the cats of dave & jill

Smudge

Before Jill and Dave lived together, Jill lived in a small village in Mid Suffolk and had always talked of getting a cat. One day she noticed that a mouse had made its home in the garage, so the decision was made. After a few enquiries, she went to see a little black cat which needed a home.

But there was a problem. The owner said there was not just one kitten, but two brothers who had always been together and she didn’t think they should be split up – so on New Year’s Day 1987 both Sooty and Smudge came to live with Jill.

They were not quite six months old but as we didn’t know their real birthday, we gave them the same day as Jill’s Grandma, 31st July (1986).

Smudge was a mainly black, short haired moggie with a lovely white bib and tummy. He adored Jill and would insist on sitting on her lap at every opportunity and being carried on her hip like a baby. He was always getting into scrapes and spent one night on the roof of the house, having climbed the builder’s ladder unnoticed and become stuck when it was taken away. He was discovered next morning leaning over the gutter looking in the bathroom window and miaowing very loudly to be rescued. His favourite trick was to catch fish from the neighbour’s pond and line them up each morning outside the back door for her.

After living happily with Jill for some 10 years or so, both Smudge and his brother Sooty were kidnapped by Dave and transported to Fieldfare as blackmail to persuade Jill to move there as well! Of course this worked a treat and they began a new life in West Suffolk, meeting cows at the bottom of the garden for the first time (very scarey!)

Sadly, after about a year, Smudge began to get poorly, suffering from an enlarged thyroid, which was eventually removed, and then from various other problems, including a probable brain tumour and he was laid to rest in the garden at Fieldfare on October 2nd 2000 aged 14.

Smudge 1998 in Wickhambrook

Smudge 1996 in Wickhambrook

Smudge 1991 in Battisford