Chula was a handsome seal point Siamese, with a jet black mask and tail, long chocolate legs and cornflower-blue eyes. He was a holy terror (like all Siamese), fiendishly intelligent and with a low toleration of toddlers (my brother), small children (me) and dogs. We took him with us to our summer holiday in a small cottage in the west Highlands, and he loved it there. He caught shrews. He chased a collie dog into the sea and
