Memorial to Tanya Burr, killed 15 September 2002
Tanya and Cats
Tanya, the huge (6 kgs) Puffball and his sister Phoebe at Blomfield Street, Rotorua, in July 2001, aged about eight months. (Photo: Val)
Other cat pages on this website
Everyone who knew Tanya soon heard about her passion for cats. Not fancy pedigree cats, but any old cat. As a young child she used to torment our various cats by putting them in boxes, washing baskets, doll's cots and dolls baths etc., all tied in a row like a train and carriages, and pushing them around the house. The cats soon learned that it was useless trying to protest - even at speed. If they jumped out, she'd just go put them back in, regardless of their hiding places or their claws. They learned simply to cringe and bear it.
Our present old cat, the slightly nervous Mary, was about 15 years ago probably our last cat to experience this. Even up until Tanya's last visit, Mary had not forgiven Tanya for all the train rides. She would keep out of sight until Tanya went to bed or went out, and only then would come back inside. Tanya felt a bit hurt by that. The last photo (of many) she took of Mary - the day before we left for Europe - only happened after Tanya briefly trapped her in our glasshouse!
Tanya would squander whole films on our cats, and later on Puffball and Phoebe, and Phoebe's kittens. So there are multitudes of cat photos she took scattered about the place. She even took several cat photos when she was overseas.
At time of writing we have six cats in a city that decrees its residents only have three cats per household. But which ones could we dispose of? All have some connection with Tanya.
The first is Mary, known for fearing the ground Tanya walks on. However, she soon learned how to get in a cat door.
The second is Tammy, who Tanya considered to be her cat, but I wouldn't let her take her away from here (where she had been born) to a risky life in some flat. She had been orphaned when she was five weeks old, and this has provided many memories. However, at the moment she has adjourned to the neighbour's house till she learns how to get in a cat door to face five other cats.
Thirdly is Sam, our relatively petite - but very domineering - boss cat for some years, which Tanya brought home from Anita's place in Dannevirke, after her mother died when she also was five weeks old. She is known for defending our place against intrusions by other cats - especially Sophie from the back unit - and carpets of white fur tend to be her preferred method of marking her territory. For the first six weeks, Sam was not too sure of cat doors and preferred the human touch to the do-it-yourself method of entry and exit. However, when she finally caught on, she made full use of it.
Fourth comes Jasmine, daughter of Phoebe, delivered to us by Tanya for Christmas 2001 (with her ginger brother) when she ran out of places to give kittens too. Her brother, called Oscar, now lives with Russell, Jenna and Jess the Black Labrador dog (Oscar's favourite pet). She was the first of our cats to learn how to get in a cat door after it was installed about two weeks after Tanya's death.
Then comes the mighty Puffball, born in the spring of 2000. Too big to get in and out the partly opened window that served our cats for 21 years, we had to install the cat door or continue to clean up his enormous 'offerings'. As a kitten he fell (jumped by mistake) from the window of Tanya's upstairs flat and bounced in the garden. When she plucked up courage to look out the window, he was staring back up at her meowing to be let back in again. When we took him to Rotorua, he drove us nuts meowing all the time, while Phoebe just slept quietly. For the return journey after Tanya's death, we drugged him! Unfortunately, that only worked for a while, but it was funny. These were proper cat drugs, for the record. His favourite pastimes include generating endless fur balls people risk their lives to cut off, lying about the place with his feet sticking up in the air, and eating. He showed clear signs - in the form of several panic attacks - of having been with Tanya when she was killed.
Lastly comes Phoebe, litter sister to Puffball and mother of Jasmine. She is a nice friendly all round cat who is noted for trying to open sliding doors and enjoying sleeping in wardrobes. The latter is probably where she was when we were trying to find her in Tanya's flat so we didn't have to leave them unattended in Rotorua when we brought Tanya down. Rather than separate the pair, both remained in the flat until reports from Rotorua suggested we had better send in the SPCA and a locksmith. We thought something was blocking the cat door, but apparently this was not the case.
