Family home for sixteen cats

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 244, 31 May 1988, Page 9

Family home for sixteen cats

By

James

Graham

Since Eunice Tumaturoa moved to Ohakune from Whakatane 12 years ago, her love of animals has seen her tribe of cats sweil from six to 16. "A lot of people look over the gate to try counting them," she says. Every afternoon about 4 o'clock, all 16 assemble for their nightly meal. She says she doesn't see some of them before then, but they always return for dinner. Mrs Tumaturoa's husband, Bob, a transmission technician with Telecom, doesn't share her passion for cats. "My husband hates cats but tolerates them," she says. "About four or five are usually wandering around the house at a time and, when they see him, they keep out of his way." Mrs Tumaturoa's interest in cats is not confined to her own. She regularly looks' after other people's pets while they are away because there are no kennels or catteries in Ohakune. The Tumaturoas have decided they want to continue living in Ohakune and are thinking of buying a place with more land. She says if they do

buy, she will be keen to start a place where people can leave their pets when going on holiday. "At the moment I haven't got the room and it would be too expensive," she says. Four children and a lawn full of animals are not cheap to feed, so she has taken two part-time jobs - one as a relief manager at the Youth Hostel and the other as a cleaner at a motel. "I have to go to work to feed the animals - it costs

about $70 a fortnight. But I also get a lot of meat from a friend's farm." Those who stop to stare over the gate will also see Bob - a 16-year-old dog that's blind, a goat, and a sheep. "The goat is called Whiskey, because when we first got him, we fed him on whiskey to keep him quiet," she says. "The sheep hasn't really got a name because he was supposed to get eaten."