Also known as:
- Giz
Giz-giz
Gizzy
Gizbo
Gizzy-bo
Gibby
Gibbles
Gibito
Gib-gib
Jib-jib
Boy-boy
Orange
L’orange
Skinny
Runt
Skinny runt
Boney
Wuss
Ginger bits
He has a lot more nicknames than the other two!
So, what can I tell you about our orange boy? He’s quite a large cat, not fat, just kind of stocky, long limbed and athletic looking. He has lost a bit of weight since we moved over here, whether that was due to him actually being allowed outside into the huge long garden (and enjoying it very much, he can thunder up and down the entire length of the garden in seconds), or down to some kind of infection he may have picked up from a neighbouring cat, we’ll never know. You can’t quite feel his spinal column when you rub your hand down his back anymore thanks to the steroids, but to a trained eye he definitely looks slimmer.
Looking at him now you’d never guess he was the runt of the litter. He was absolutely tiny when we first got him, and terrified of everything. Whenever there was a knock at the door he’d leg it up the stairs into Mum’s room. He’s still like that a little bit, he’s still scared of Ethan, he never hangs around when the kids are here and any loud noise can make him retreat to the safety of our room. But saying that, he is coming into his own as the Alpha male.
Tigger is getting on a bit now and makes no attempt to ward off trespassers, but Gizmo, the other night, actually chased another cat out of our house. He made a hell of a racket as he wailed and chased and most probably attacked this intruder up and down the stairs, then out of the cat-flap*. We always thought it’d be Smudge who would be the most ferocious, so Gizmo manning-up took us by surprise.
He loves his sleep, but then again, most cats do! He also loves fish, especially real fish, not fish flavoured cat food. Actually, I think he enjoys wailing at the top of his voice while he’s waiting for the fish to be prepared more than the actual eating of it. He’s a big cat and he can produce a big noise. His favourite toy is a green fish on a bit of string (called “Fishy”, naturally), and he used to love this little pink ball, he’d take it places with him, and always hunt it when it was left out in the open for him. I’ve not seen it in a while, we lost it during the move, but to be honest I think it had just fallen apart – Judging by the amount of time he spent biting, clawing and chasing it, I wouldn’t be surprised if it just disintegrated.
*Because Gizmo and Smudge are stupid and don’t quite understand how cat-flaps work, we leave it propped open at all times, so it does kind of invite other cats in!
