Spits at 19 months

Spits turned up on our veranda as a tiny spitting ball of fluff, and we assumed he was one of our landlady’s many pets. Eventually we realised he had been dumped by someone who new the English were a soft touch. Each day we would take him out some food, and he would show his gratitude by spitting at us. As the weather began to turn, we put a cat basket out which he moved into immediately. In November we draped the cat basket in polythene to keep out the wind. By December we were putting a hot water bottle in it at night. Spits’ only acknowledgement of our concern was to spit at us!

Eventually, we thought it was time he had a visit to the vet, so off he went, snarling and spitting, for a bit of birth control. When we brought him back, we placed him in his basket in our back bathroom for the night to recover, and released him back to his veranda the following morning.

20 Minutes later we heard the click of the cat flap, and in trotted Spits, who then hopped on the bed and went to sleep. In one day he changed from a spitting, frightened stranger into the most affectionate cat you could hope for - the most easygoing moggy in the world!