Busters-page - ACL European

Buster was my office assistant (well sort of) from November 2013 to 26th June 2015.

On the days I worked from home we had a sort of routine Buster and I. My wife would get up earlier than me to go to work. Buster would want feeding of course. After a quick meal he would disappear out of the cat flap to explore the garden or surrounding area. However, by the time I emerged from the shower he would be waiting outside the bathroom door, usually with his sister Millie. Then the game commenced. As I opened the bathroom door he would leap up to greet me purring loudly. He would then begin to rub around my legs in a fairly normal cat like manner. However, as I attempted to walk towards the bedroom he would jump in front of me to place himself exactly where I was attempting to step. He would be purring loudly and looking up at me through the top of his eyes. If I managed to walk a few paces this would annoy him so he would then jump on my foot and start biting my toes.

Sometimes it was impossible to walk unless I picked him up and carried him into the bedroom! Placing him on the bed he would grab my arm with his front paws whilst kicking me with his back paws and biting my arm. All the time he would be purring loudly and I'm convinced he had a big grin on his face. I found it was better to let him have his way. After a few minutes he would conclude that he had received sufficient attention and would wander off either back to the garden or just to find a place to sleep.

We will never know exactly what happened on 26th June. It was a bright sunny day. I was not working but actually clearing out some old furniture. Buster had been fed rather later than usual by me and gone out straight afterwards as normal. I'd taken some of the old furniture to the re-cycling centre. I found him when I got home after the second trip. It seems he had been hit by a vehicle but had somehow made it home to die. I had never seen him even go near the road. It's hard to imagine how he could have been hit in broad daylight. Perhaps the driver was speeding as many do going past here - we will never know.

Buster explores the garden - May 2014

Buster assists with the office printing - 25th March 2015

He lives on in our memories.