I would like to introduce you to Big Vic, Jenny Mae and Brick. These are our cats that are missing, and as mentioned above, since the beginning of October 2025. Every day is a roller coaster filled with emotions, from one extreme to the other. But hope is always there, and with the support and kindness from others, really helps to keep that hope going. 

 

Big Vic

 

Big Vic is the kindest most gentle of souls you can ever come across. He is a very big male cat with long gangly legs, quite slight in build but very strong. He can literally scale the height of a large tree in about 4 leaps. He is a very skilled tree climber that's for sure.

 

Vic is my best mate, he would be with me all the time, my shadow. If I was ever unwell, he would be by my side with his paw in my hand. If I woke, so did he, as if to check I was okay. He is an empath, loved cuddles, and really cared for the other cats, he was like a surrogate dad to them all, especially Brick and Dave. 

 

He is fairly nervy of people he doesn't know, and quite possibly wouldn't approach other people. His survival skills are good, in that he can seek shelter well, hunt very well and live off his catches, seek water and all that stuff, so the saving grace is I know he could survival wild.  Although he does absolutely love to go to sleep covered with a blanket and snuggly tucked in.

Jenny Mae

 

Jenny is extremely feral, and likes nothing more than sitting high up in trees, hidden, looking down on the world, and as all cats do, passing judgement all the while. She is like a  little fierce fireball that doesn't like many people at all. She likes me, and tolerates Marc to a certain degree. She has extremely long fur and will let me brush her each day, but no one else.

 

As with Big Vic, she is good at survival techniques and can manage very well in the great outdoors, where she loves to be. 

 

It is very unlikely that Jenny Mae would ever approach another human,  but you never know, cats do strange things.

Brick

 

Brick is the most social, and would likely approach humans. He is a big male with long gangly legs just like Big Vic. He is very mischievous, likes to play, and likes blanket time.

 

Brick was hand reared by us from around 3 weeks old, when he was abandoned by his mother. Although, he is still extremely capable of surviving in the wild, and has excellent skills just like Big Vic and Jenny Mae.

 

Brick is an absolute gannet when it comes to food and scoffs his meal as if it the last he will ever get. He sure has a good appetite, and would pretty much eat anything.

 

So why Buddies?

 

Myself and my partner are big animal lovers. I've had pets all my life and some fairly unusual ones along the way. I have previously been involved in a lot of animal rescue, animal rehoming, and campaigns for animal welfare. As already mentioned, I am a retired mental health nurse with 25 years service. I have just completed studies of pet loss and bereavement also. With all these skills and experience I have acquired over a big part of my adult life, I feel gives me good grounding to offer some kind of support to others in such situations.  At no point do I claim to be an expert, and Buddies is in its infancy, but myself and my partner have experienced pet loss on many different levels, so with all honesty I can say:

 

"I understand" 

 

With our cats missing, and all the effort we put in to try and find them, the one thing that stood out to us, is all the support we've received. Not only from family and friends, but our local community (and to be honest, further afield too). We are contacted daily by really good folk, people ring or message just to check if we are okay, some have possible sightings, some have information that we then follow up, the response has been incredible. We follow up every lead and possible sighting. We spent many a night thinking how lucky we are to receive all this comfort and kindness, that it got me thinking about Buddies.  I am unable to offer practical support like I once could, and I don't have the space these days to take in countless rescues, my health is quite poor and this limits what I can do. But I can offer understanding and advice, and if I provide such support to only one person, then it is all worth it.

 

Where we previously lived, all 5 of our cats would always come to me when I shouted "Buddies", it was far easier than calling all their names one by one. I would call them when it was meal time, treat time, to do a general head count if we hadn't seen any of them for a time, and most importantly, they were called for their evening walk. We would all go for a stroll in the evening with all the cats in tow. They absolutely loved it. We previously had ferrets too, who also enjoyed the evening walk.  All the cats knew certain commands, such as wait and halt, which they always actioned when near, or crossing a road. They knew a few other commands too. Not one of them had a lead on, they were all free and like a pack of dogs. It really was quite a spectacle and the locals loved to see the cats all thriving, a real little clan, and with that, Buddies stuck.

 

 

Mags, January 2026