The Purrfect Father’s Day Gift

by Linda

My elderly Dad, having lost my Mum a couple of years earlier, was in need of companionship.  As a family we all took turns to keep him company, do his shopping and clean, but an empty house at night is quite lonely.  Dad was an independent man who had always liked to keep busy and had had many interests in his life, but as he got towards his mid-eighties, found he was getting more housebound. The latest bout of flu had Dad confronting his plight and when we suggested a daily nurse to visit him he was quite amenable to the situation. We researched the internet and found a list of agencies to show Dad and we felt this was a positive move. A week later, armed with our researched list of prospective nurses, it was something of a surprise to be told by Dad that it was a cat he needed, not a nurse!

He managed to apply to the Margaret Green Foundation and arthritic as he was, he managed to drive to the local rescue to select his choice.  His eyes settled on a little tuxedo-coloured cat called Bumper, seven years old and very pretty.  The volunteers gave him the relevant paperwork and said Bumper was a little bit timid but in good health and would make a lovely pet.

We were all pleased Dad had something to love and care for and we all in turn  made visits to introduce ourselves to Bumper.  Bumper, however was indeed very shy and had scuttled upstairs to some little safe haven he had found. Initially, all we could see was a little pink nose peeping out from within an empty cupboard. For the next few weeks, we all took turns to go and greet the little pink nose on our visits to Dad and to try to entice him into the lounge with Dreamies…….He loved these cat treats but would usually snaffle them and then disappear once again into his secret place.

As weeks went by, it became apparent, that Dad was not really getting as much out of his new companion as he should and this seemed a shame. Every time we rang him and asked after Bumper, Dad would say, “haven’t seen much of him, he hides upstairs all the time.”  Working at the vets, I had heard of a product called Feliway, a feline diffuser which works by giving out pheromones (the same ones a litter of kittens receive from their mother to ensure the kittens all feel relaxed and content).  As it was nearing Father’s Day I decided I would purchase a starter kit for Dad to see if this would help his relationship with Bumper.

On the appropriate Sunday in June, I visited dad with his gift and duly plugged it into his lounge.  There was no scent and no sound and I just had to trust the product would work.  Dad looked at me with great hope and I had my fingers tightly crossed behind my back.

Halfway through that evening, the phone rang, it was Dad.

“Love, just thought I would ring, thought you would like to know that Bumper is sitting beside me on the settee”!

Dad sounded so excited and happy and I was so pleased I had managed to help.

Bumper, mellow from the pheromone cloud permeating his new home, decided life downstairs was infinitely preferable to hiding upstairs, he was nearer the supply of Dreamies for one thing and also got many cuddles from all the frequent visitors.

With his new-found confidence, Bumper found being sociable was much more fun. My brother Phil who visited from London on a regular basis, was one of his favourite people and Bumper would hide in his bed every night,  hoping not to be discovered……Phil, realising how important this little cat’s love was to Dad, would firmly remove him and shut the bedroom door tightly, resisting the insistent tapping of paws and plaintive miaows.

In the morning, an unsuspecting Dad would look at  Phil and say, “That Bumper is  such a good cat, so loving, he curls up on my bed every single night, he really loves his ‘Dad’……”