an annual ultrasound to make sure nothing else is going on in there. I’m not happy about any of this, but what can you do? Although I’m naturally long and slim, I’ve been getting a bit too thin which gives my humans another excuse to cart me off to the vet’s for a check-up, Better to be safe than sorry, I suppose, as that’s how we discovered the problem with my liver.

My future

Apparently, it’s very important that my liver starts to behave itself otherwise I will become very unwell, and that would not be fair as I’m having way too much fun here. Other than that, I have no other health issues, and it can stay that way, thank you very much. I have lots of adventures planned as I am one of the three cats that goes outdoors. Ever since we lived in England, I’ve always enjoyed the great outdoors and the freedom to come and go during the day. Well, I am the eldest so I get to enjoy more perks and privileges.

Stats

My estimated age on arrival in 2013: six months
I don’t have any records of my weight until December 2020 when I weighed 5.4 kg.
In May 2023 I weighed 4.5 kg, so as you can see I need to bulk up!

I tested negative for both FeLV and FIV.
I am neutered and fully vaccinated.

Star Qualities

I have the world’s longest whiskers and in the scorching summers I resemble a dog, as I lie flat on my belly with my back legs stretched out behind me. I am always spick and span and cut a striking figure in my tuxedo.

Habits

I tend to keep myself to myself, the quiet, reserved Englishman, if you will. I love to explore and have always loved being an outdoor cat during the day and an indoor cat at night. When we first moved here, the summers were so hot that I never wanted to come back indoors, so I used to string it out as long as possible and play dumb, deaf and mute when my humans spent hours calling me and trying to find me. There is a huge, abandoned farmhouse literally at the back of my house so I could hide in there for as long as I wanted. Nowadays, I tend to make my own way back throughout the day and am not hard to find – I figured I should give my humans a break.

At night-time I particularly like to ‘hug’ one of my humans, which means put my front paws around their neck and knead/claw it. I like to think I’m giving them a free massage but I’m not sure they see it that way. Still, at least I get to work out the stresses of my day. It’s tough being the head of the household.