JAZZY, a six-year-old ginger cat, has denied starting the vicious fight which left his black-and-white neighbour Sparks needing three stitches.
Violence erupted in a Swindon back garden in the early hours of Saturday morning when local residents were alerted by low growling, some hissing and a heavy thud as Sparks fell off a fence.
Sparks was left with facial injuries, incurring a veterinary bill for £110 including injections. Meanwhile Jazzy, who has a history of confrontational behaviour, now faces the possibility of losing his testicles.
Jazzy said: “It was territorial self-defence. I emerged from the house at 3am to find an intruder jetting his spoor over my garden like a broken fire hydrant.
“I made myself look marginally bigger and approached very slowly at a slight sideways angle, in accordance with accepted protocol. Sparks then swiped with his left paw and I was forced to act.”
He added: “Ask yourselves, if you awoke in the middle of the night to find an intruder spraying warm urine over everything you hold dear, would you have behaved any differently?”
Sparks said: “The area Jazzy describes as ‘his’ garden is actually between our two properties and belongs to an elderly woman who has no cats.
“It is widely acknowledged as neutral territory and is used by the local cat community as a toilet and napping area.
“So I think Jazzy can kiss his balls goodbye.”
