Rufus says: "I am very proud of my victory, even more so than of my many many children."
Tina, Rufus's owner, says: "he has a lot of offspring out and around.when we found him during a heatwave he was feebly calling for stevie our female cat me and my mum noticed he had this hole on his forehead and he didnt look so clever so we put water out and food and he took it very timidly so i went and got my husband's welding gauntlets to try and catch him i just about picked him up he struggled but i ran into the house with him and called my vet. he was kept in for 5 days she was worried about his hips and neck.the cats protection stepped in and said if i took him home to recover they would pay his bill so we brought him home and was totally smitten! i called them to say we were keeping him and we would work it out with the dogs. in the weeks and months later people came up to me and said ahh so thats where ugly cat or tom went, it turns out he used to hang around a few streets from us and a lot of people had fed him and let him sleep in the sheds one guy said he put him in hospital with a lasserated wrist he tried to pet him while eating. being a street cat he had it rough grabbing food and water where he could. it turns out he had been abused by kids and maybe had been run over he was 4 at the time. people often popped round to see him for a while they were so happy he had found a home we couldn't understand why nobody had earlier. he really struggles to keep himself clean and we have to bath him from time to time we can brush his back as it causes him to have some sort of spasm atack. he really loves being fussed and loved he really loves stevie, our other cat, but still hates the dogs. it's really funny when you see one of his kids they have his funny walk but his family days are over as we got him fixed his hips cant take it so he hasn't had any in 3 years now. he thinks i'm brave because i wash him in the bath with my bare hands and he hates water he is strong and heavy but it has to be done as his fur becomes matted. he always has a cut under his eye for washing his face with his claws out and has a real problem with male cats that haven't been fixed maybe he is sick at the thought of them getting some. he can't get near stevie without her smacking him one she prefers gingers but he still fights her battles too everyone on our street loves him passing visitors point at him and say 'that cat's proper salford' people that know him think he is cute as do we. we are very proud of our rufus bug cat and love him very much."
Stevie, preparing for an aerial strike on Rufus:
