Our friend Mickey, lord of the manor

WE want to pay tribute to our dear friend who passed away nearly two weeks ago.

Mickey was born in a tea chest in our back garden 15 years ago — one of three male kittens born to a feral cat.

We eventually gained their trust as we fed them and the mother daily.

We spent some weeks taming them — it involved a lot of patience. We eventually rehomed his brothers.

Mickey quickly adapted to life indoors and loved his comforts. At the time we had a miniature cat called Miss Rat and she was not happy with the new arrival.

Mickey was very cautious when she was around and stayed out of her way. Unfortunately, Miss Rat became very ill and we had to put her to sleep.

When he was about two years old Mickey disappeared for a week. We searched everywhere for him. He arrived at our back door in a sorry state. One of his front paws was badly injured. Unfortunately nothing could be done to heal it. He managed well with three paws and if he saw a threat to his territory he would take off at high speed.

Mickey became lord of the manor. He would wander into the back garden for a couple of hours and would let the other cats in the area know this was his territory.

He was very friendly to visitors. He loved it when cousins Mo and Kent arrived as they made a great fuss of him and Mo always called him her Cuddle Bug.

When we went on holidays Auntie Mollie and Brendan would take care of him.

Two of our elderly neighbours passed away and we re-homed both their cats. Mickey was not too happy at first but he eventually accepted them. He would not allow them to share his food or sit on his chair though.

In 2011 he developed polyps in his ears. The vets at Summerhill Veterinary Clinic in Ennis operated on him and were so kind to him. He progressed well after the operation for two years. Then the polyps returned and he had to have more surgery in 2013 and 2015.

It was with a heavy heart that we had to make the final call to have him put to sleep. His quality of life had been deteriorating for the last month.

We took him to the clinic and he was gently put to sleep. We buried him under his favourite hebe shrub in the back garden.