An important facet of McGinty's life and character was his very special relationship with Rupert, our cream coloured tabby. This page is a tribute to that friendship.
McGinty was a year old when Bonnie had a litter of four kittens in the spare bedroom wardrobe, and from the time Rupert and the other three were brought cautiously downstairs to be introduced to him at three weeks old, Rupert was McGinty's cat.
It was all the more surprising because Rupert was (and remains) the most timid and fearful of our cats, running from everyone (including us at times) but never from Irish wolfhounds. But although he is comfortable around all wolfhounds, it was only McGinty who inspired the devotion you see here. For his part, McGinty tolerated Rupert's often unwanted attentions with the resigned patience of a mother for a baby.
The photos of this page, together with this selection,
span the period from Rupert's kittenhood in the summer of 1995 to just before McGinty's death in May 2002. When McGinty died Rupert left home for three weeks.
