Feline good!
Amanda Byrne, 41, Edinburgh, has a cat who really lives up to his name…
Waiting for the next cat to be introduced, me and my husband, Stuart, 37, weren’t that drawn to any at the Lothian cat rescue.
But when wee four-year-old Radar came prancing in, we knew he was the one.
Gazing up at us with his piercing liquid gold eyes, we knew he felt the same way.
Radar rubbed up against our legs and let us stroke him as he chatted away to us.
‘Let’s take him home,’ Stuart and I agreed.
We took him home then and there, in August last year.
After having him indoors for the first three weeks, we let him start exploring the local area.
Calling him in for dinner, I knew we needed to change his name. ‘It sounds like we’re saying ranger,’ I said.
‘Like we’re huge footie fans,’ Stuart laughed.
‘How about we call him Rambo instead?’ I asked.
Strangely it was as if Rambo knew about his new name and what it represented.
Soon after, a friend came over with her Spaniel puppy.
Worried that the dog might scare Rambo off, we kept the Spaniel on its lead.
Rambo came prowling into the kitchen, spotted the puppy and suddenly pounced at the Spaniel thinking: I can take him, and began fighting the tiny dog.
Over the coming months, Rambo continued to grow into his new identity.
He built his friendship with us by making the strangest, funny noises and bringing us home treats every day.
When Stuart and I headed off to bed at 10pm Rambo would say bye, and venture off into the night.
At 6am, he dives in through the cat flap, sprints upstairs, and meows outside our bedroom door.
In the mornings, there’s always a present for us at the bottom of the stairs.
He’ll bring hedgehogs, shrews or mice.
If we wake up to find nothing, we know that at some point during the day his live catch will dart across the kitchen floor.
So, the day we woke up without scratching at the door, on 2 December 2020, we knew something was wrong.
I went outside to call him, but he didn’t come.
‘Have you seen Rambo?’ I asked my neighbours.
‘We’ve not seen him today,’ they replied to us.
At lunchtime, we searched the local area and tried not to panic too much.
A day later, we printed off flyers in batches of 200 and handed them out.
Even after that, and posting on a local Facebook group, there was still no sign of him.
The house felt empty and horribly quiet without him.
Then, on January 3 2021 Scottish SPCA called me.
‘A family called to tell us about a grey and white cat,’ they said.
‘Rambo!’ I cried, running to get Stuart. ‘He’s been missing for five weeks!’
I couldn’t believe he’d survived out in the wild for all that time.
He was found in Tranent, which is 12 miles away from where we live.
This meant that he’d crossed the A1, A7 and A68 to get to where he was found.
‘Has he always had an eye injury?’ they asked. ‘No…’ I replied. Seeing him again was a huge relief but a shock to see how bad his eye was.
His eyeball had shrivelled and disappeared into his eye socket, leaving a huge hole.
‘He must have been in a fight then got spooked and legged it to Tranent,’ I suggested to Stuart.
He wasn’t acting like he was in pain at all.
Unfortunately, the vets couldn’t save his eye so they stitched up the hole and we were told he’d have to wear the cone of shame for a while.
Although Rambo is as hard as nails, we did let him on our bed while he was poorly.
But as soon as the cone was off he was back to dragging mutilated animals through the house again.
We love him for that and grateful for his killer instincts and his survival skills.
I couldn’t believe he’d survived in the wild