A tearful farewell...

It is with much sadness that we say goodbye to a beloved family member. A beautiful old gentleman known as Xander.
Xander Hall was known to us by many aliases.
Mr. Xander, Xandy, Matey boy, Choogie, Fessy....it goes on...
Xander was a beautiful Russian Blue who came to us from the pound. He was found wandering the streets of Newtown and picked up and taken to St George animal shelter, where we just-so-happened-to be going to find a birthday present for my daughter, Natalie.
As soon as Xander spotted her, her ran forward in his cage, knocking over his water dish in the process and drooling uncontrollably, in an effort to get her attention. Of course, it worked!
Home he came and soon became the alpha male. Our ladies, Tigger and Saffy adored him and would always wait until he gave the word to do anything. They always looked to him. Later on, Chloe, a lovely Calico cat and her cheeky son Mania came to live with us and they also had the same unequalled respect for Xander. Mania followed him everywhere and Xander was so patient with him.
When Tigger died, Xander stood guard near her and kept all the other cats quiet for the day. He knew we were all sad.
Only a couple of years ago, when cheeky little Bitbit joined the family, she was a tiny kitten and Xander would let her play for hours with his tail and never got cross with her! He even let her drink his milk!
Xander was magnificent!




Xander jumped into my car and gave me a cuddle!

 



cheeky boy in the gardening bag

 



 


he loved to garden with us!

 His trademark grey/blue coat with the white goatee beard and white blaze on his chest made him stand out...but his tail was also eye catching! it was a little darker than the rest of him and had darker, but quite faint rings down it and when he was wild, it fluffed out to be huge, I can tell you!
He was so strong, in summer he would thin out but in winter he would become huge and you could always hear him thudding down the hallway....
He had teeth like needles as well as very sharp claws and he caught me a few times by sucking me in close with meows and purrs, so when I stopped to pat him, he would latch on and fang into my hand, or whatever he could get hold of! Cheeky boy...

Some of his funny habits:

• Xander would sometimes "pull an all-nighter" by refusing to come inside for his dinner and we would worry all night, only to find him curled up on the front door mat early in the morning!
• He would love to sit by an open window to "shoot the breeze"
• Xander loved to stretch out in front of the fire
• He loved it when Saffy sat with him and gave him a bath
• Sometimes we would sings songs to him, like: he is Mr Xander, swimming underwater....

He retired to the Central Coast last March, where he spent his last days keeping watch over Bitbit, Natalie and his new little human brother, Ashton.

Xander went to sleep, quietly in the sun on Thursday, 19th May, 2011.
We all adored you mate and we won't forget you xxxxx