Skamp

Skamp came into the world as the only male and runt of a litter. No one is sure who his real dad was but we know his real mum was a tabby. The rest of the litter were taken and he was left and about to be put down when Sue and G "rescued" him.

Right from the beginning he was a little scamp (I guess he thought he had to live up to my name - we cant remember if we named him Skamp before deciding he was a little "Skamp"), He managed to climb out of the kitchen window when he was only 10 weeks old. He didn't go far so when we got home from work he was sat on the front srep waiting. He was tiny and for the first few weeks at home slept in the bottom of the vegetable rack, He can't even hope to get anywhere near it now. We bought him lots of toys and scratching posts, so that with all his own stuff there was no need to attack our furniture and he never did.

His first night home he taught us who was boss. He was left downstairs so cried and cried. we caved in and he was allowed upstairs "for one night only" until he could get used to his new home. It's been a very long night as 15 years later he is still allowed up to sleep with us, and often on top of Sue or cuddling in. You'll see that as well as rabbits he also shared our house with bears, 250 plus at the last count. And they're not all little ones, some where bigger than Skamp.

Late in 2003 Skamp was diagnosed as having an over active Thyroid, we put him on medication to control it and after a few months, in consultation with our Vet, we opted to have him operated on. The operation was done in early 2004 and from the Thyroid point of view was a complete success, however the Post Op blood tests showed failing kidneys. There is no treatment for this apart from Diet. We changed his Diet and he continued to be our friend and Pet. In April 2004 Sue and G both needed to go on a Business trip to the USA on the same week, as Skamp was fine, we saw no problems in booking him into the cattery we had always used. However a few days into the business trip, Sue got a call saying Skamp had been taken to the Vets as he was "not well". In conversation with the Vet, we found out he was now Diabetic and had glucose levels "off the scale". After 2 days of insulin treatement, by the Vet, glucose levels returned to normal, but Skamp did not recover. The Vet suspected something "deeper" such as cancer. In consultation with the Vet, Skamp was put to sleep.

We had a great time together, Skamp was free to come and go as he pleased through his cat flap. However he always choosed to stay with us, he slept with us and filled our daily lives with something extra. He is deeply missed by us both.

To see more great photos of Skamp, head off into the gallery.....