Cat Christmas Countdown 2

Ivan is a cat with two names. His official name is Ivan - given to him by the Offspring when he arrived here - from the RSPCA - all our cats are rescued (well - Sid rescued himself - we opened the door and then he just walked in and said he lived here and who are we to argue?)

But Ivan was rescued from the RSPCA where he had been taken when he was rescued from being drowned in a sack in the river, along with his four brothers and sisters. He was named Ivan, but along the way he was also described as a Spiffy little cat - and so Spiffy he became by name too.

He is, according to the proper description a handsome 'bi-coloured, magpie cat.' ie he is black and white. He is also a perfect gentleman and has quite the sweetest nature of all the cats. If Bob is Robert Redford, then Spiff is the Cary Grant of cats - or perhaps the James Stewart. He has that sort of old-fashioned gentleman approach to life. Always polite, always diffident. It comes from arriving in the house when there was already a redheaded Alpha Cat in situ. And so, Spiff knows his place.

A couple of years ago, we thought Spiffy was on his way out of this particular life. He was desperately ill and didn't look likely to recover but thanks to a vet called Michelle, who now has a very large place in Spiffy's big heart (And ours) he is still with us and only a year younger than the Alpha Cat - at 16 and a half .

Spiffy being the gentleman that he is, he is the one cat who will put up with the necessity of posing for Christmas pictures at this time of year. So he is also the cat who ends up wearing a silly hat.