WALLY'S PAGE OF REMEMBRANCE

Our beautiful Somali boy, "King Wally" (Gold Db Gd & CCCA Ch Glordawn Wala), was born in Newcastle, NSW, on 23rd December, 1986 and came to us as an 8 month old kitten, quite timid at first but soon finding his feet. We had decided on a Somali when our adored domestic girl, Smudgee, died and after many phone calls, we found this little fellow who soon became a part of us. Wally, as he was named, did very well as a kitten and as an adult at the shows, but it was after he was neutered that his star really began to shine. He was neutered at the age of 12 months and when we began to show him seriously, he regularly won Best of Breed and Pet Desexed Cat awards as well as many other classes, among them Best Head Type and Coat Colour and Condition, plus many Best In Show awards - so many that we forget. We've got so many ribbons, rosettes and trophies that they fill a cabinet but Wally was (and still is) the most important - his prizes and award certificates just serve to remind us of the little man whom we loved so dearly. Of course there are all his photos too - this page has more photos, so it could take a short time to load - please be patient as Wally would like you to always remember him as he was.

His 5th anniversary was 26 November, 2003 - I would like to say publicly that we both still miss him so much and still, after five long years, mourn his passing. Wally is one little friend who will continue to live on forever in our hearts. I know he is still with us, looking after us - I always say "grant us good luck, Wal" when we leave for shows .....

Wally and his Aunt Alula - both of them did very well but I don't think Wally was listening to Alula's advice about shows ... young whippersnapper that he was!!! Southern Cross Cat Club 1992.

Wally was the recipient of many Best In Show awards in NSW and became, in October 1992, the first Somali to become a CCCA Champion (Australian Champion). We are proud of this major award as it is difficult to achieve and for our beautiful Somali to attain it, was one of our greatest thrills in life. Wally also almost qualified for a Cat of the Year award in 1992, but at the time it was "first past the post" and the Top 5 Cat of the Year awards had not been instigated (he would have been 2nd Neuter if the Top 5 awards were available then) - however, he was, and always will be, our Cat of the Year and now he is considered the "Cat of the Century"; although we love our other children dearly, there was always something special and unique about "The King".

Wally's last show in 1996 saw him named Best Desexed Cat In Show and after this we decided to retire him as he thoroughly deserved it. Wally travelled everywhere with us - to all points in between Melbourne, Sydney and country NSW - and he loved his trips away. He would make everywhere he went his "home away from home" and would terrorise everyone else's cats, making sure that they knew he was the BOSS. At home he was the undisputed KING and would make sure that all was as it should be and woe betide those who didn't listen or agree with him!

"I'm HERE ... and I'm the BOSS!" says the Supreme Being, looking down his nose at everyone!

Whenever we would go to Sydney (either for a show or a visit), Wally would come too - even if he wasn't entered in a show. We would stay with our friend, Lyn, and when Wally entered her home, Lyn's cats knew that a "Superior Being" would be in their midst! The "Superior Being" (as he considered himself!) would take over, eating their food and being treated as if he owned the house (he didn't), much to the Perzeena Pussies' absolute disgust. Of course, Wally would sometimes be caged in readiness for the next day's show and it was the only time that he would be. Wally didn't like this, but once he was in his show cage, he was once again "The Master" and upon returning home to Aunty Lyn's house, he would parade around like the "King of the World". Of course, to us, he was ....and always will be.

In his favourite position at Aunty Lyn's - on top of the post, on top of the stairs!!

He loved the show scene, playing to his "audience" happily before, during and after judging and once, when we went to a country show in southern NSW, we were asked about him. A lady told us that she had come to the show just to see Wally and was disappointed when told that he hadn't come this time. However, she was happy to know that he was well and happy, having a holiday at home. She had met us at a previous show and had fallen in love with the "big brown cat" and had remembered our little mate. We took him almost everywhere because we didn't like him to stay at home "alone" and many times he would charm the judges, the public, the exhibitors and all who knew him. This would make his day!

Wally and his little friend, Booboo, a little blue Abyssinian boy. Booboo would happily suckle from anyone but loved his "Uncle Wal" because he was so furry and fluffy, keeping him so warm. Wally was an excellent "kitten sitter", taking over from the "mum cats" and making sure their kittens were always happy - no wonder the mums loved him so much! Little Booboo is actually behind many Somalis of today ... thank you, Booboo Bear.

We took him to Lismore several years ago for an exhibition and he even met his mother's breeder, who took one look at Wally and recognized him - we had never met her before. She asked us if he was "from such and such a line" and when I said "yes", and told her who his sire and dam were, the lady was delighted, telling me that she had bred his mother, Makale Kasulie! A very small world indeed!

Needless to say, Wally naturally was a pure gentleman towards his other "great-grandmother" and purred and kneaded away happily in her arms, as if he knew this lady was one of those people responsible for him being there! Another "Wally Fan" was made!

We have also been lucky enough to meet another breeder, who bred Somalis in the 1970s and she too recognized Wally's breeding - she asked who he was from etc and when we told her, she was delighted to learn that Wally was descended from one of her original studs, Yafeh Karim. Our elderly Somali ladies, the late Pooky (Ch Yafeh Panjang) and Dolly (Db Gd Ch Berwendale Ragdoll), were also more descendants as are our other lovely Somalis. To cut it short, we have been in contact ever since. Yes, King Wally had certainly met a lot of people in his long life!

Wally loved his audience - it was a hot day, so he wanted protection from the sun before meeting the "peasants".

However, we went to a show in Brisbane when we lived on the Far North Coast and Wally wasn't entered. We took up a Siamese girl and our domestic boy, Ted, but revenge was Wal's ... how dare we leave HIM out! When we returned home, we were duly informed that the "big brown bloke" had spent the weekend under the house, happily chasing mice! Shock! Horror! To make things worse, one of our Aby studs had escaped from his pen and we found him in the yard, cowering under a bush. Luckily we got Shahjar back into his pen (he had only just escaped) and went inside to find Wally, sitting up on the kitchen table waiting for his tea! The naughty boy had indeed been outside all weekend, coming in for dinner at night and then sleeping on our bed! I had feared that he was gone, lost in the wilds of Mallanganee, and if someone had seen him, they would have perhaps shot him, thinking that he was a fox! It was then that the decision was taken to have him with us at all times, even when we were going into town - luckily I had a very, very understanding mother-in-law who considered Wally as one of her "grandchildren" (I wasn't very popular at all with my sisters-in-law! Wonder why??) and who "cat-sat" for us quite often, as she was also a "Wally Fan".

Wally in the clean laundry - he loved to help out, but washing day was not his day at all. This was The King's idea of IRONING!

Only once did Wally lose his temper - I copped it too! It was with one of our stud boys, Hilly, a quiet little soul who wouldn't hurt a fly. I was paying attention to him one afternoon when The King decided that he'd had enough and took off after his "rival". Poor Hilly didn't know what had happened because Wally called him everything he could think of in "Somali", then chased him through the house. I got in their way and was scratched badly whilst trying to save Hilly from Wally's anger. The result was that Wally was locked up to make him realise that he had to stop being so naughty and Hilly had to be cuddled in private to calm him down. And to make matters worse ... I lost a good pair of shorts into the bargain ... needless to say, I won't say where I was scratched but it was on the back of my shorts .... OUCH! KIDS - who needs kids when you have "furry kids" who fight like this! I couldn't sit down for a few hours either ....

To cut a long story short - Wally remained locked in the bathroom until he (and myself) had calmed down. His "father" let him out of the bathroom when he returned from work - Wally had finally forgiven me for paying too much attention to Hilly and locking him up, by head butting and purring in my ear. Hilly, on the other hand, did not come near him for quite some time after that! I wonder why?

"How dare you not ring me up while you were away ..." - at home, this was another favourite place to sit and watch the world go by. Wally must have thought he could direct us by sitting on top of the phone!

Once, when I had been away for a few days, I got the full brunt of a "cat snub". Wally was waiting for me at the front door on the particular night when I was supposed to arrive home; when he was sure that I would stay at home, after I arrived, he gave me the cold shoulder for the rest of that night. However - before I had arrived, he had sat patiently at the door waiting for me - how he knew that Mum would arrive that night is another one of those occurrences that are well documented but can't be explained. However, Wally knew I was coming home. Perhaps it was telepathy because he didn't do anything at all until that particular night - then, when I finally arrived, I was duly snubbed.

Wally as a young man. He was the most beautiful friend we have ever had. This was taken when he was about 5 years old and when he was doing well on the show bench.

Often when I was feeling down in the dumps and miserable, I would gather Wally up and talk to him - this was one way we bonded together and the "big brown cat" was my little mate, one to whom I could spill everything and not be afraid that he would not listen. This was how we had become such good companions - I would sometimes come home from work in a not very pleasant mood and would give Wally what we referred to as a "Wally Cuddle", where he would put his little paws around my neck and give me a kiss as I cuddled up to him. This is something we miss dreadfully - his little niece had learnt this too, but she is, after all, an independent little Miss. Princess Troi is our closest link to our beautiful boy - she doesn't know how very special she is, although I think that she suspects it as she is always by my side.

Making the bed is so tiring, Mum! Wally always helped with the housework ... in his own way!

Of course, Wally had his funny ways (all cats do) - he would escape from an open door and then make us chase him because it seemed as if he thought we needed the exercise. When he was a kitten, he was kept inside and would not be allowed out, but he would take every single opportunity and would scamper outside to be followed by "his people", who would be crying out "where's Wally?" as he would "disappear" into the garden. This was a by-word for "Cat's Out!". He would go into the neighbours' backyards or into the lane at the back of our yard with us after him, although we couldn't get over the fence, and all we could do was wait for the little rotter to come home - plus keep a close eye on him. He always stayed in sight and when he was sick of exploring (or stickybeaking), he would return to be cuddled and taken indoors for something to eat. One trick of getting him in was banging the food dishes and that would make him come straight back - he was naughty but I won't repeat what he used to be called here. After some time, Wally got to be even more cunning - the dinner dish trick didn't work and we had to resort to opening cans of food and waving them around so that he would smell his food ... he'd come running as fast as his little paws would carry him!

Wally loved his food - he also knew where it was kept! Of course, in the fridge ... this photo proves he could even read too!

Wally loved his food, although when he was a kitten he would eat nothing but baby food, finally graduating to raw mince (beef or kangaroo) and eventually, much to our relief, tinned food - which he had decided, in his wisdom, would be all right for a change. His favourite flavour was "Whiskas Ocean Fish" and we made sure that when we bought the provisions, The King's favourite flavour was included at all times. He would turn up his nose at cheap tinned fish, preferring Whiskas, but finally he decided to eat whatever was dished out.

When he was little, we were forever phoning his breeder and telling her that "the kitten won't eat and we are scared that he'll starve to death!". I hoped that he would soon eat because we feared that very soon we'd have a very sick cat on our hands! He loved his baby food (Heinz varieties were his main favourite flavours) and was very reluctant to give that up. It was such a relief when Wally decided to eat like a cat - but at the end, he was fed baby food again because his mouth was painful (due to kidney disease) and the soft food helped him. He obviously enjoyed it - could he have been remembering his youth and the time he ate only baby food?

We like to feed our cats a varied diet, but Wally always had his fish and meat which had to be served in a separate dish away from the others, and always without any other cat around his plate. He would join the other cats in stealing food of course, but he knew he would be forgiven and then would "beg" for small morsels from our own plates. Needless to say, Wally always got what he wanted!

One night, this proved to be almost a disaster for him. Wally had helped himself to a lamb chop, eventually almost choking because a bone got stuck on the roof of his mouth. I carefully removed it, making sure not to hurt him (it wasn't easy - I was trying not to panic) as it was wedged behind his front teeth, and Wally was fine, but he never, ever took off with a chop bone again, for he had learnt a very valuable lesson. Cat's don't eat chop bones ... especially stolen chop bones! He would wait until the meat was cut from the bone, then he would enjoy his lamb chop safely. I don't allow the cats to have chop bones at all (or any cooked bones, especially chicken), but they sometimes manage to steal them - the result is one cat with a bone, being chased by an irate "parent". Wally didn't suffer from his theft at all, but I am sure his pride was slightly injured. Me? I was panic stricken about the whole episode!

After a good meal, what must a King do? Sleep of course! And it is so much better when there are two of him ... this was taken in front of our bedroom mirror - quite a fetching photograph of our handsome man.

Another food story - we were coming home from a show when we stopped for a quick meal. We had meat pies for lunch and a carload of cats. Wally was allowed out of his carry cage for a quick run around the car - back then we had an ancient station wagon - as it was a warm day and he was whingeing ... we had food and he didn't! We enjoyed our pies but "Someone" had to help himself as well because, whatever we had, he had to have it too.

The other furry passengers were well behaved but Wally had to try one of these strange delicacies because we had them. This was funny - a large Somali cat sitting on my knee in the passenger seat of the car, by the side of a country road, daintily munching on a crusty piece of pie, with his Mum carefully blowing on it to make sure he didn't burn his mouth! I can't remember what the pie was like although Wally obviously enjoyed it! We must have looked a sight to passers by who would have seen us feeding a "foxlike" animal in the front seat of the car by the side of a very busy country highway.

Wally, was so sweet natured that he would put up with anything within reason, although he did not like to be dressed up! This photo (below) shows him in a pair of "cat pants" (used for spraying males when necessary) which he had to model for us. Our friend had picked them up at a cat show and before using them, she wanted to know if they really would fit a cat. Wally, being a large neuter, fitted the mould perfectly so Janice quickly put them on - he was not amused! He lay on the kitchen bench and refused to move until the pants were taken off - years before this, I tried to make him wear a flea collar and he absolutely refused; consequently the collar was removed and never used again! I couldn't resist putting this photo on his page, just to remember a funny incident in his life .. we also have photos of Wally sitting on the phone and with a wok! I have the "phone photo" above but so far haven't yet found the "wok photo" ... it is here somewhere - he looks like a chef-cat.

As for the pants, I don't know if Janice ever used them, but I haven't heard of another pair - this happened in 1991 when Wally made the trek to Melbourne with me. Perhaps they just weren't fashionable enough for the boys to wear?

Move over Supermodels ... THE KING is in the the building. Wally modelling "cat pants".

Many times he would make me afraid for his safety when he got outside in his younger days - people would drive past our home and I kept envisaging my beautiful boy run over and killed; this made my blood run cold. However, as he grew older and wiser, Wally began to behave himself and in the short time before he had to be tragically put to sleep due to renal failure, he would sleep outside in the sunshine, enjoying his days and making sure the world was as it should be. Of course, he kept everyone in line outside too, making sure that everything was to his liking! It was - Ted and the other boys would make sure that they didn't upset Wally and even the birds, who knew him well, kept their distance.

Wally loved the outdoors - he's not looking at birds - he's looking at Lyn who was playing with him. Photo taken at 11 years of age.

Wally didn't worry the birds and they didn't worry him although in his younger years, he would chase after them, with the birds flying a short distance, then landing before him once more. It was a game - both participants seemed to enjoy it - and now the wild birds flock around, not worrying about the felines on the ground. They don't worry their feathered friends either - perhaps all know that a "certain person" isn't around anymore and perhaps, in their own ways, they are being respectful to his memory.

In November 1999, in the week leading up to Wally's first anniversary, Lyn saw a "big brown cat" outside near our cars, which are parked at the front of the house. She was worried one of the Abys or Somalis had escaped from the house, then checked and found that they were all present. Lyn said to me later, "Wally came back - I saw him". I like to think that it was indeed The King, coming back to make sure that we haven't forgotten him and are going to commemorate his memory. In the days after his passing, we both saw him, walking along the path outside, as big as life and in that fleeting moment, we knew he would be all right. His fifth anniversary has passed and now time's moving towards his sixth - we always have a little toast to his memory - and a minute is given by me to remembering my lovely "special friend".

At our local cat show we have donated a special trophy in Wally's name since his passing - Best Desexed Abyssinian or Somali Exhibit - which has been won by several beautiful cats. Each year we buy something practical, yet different, so that Wally's name will continue to live on in the Cat Fancy. We've never been eligible for this trophy as we haven't shown a desexed Abyssinian or Somali since Wally, but perhaps one day a special little cat will win it .. a tawny Somali neuter, owned by us perhaps? His photo is on the trophy card .. it may be a small thing, but it makes me feel good and I also feel he is still with us at the show in a small way.

He is survived by his great-niece, Troi, who keeps me company as I write her uncle's story and by his other feline companions who, in their own little ways, remember him. Sadly, many of those who lived with Wally have now joined him across the Rainbow Bridge .. his great niece, our much beloved Spring Time and our little man, Bumfluff (Paju Tribal Warrior), are two of his close family members who are with him now - plus those "old timers" who moved with us when we finally came home in 1990. His Lordship will, no doubt, be bossing them around from atop his golden throne .... as he did in life.

Other family members are little Eridani, our sweet fawn baby girl, and Hairy Bum, Troi's son, a cheeky blue boy .. we can go back on their pedigrees as well and find good links to Wally's family. In a way, Eridani does some "Wally things" .. she has to sleep with us at night, cuddled up either on my back or if it's cold, she's been known to snuggle under the blankets. Wherever she is, she's purring softly in my ear .. that is, if Her Royal Highness Princess Troi isn't there first. Troi's now "Boss Somali" .... our much loved little Blue Princess, the successor to The King! She is also a Gold Db Gd Champion - just like her great uncle.

And ... of course Wally's memory is kept alive by us - his loving "parents" - who still mourn his passing after five long years and who will always remember that furry, brown body which would curl up in bed with us on winter nights, or sleep on top of us during summer - who would dance around the yard, gleefully watching us try to catch him when he didn't want to be caught - who would make sure he was the centre of attention at the shows - and who was the most beloved little friend in the world.

Wally was a special boy, our beloved friend, and he now rests in a very special place made especially for him. He was cremated - for he was too important by far to be buried in the backyard - and he now rests where we can "speak" with him whenever we want to. He will always live with us, in our hearts and memories, as the little tawny Somali kitten who stole our hearts completely and who will always have them with him.

Wally, you will always be loved completely and totally .... you lived for those you loved, and those who loved you will remember you forever.