Puff Puff, the stray cat who stayed by my side during chemo

Three of our cats had died of old age, leaving my family heartbroken. So Brandy looked at our local animal shelter website and saw it had a 13-year-old stray cat with no teeth, a broken ear and a cold. Betty, as the staff had named her, had one day left to live before the shelter was going to put her down.

Brandy sent me along to see her and, although the warden said no one had visited Betty, as soon as they opened the cage a Himalayan cat catapulted out of her blanket straight at me. I picked her up and knew I had to take her home. She settled in straight away, parking herself in front of the fridge, as if to say: “I’m home.” We renamed her Puff Puff, or Puffy, because she was so fluffy.

Her cold cleared up with medicine, but she had trouble with her ear, on and off, as it was crumpled and pushed out. As her appetite improved, her appearance changed from a dull white coat and light black face to a full lion ruffle with a face so dark we could only see her beautiful blue eyes.

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