Halloween and black cats

Please spare a thought for black cats at this time of the year. I once had a black cat, called Thomas, who was an un-neutered tom. Although he was ferocious in battling any intruder, he was one of the sweetest cats you'd want in the house. He would not even spray indoors. He would lie in bed with people, not aligned along the length of the bed, but across its width. He ate what we ate, including beans, meat (obviously), butter, cheese and milk.

Thomas also had this habit of coming into the bedroom in the dead of night. I would wake up with a start by a cat meowing, jumping into the window and onto my bed. He once brought a living rabbit into the bedroom at 3 am one night, proceeded to kill it and eat it - having no problem with a screeching rabbit or crunching bones. We did. He left only the bunny's hind quarters as a keepsake for the family. He would catch birds as well as mice, throwing the latter feet up in the air for everybody's amusement.

He sowed his wild oats around, and had no inhibitions in choosing the location for that either. One morning, a female cat ambled into the garden - she was as black as himself - with four kittens in tow. Three were black, another tortoiseshell, presumably the result of another close encounter.

A less enjoyable friendship was enjoyed by Thomas with his fleas. During our holidays, the cat was put to the cattery. On our return, his fleas were jumping with joy. We made the cardinal mistake of not sending the cat around the house first.

His fighting left Thomas with open wounds, which at times would make it quite easy to locate him by smell. Our vet was familiar with the sight of a battle-scarred tom, who would fight to be put into the carrier basket - but on leaving the vet's would meekly walk back in again.

Thomas passed over the Rainbow Bridge in June 1988.