MIKE

Mike was a feral cat living rough near to Smithfield M arket with a large feral group and was being fed by the mechanics in the vehicle pool of the Greater manchester Police (hence Mike... and the Mechanics). His main food source was sandwiches - and even now he gets excited whenever his owners brew up so maybe this was when he was fed.Apparently the feral colony was 50+ and becoming a nuisance so Rentokill came in and gassed them all - but the mechanics rescued Mike. He was then fostered by Carol Stafford -very skinny, covered in bites and with his white bits distinctly grubby.

Mike was then visited by his new owners, and although he wasn't what they were originaly looking for they immediately fell in love with him and took him home to live with them and their young cat Tigga.

At first it was a real struggle, mainly because Tigga loathed him on sight. Mike himself didn't put a paw wrong, using his litter tray perfectly and being the perfect pet. The conflict between the two of them was so bad that it was thought they might have to let him go back to Carol, but they persevered, keeping them apart when unsupervised. It took at least two months before they could leave them alone together, but they are now firm friends and play together happily, both curling up with us on the bed at night. This may be helpful for other new adopters to know, that it may take quite a lot of time and effort to get your cats to bond but that you can get there in the end.

Mike is known for his loud shouting and his lack of enthusisam for "outside" - he likes a sniff around but needs to ensure he can see an open door to get back in quickly if necessary. Our task for 2005 is to catflap train him - he will go through if you hold it open but doesn't seem to realise he can initiate the opening himself. Anyway we all adore him and wouldn't be without him for anything.