Being a very sociable and friendly fellow, Demitri has a quite number of feline friends with whom he enjoys both sniffing acquaintanceship and correspondence of a more long-distance nature.  He keeps a photo album and warmly invites you to get to know his pals too.

His "girl-next-door" used to be, of course, the fabulous and flirtatious Fudge Boland who, along with her sister Archie, lived across the road from DM.  Fudge decided that she wanted to be a live-in girlfriend however, and so moved in and changed her name to Fudge Boland-Allen!  She is a lovely fudge-coloured striped tabby cat.  Being two years older than DM she is his glamorous "older woman"!  If asked, Miss Fudge would probably admit that her hobby is talking, talking and more talking!  DM and Fudge have discerning and expensive dining tastes.  Alas, poor Fudge has had to have quite a number of her teeth extracted over the years, which now means that she cannot eat lumpy or course food.  Unable to chew it properly, she tries to swallow lumpy food whole and then ends up being sick.  DM does not regard this dining disability as a problem though because, while he does enjoy crunching on tasty dry nuggets, when it comes to moist food, he hates it and will not eat meaty chunks either.  His dining preference is smooth gourmet paté (or, at a pinch, Mum's homemade puréed chicken or tuna).  His tastes suit both himself and his gorgeous girlfriend and, always the purrrfect gentleman, he is happy to share his smooth, lump-free dinner with her.

During the winter months of their courtship, DM obviously felt it unchivalrous to come indoors and leave his lady-love outside in the cold.  Amazingly, the two of them worked out a cunning plan resulting in DM's "Mum and Dad" often returning home on a chilly day to find not one but two cats reclining lazily in the warm hall!  As far as we can tell, DM opened the cat flap with his magnet key as usual, hopped through, leaving his tail out long enough to give Fudge, following very closely behind, time to put her little paw through the flap and, rather like the commercial salesmen of old, effectively sticking her foot in the door thus stopping it latching shut and locking her out!  All we can say is that, while it wouldn't have been tolerated in Matilda's day (she would not have permitted "lodgers" inside her house!), such skilled catly ingenuity cannot be anything but admired.  Fudge and DM make quite a team.

A large grey and white cat, who we call Misty, also lives in the neighbourhood and she pays DM regular social calls too.  Sunbathing on the patio is a particular activity (or rather inactivity) they both enjoy!  Poor Misty has a problem with her vocal cords and can only make small, hoarse squeeky miaows.  Due to this, she tends to hiss her remarks and often gets wrongly accused of being cross, when she is simply communicating in the only way she can.  Having discovered that she is quite a friendly cat, DM doesn't take offense at her hissing any longer, although he does keep a wary eye on her ... just in case!  Afterall, she is much bigger than him!

Matilda's old boyfriend, Tommy the Tomcat comes into our garden rarely now that his beloved has gone.  While he could never be called a friend of DM's exactly, when he does take a short cut across the lawn we regard him with fondness simply because he reminds us so much of our darling girl.  Poor old Tommy has a hard life and is often badly battle-scarred when we see him.  We feed him when he calls by and he is always very appreciative of any food he receives.  As poor Tommy lives rough, we also take him to the Vet as and when he needs medical attention.  He isn't too keen on this, but seems to recognise that we are trying to help him and always behaves extremely well.  As he is highly allergic to the bite of a flea, we try and Frontline him as often as we can to stop him becoming bitten and developing nasty, bleeding scabs.  We guess that Tommy must be about 16 years of age now.

A new boy on the block is the sleek, cross-eyed tabby cat Rum-Tum-Tigger. Sensibly, DM tends to give him a wide berth as Rum-Tum-Tigger is very much a fighting male.  Another white and black newcomer by the name of Dash also snoozes in DM's garden from time to time.  Bravely defending his lady, DM taught Dash a few manners at one point, when Dash tried to attack little Fudge. Being equally matched in size, DM and Dash now both pretend not to notice each other, thus avoiding any further confrontations and restoring calm to the garden!

Another friend of both DM and Matilda in earlier years was Scooter Hesbrook.  She used to live down the road at the bottom of the hill.  Sadly, due to a fatal road accident, sweet Scooter is no longer with us either.  However, Kitty, a very handsome ginger tabby, has since adopted the Hesbrook family and keeps them on their toes!  As far as we are aware, DM and Kitty have never met but they exchange scents when their respective "people" meet.

Like his Daddy, DM is into computing!  He therefore enjoys email correspondence with far away friend, Buddy Smith, who lives in Sebastopol, California, and also four other young cats in Charlotte, North Carolina - namely Goldie, Cloudy, Rosie and Stormy Jillani.  A friend closer to home is Mojo Skillen, who lives in Belfast with her "mother" Pamela Kirkwood.  Also in Belfast are "cousins" Sophie, Humphrey, Amy, and Zoe, all of whom were rescued by Anne and Robin McMinnis through the Cats Protection organisation.  DM thinks Amy is just gorgeous but is somewhat over-awed by her pedigree status!

We hope you've enjoyed meeting some of DM's closest feline friends. Of course, he does have some (ssshh!) canine pals too but, as this is something that most cats don't like admitting to, we won't embarrass him by dwelling on it!

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	Fudge Our puss radiating laidback glamour!
Mojo  keeping an eye on the garden, from the comfort of her armchair, naturally!
	Sophie enjoys warmth and so can often be found stretched out on top of the central heating boiler in the garage!
Humphrey rules his hareem of females with a firm paw.  He is an old softie at heart though and just loves to snuggle up with his Daddy Robin.
	Amy the beautiful grey-blue persian, who knows how to pose!
Zoe elegantly sunbathing whilst watching the world go by from the window.
	Misty Big, bold and beautiful is the mystifying Misty.
	Scooter In fond remembrance of cute Scooter. Here she is enjoying playing in one of her cardboard boxes. RIP Scoots.  We still miss you.
Tommy (aka "the evil Smudge") The old campaigner has aged quite a lot, but he still tries to chat up the girls!
	Caption:  "Pleeease Mrs Allen, may DM come out to play?"

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