This is Duncan, the newest member of our family.
We didn't mean to get another cat, we were still getting over the sudden loss of Salvador just before Christmas, but my wife saw Duncan's photo on the website of our local RSPCA shelter and just fell in love.
Just like all the other cats we've had over the years, Duncan is a bit of a special case.
The RSPCA have a lot of kittens they are trying to home at the moment, and everyone goes in to see them. Poor Duncan had been with them for a couple of months and (although they didn't say it openly) had been overlooked. No-one wants an older cat who needs time and love to get over being abused.
He's not a kitten, he's somewhere between 5 and 7 years old, and the RSPCA told us they had rescued him from a home where he was being badly neglected.
They have given him all the medical treatment he needs, but had to shave quite a bit of fur off his back where it was too badly matted to groom out. They also had to amputate the last couple of inches of his tail where it had been broken and not healed properly.
He's clean now, and starting to groom himself, but really needs a brush-through (when he'll let us !), needs time for his fur to grow back, and needs to put on some weight. Once that has happened, I think he will look magnificent.
He's not a pedigree, but we think he might have a bit of Maine Coon in him, based on the shape of his head, his ear tufts, the length of his fur (especially his mane) and his size. He is a very, very big cat !
Although he is still very unsure of himself and is spending most of the time hiding under the bed, he has already shown that he is a gentle giant. When he had reached his limit of being fussed over, he batted me away, but he did it slowly and gently with no claws. He could so easily have clawed me, but chose not to.
Hopefully he'll come out of his shell soon and realised that he's safe now, but we'll let his do it at his own pace.
All photos by me
