Dear sweet Ruggles passed away this week. Being a rescue we were never sure of his age.
He had a strong presence in my sister's life since he followed her everywhere and was happiest when he was near her. Even though he only joined the cast of characters 3 1/2 years ago in my sister's home, he won over her heart and had a special place there.

When we lived in Toronto, Ruggles appeared on our front porch, like many of the unwanted or feral cats did. He lived under the porch for a few weeks while we fed him and until my sister felt she could get close enough to encourage him inside. This was easier than we thought. We had planned the scene. We'd move the food bowl into the front hall and once he was inside one of us was going to shut the front door. Hopefully he wouldn't tear back outside.


We never got to execute the plan because my sister discovered she could just go over and pick him up. She just carried him into the house and that was that. He was so gentle and loving that he never resisted or feared her.

At first we didn't know what colour he really was because he was so filthy and his hair was flattened and greasy. red jane who knows a thing or two about Persian cats because her mom has Persians suggested that he was a chocolate point. That's how filthy he was. Then as time went on, Ruggles as he came to be known, cleaned himself up and enjoyed his regular meals which caused him to fluff out and get whiter and whiter until he was the beauty you see in the photos.

Sis didn't know if she would keep him or not. However, the longer she spent debating it the dearer to her heart he grew.

When my sister was out, Ruggles would often come to my door at the foot of the stairs from my sister's place and do his quiet little scratchy meow. I'd let him in and he'd just come and hang out with us. He'd find a nice spot to lie down and just be content to be there with us. One time he got in the little cat tent and curled up or another time he fell asleep on my foot while I was sitting at my desk. He just like to be near someone. The other cats never minded him because he was not territorial at all and was so passive that I think other cats found that he just didn't register on their radar (except for Rupert, but that really was a unique case).


We'll miss you sweet Honey-bunches-of-Snuggelos. We loved you dearly and will miss you greatly.