When we went to meet Shylock and Falstaff for the first time at the breeder's house, they were living in the heated conservatory. There were five kittens in the litter, three boys and two girls. Between the living room and the conservatory there was sliding glass double door, and just inside this against the wall was a sofa. As we were getting to know the breeder, a kitten (7 weeks old), comes boldly marching round the end of the sofa, his little chest all puffed up, looking so big, bold and brave. You could almost hear him saying "I'm so brave". He turns the corner to face us through the open glass doors, looks up, notices us and "I'm so brave" turns into "No I'm not", as he rapidly charges off back to the safety of the litter.

That was our introduction to Falstaff.

Copyright © Rachel Craddock
October 22, 2004