Introducing Gunna

Without a doubt the biggest influence on my early life was my brofur Gunna.  He was the greatest.  A big grey ball of muscle and dashingly handsome, Gunna taught me everything I needed to know about how to be a pawsome kitty.

Gunna was born on the streets.  Straight away he had to learn how to survive in such a cruel cruel environment.  Forced as a kitten to join an adult world, Gunna learned how to hunt and his fighting prowess was legendary throughout the neighbourhood.  And like any stray cat in a struggle for survival, Gunna had to pull out all stops to score himself a free feed.  This included begging for food from strangers and that is how our story with Gunna began.

It was a sultry night in December 1994 when Gunna made his first appearance on the human's doorstep.  As a young seven-month old cat, Gunna was just entering his prime but he already knew what to do to get what he wanted.  He wanted food, and was willing to do anything to get it.  Although he was a stray, Gunna was confident amongst people and he conned the human with his easy going nature and pitiful meowing.  She quickly relented and gave him some leftovers from dinner.  "Score!" Gunna thought to himself.  "What an easy target."

Knowing he was on to a good thing, Gunna was back again the next night.  And the next night and the following night as well.  Soon he was spending most of the day there as well.  But he was yet to officially move in.  Being in such good condition the human did not know if Gunna had a home elsewhere.  (We later found out that Gunna was going around to all the neighbours' houses for a free feed!)

Things continued like this for several months.  Gunna was spending all his time at our house, and no one seemed to be looking for him.  The human grew more and more attached to him and named him Gunsynd after the famous Australian racehorse.  One of our most beloved champions, Gunsynd was a handsome grey who was known for his courageous nature.  He also oozed charisma and would seek out any opportunity to pose for the camera.  The name suited Gunna perfectly.

Sometimes a silver lining accompanies a tragedy and this was the case with Gunna.  The human found Gunna in obvious distress in the backyard.  With food on offer, he limped painfully towards the human.  He was in a frightful state with fur off his face and a badly injured front paw.  It was at that moment that Gunna became a permanent member of our family.  After an emergency visit to the vet, Gunna was diagnosed with a badly bruised paw (possibly from being hit by a car or bike) and he was ordered to rest it.  That evening Gunna spent what might have been his first night inside.  A week later he was at the vet again and he came home two-stone lighter.  Not that it slowed him down any.  Gunna had become a gelded house cat but he still had all the swagger and confidence of a street-based entire.

A few years later I arrived on the scene.  The human needn't have worried how Gunna would react.  Sensing I wasn't a threat, Gunna took me under his wing and became like a father to me.  He taught me how to chase things and how to open the sliding door on my own.  He would always protect me from any danger.  Gunna was my best friend and I loved him.

We lost Gunna to cancer at age 12.  It was a devastating loss for all of us.  He was laid to rest under a mulberry tree in our backyard and the human still says hello to him when she passes by.  To this day our hearts still ache for Gunna, but we are grateful to have known and loved him.