When Figaro came to live with Samsara and her family, he immediately fell in love with their other cat called Boo, who was 4 years older.  Samsara said “He wanted to copy him, play fight with him and be around him all the time.  Boo didn’t like that much, but he tolerated him!”

Figaro quickly learnt the ropes and within a few weeks, he knocked a tin of cat food off the kitchen work tops and got Boo to open it as his teeth were bigger!  Samsara went onto to tell me.  “After house training Boo so well, Figgy had corrupted Boo and taught him although there are rules, it doesn’t mean you have to follow them.  He would beg for food when we were eating and if you told him no, he’d try and take it anyway!”  I know quite a few cats like that!  The clever kitty would catch magpies, pigeons and rats of comparable size to himself!

Samsara described Figaro as “full of life, love and joy”.

Figaro had been missing for 6 weeks when two lovely ladies took his small lifeless body out of the canal :’( They scanned him with a portable scanner for a microchip and then called Samsara’s family to let them know they had found Figaro.  Figgy’s family were absolutely devastated.  Samsara said “we put him in storage at the vets he was born at, which was quite poetic.  We took him to a pet crematorium to have a small service and then took his ashes back in a beautiful urn.  He’s now sitting in his favourite spot, the windowsill in the kitchen.”

Now I don’t know about you but there are definitely tears falling from my eyes :’(  So incredibly sad.

A little while after, Samsara emailed me explaining that her brother was finding it very hard and struggling losing Figaro and he desperately wanted a special keepsake to remember him.  Sadly it was not possible to take any cat paw prints from Figaro as he had passed away some time before he was found by the two kind ladies :’(  Samsara wondered if there was any way that I could create silver paw print jewellery with cat paw prints in snow.

She racked her brains to see if she could find any cat paw prints they had from Figaro and she remembered taking a photo of some paw prints that Figaro had left in the snow.  I looked at the photo and was able to take 2 cat paw prints from it and I explained that I could capture these precious paw prints in silver jewellery.  Samsara and her family were delighted I could do it and shortly after they ordered 2 large charms with Figaro’s paw prints on the front and a message hand inscribed on the back, you can see photos below.

Figaro’s cat paw prints in the snow

Having Figaro’s unique snow cat paw prints captured in sterling silver to hold and keep with them wherever they go means the world to Samsara’s brother and sister.  The stunning charms were created as surprise Christmas gifts.  I would have loved to have seen their faces when they opened the gift boxes on Christmas day, overwhelmed with a wave of emotion ?

Sterling silver charm with Figaro’s paw print

Inscription on back of silver charm

This is why we do what we do.  Giving pet owners the opportunity to keep that connection with their pet whether they are by their side, back at home while their owner is at work or sadly no longer with them.  The comfort pet owners get from wearing a stylish piece of silver jewellery showcasing their unique cat paw prints, that they can touch and hold whenever they need to feel close to their pet is quite literally life changing.