My Jawless Cat
by Emily Atkinson-Dalton
(Bath, England )
Black Longhaired Cat photo courtesy of photos-public-domain.com
Up until I was 15, we had a cat called Boots. Neurotic as they come, she was a proper black witch’s cat, but she went through a lot in her 16 years of life.
Losing her mother at only 2 weeks old, she saw our other cat as a mother figure. Unfortunately, our other cat didn’t reciprocate her feelings and often walked away when she tried to climb on her and suckle from her.
When she was 10, she had a tumour on her jaw. Of course, we were heartbroken thinking it was the end for her, but our wonderful vet at the time, did a (quite experimental back then) operation to remove most of her bottom jaw.
Because of this, she lived out the next 6 years happily, albeit, looking a little worse for wear. Friends would come round and ask quite seriously, “Why is your cat sticking its tongue out at me?”
When she went missing at 12, we had neighbours coming up with another black cat asking if it was her, to which we replied, “No, our cat doesn’t have a jaw.” Understandably, they looked somewhat bemused.