Milo & Phoenix

They were brothers. They used to sleep together and fight together.

Because they were so special we had a local artist come and take lots of photos of them so that he could paint them. But this isn't that work.

It was my sister who captured them most faithfully in this portrait.

Milo, on the left, was a nervous soul, wary of everything and he did not really know how to interact with humans. He was a hunter. Phoenix, on the right, was completely different. He was human or as close as a cat can get.

Milo was fed one morning before he went out into the garden. Within half an hour a neighbour arrived to tell us he was dead on the road. Phoenix missed him mostly in the wild of the garden where marauding cats from the area were too much for him without his brother to fight his corner. And he missed waiting for Milo to bring back the day's kill.

Towards the end, Phoenix had lots of problems but he remained loving, knowing and alert.

I am reminded of them when I see blips of other Abyssinians and I miss them both.