Sacrifice and Absence

It is with great sadness, and not a tiny touch of worry, that I write this post. you see, I've made a decision, one which I'm not sure I'm very happy with.

It all started with a kitten, a foolish, silly little kitten that was brought home to live with my human's people. Given that my human owns his people, I thought that it was my responsibility to help raise the kitten in a sensible way, given that peoples don't have a hope of doing this right. But the problem is, I'm at a great distance, so none of my teachings can be practical. They're all written.

Over the last few weeks, I've been commenting on the Babycat's blog, trying to help him where I could. Some of you other manly mancats have been doing it too, helping where you can, although I'm not sure all are helping for the good! No, Whicky, I'm not thinking of you as I write that bit...

Anyway, pardon. I do have a habit of getting side-tracked. So, I was commenting, giving my wisdom freely, but it didn't work! Firstly, the baby's just a kitten, so forgets half of what I tell him, and has this insane childish idea that peoples are basically all right, and not stupid at all! He's been going through a rough time of it at the moment with his people, and is trying hard to train him in the propper way, but given that he's young, he's making no head-way at all.

As I've said before, I feel responsible for Babycat because my human decided to own his people. I'll be having words with her about that after this incident is over, I promise you. Owning a people only brings problems, as demonstrated by the situation I find myself in now!

Ahem, getting off the topic at hand again. I thought long and hard about the problem. I was having no effect on my own. Even the manly vibes from the manly mancats weren't doing any good. Could I? Should I? More to the point, dare I?

Well, I dare. I'm a decent cat even if I do say so myself, and seeing another in need, I can't help but do what I can. It's for this reason that I'm sending my human to Babycat, well, not to him directly, but to his people to train him. My human, in some ways, is pretty good. She knows to feed me fish, something which Babycat doesn't get. She knows that if I miaow, she's to find me, pick me up and cuddle me. Babycat's people leaves him alone even when he's crying. I don't care if the people had other things to do. Even my human, who is basically stupid, interrupts what she's doing whenever I sing to her.

This is just a few of the things Babycat's people is doing wrong, and I think I can help. So I've put my own needs aside and made a sacrifice. For just over three weeks, I will part from my human and send her halfway across the world to live with Babycat's people. I'm going to be candid with you for a moment. I've always said that I love the human, and I do. It's for that reason, and I don't care how needy this makes me look, that I'm going to miss her dreadfully. She cuddles so nicely. She's soft and warm and her voice is gentle and comforting. She makes a good place to lie at night and she does feed me wet food every day. What am I going to do without her for three weeks?

While she's gone, I get to live with hoover lady. Hoover lady is mad on cats, but we're not so mad on her. She's all right, I suppose, but she's not my human. She'll probably still feed me the wet stuff (the human said she'd tell her to) but it just won't be the same. She's going to sleep in the human's bed, but her smell is different and I don't want to cuddle her the same way I do the human. Why did I do this? Why did I say I'd send her to Babycat? Surely he can do without her and manage on his own?

I instructed her to call the flying plane companies, but she said, "Well Tia, you know I've been planning to go here for quite some time now, so the flights are already booked". Well, how did she know I'd send her! I say my human is stupid, but it's at times like this that i'm forced to re-evaluate. I mean, you gotta be pretty smart to know what I'm going to do before I do it, right?

Because she's away and Hoover Lady's no good on the computer, I won't be blogging very much. I'll update when I can, and I have a special event that i'm planning to launch on Tuesday, maybe, but it depends if I can sneak some time on the computer or not. My human may update the blog with information about what she's been doing. I've given my permission for this, so don't worry, she hasn't stolen my passwords!

Her suitcase came out today. I've been half-heartedly trying to play in it, but I keep remembering what someone else said in my comments. They said that when the suitcase comes, it means that the peoples who own it are going away. My human owns this one.

Oh, why did I do this? I have to remember that I'm a big cat and can do without my human. I don't need her. I'm going to have a good time without her by breaking every rule she ever thought she'd made. I'm not going to miss her at night. I'm not going to wonder if Babycat is cuddling her and she loves him now more than me. I, I... I think I'm going to go now. Remember this, Babycat. Remember what it costs me to send her. Don't make her yours. Please don't make her yours.

Finally Scafflaw!

I can see now why the human has been doing everything in her power to stop me posting this. It's not nice to let everyone else in on the fact that you break rules, is it, human? But you've done yourself no favours. Taking me to the vet was a low blow in the war against Scafflaw, so I'm going to town on you. For all the rest of you, head on over to Fin's blogto read all about Scafflaws.

Rule 1: Tia should have wet food at least as often as you do. Once a day is not enough.

She flouts this one on a daily basis, and with very little care for the damage it does me. I mean, how am I supposed to become soft and cuddly without all those extra helpings? What's that you say? My huge fur makes me soft and cuddly anyway? Rubbish. Just think of how much more I could be with some extra food.

The human eats wet food at least three times a day, and what's more, she doesn't share! The night before last she was eating fish. It was still warm from the oven, just the way I liked it, so I politely stepped onto her knee, with the front paws only of course given that this is the propper polite way to eat, and dropped my head to the plate. She pushed me away! Undeterred, I tryed again, but this time she actually tapped my nose. Oh, the indignity of it! How can she be such a hipoocrite? And yes, I'm putting hippo there on purpose, because that's what she'll turn into if she keeps on like that. Human, I'm the one who needs to be soft and cuddly, not you. Now, share!

Rule 2: Dogs were made for swatting. You shall not tell Tia off when she follows the rule to the letter like a good cat>

I don't even know where to start with this one. I was following the rule so well that she didn't even realise what I was up to. Now that's skill! But then, stupid Dogman had to go and tell her. The arm of the sofa is a prime position to smack Molly as she walks past, but Dogman saw me do it. Now that he's told her, she watches for it all the time. I was on her knee yesterday while hoover lady and the other people who likes Molly were over. Molly was doing her usual attention grab, but as she walked past, I'd had enough. After all, I wasn't getting the attention. I reached out and smacked her good. But horror of horrors, the human, in return, swatted me! It didn't hurt. She doesn't have it in her to hurt even a stupid dog never mind a perfect cat, but I was so surprised that I leapt straight off her knee. To be honest, I half jumpd, half fell, but leapt sounds so much better, doesn't it? I dropped into the abject "I'm pretending I know I've done something wrong" pose then. This one always gets me cuddles and reassurance and treats, but as stupid dogbreath was in a "uh-oh, I'm a bit scared and am not sure if I can walk there any more" position, she got all the fuss. This was a major, major rule break, and probably worthy of a post all of its own! I should do the swatting, not the human, and especially not when I don't deserve it!

Rule 3: Whenever I miaow, you stop what you're doing, come to me, pick me up and cuddle me. Even if I miaow to get your attention then run away, you chase me, pick me up, then cuddle me.

She's mostly pretty good at this, except for at night time. I sing beautifully, especially at night. I'm only practicing Dogman's song for me, but I'll tell you more about that in another post. Anyway, I always miaow when I'm coming up onto the bed. I expect at best to be picked up so that I don't have to go through the effort of jumping before I flop on the blankets, or at worst, for her to show her need for my company by calling me. In the daytime, as soon as I miaow she's there, but at night, she'd much rather sleep than talk to me. This is unacceptable. I mean, why should I have to jump to get on the bed? It's a bit much to expect.

Rule 4: I am the most beautiful and deserve all of the attention.

I don't care if there is a really cute human kitten in the house. I don't care if the dog rolls over to show you her tummy. I don't care if the TV is really good. I am the prettiest, and whenever I so much as move, no, whenever I breathe even, I deserve fusses and nice words and, most importantly, wet food! My human is good at cuddling, but she still doesn't meet the expectations of this rule. Nor does anybody, really. Sure, when they come into the house, they usually comment on how pretty I am, but they spoil it by doing the same to the dog, then cuddling her lots, and all because she can wag her tail and bounce at them and pant a lot. Well, if it takes sinking to that level to get attention, I'll pass, thank you very much. I'm far too sophisticated for that. And no, I do not lick my human because I like her. It's called social grooming! Headbutts are a greeting, not a demand for attention. And miaowing? I've told you already, I'm practicing my Dogman song.

Rule 5: You shall not ever, ever laugh at me, no matter what I do.

Oh, my human fails miserably on this. In fact, she breaks it multiple times in a day. She'll laugh at me when I'm chasing a ping pong ball. It's a serious business, as I'm sure Whicky would agree. That ball needs to be caught, and as it's constantly running away from me, I don't really see it as a laughing matter! I don't know what she finds funny about it. She says it's the way I sprint after it, then get all confused with trying to run and catch it and grab it and roll over with it and kick it all at the same time. I turn into a confused bundle of flying fur and legs that goes nowhere and achieves nothing apparently. Well, if you'll believe that, you'll believe anything. I'm just following procedure. Everything would run smoothly if the blasted ball would stop running away for just a second.

She laughed really hard at me the other night, too. Her and Dogman had put the TV on. I've said before that the human doesn't do this all that often, and usually when it's on, I'm cuddling her. however, I'd just finished catching a ping pong ball and ended up in front of the screen. I was still in hunting mode, and there, suddenly, was a bird! Well, I dived. The human wants to give you a word picture for this, so here's her paragraph.

Out of the blue, Tia launched herself at the screen, except that it wasn't the typical launch. Instead of diving, she stood on her two back legs, while the two front paws, claws out, made futile swiping and grabbing gestures at the innocent birdie. She appeared thoroughly confused when her claws only met smoothe glass, and dropped back to study the screen intently. Then she was off again, except that this time, she was almost bouncing on those back legs. She was trying to grab the bird between her front paws as she does with the balls, but she just kept slipping off the screen and bouncing back. As soon as I started to laugh, Dogman as she calls him told me she turned around, gave me a confused, then disgusted look, peeped back at the TV, then strolled with massive and obviously pretend nonchalance away from it as though she wasn't interested anyway.

Human, for the last time, you are not allowed to laugh at me! Never, ever!

In other news, hoover lady told the human that the kittens are doing well. They're actually seeking homes for them now because they've become so friendly. They took another mummycat to the vet yesterday to have the babies taken from her tummy and made so that she couldn't get pregnant any more, but when they went to let her out, she just stood by the door and cried and scratched to get back inside. Hoover lady was surprised, but let her back. As soon as she went in, she headed straight for the babies, pulled them all to her and lay down. She's feeding some of the youngest babies, but when they took her, hoover lady said she didn't have any kittens with her. She's wondering if some of the kittens in the shed belonged to that mummycat in the first place. Even if they didn't though, it's good they have a new mummycat to look after them and give them milk.

That's enough from me for today. I need to watch the human for signs of more rule breaking.

Tortureshell Tuesday

My human couldn't believe this when she saw it on an advert, and just had to post the text. There's commedy and seriousness in this.

We would like to find a good home for our lovely cats Autumn a torture shel girl and Winter a white boy. Unfortunatly we have to find a new home for them urgently. We have a baby girl of 9 weeks old and she is allergic to them. The cats will come with catlitter, scratchingpost, feeding bowls and the catfood we still have. The cats are from April 2009. The girl is Neutered. If you want any more information please contact us ASAP. If you can give them a good home the cats will be yours for free.

Poor Autumn! Torture shell? How could anyone say such a thing! It implies that she, um, might be a rule breaker or something, and we all know we cats don't break rules. I'm considering creating a new event for the CB called Tortureshell
Tuesday where we torties show just how far we'll go to cause mischief. I'm not going to say break the rules. We've already discussed how that is an impossibility. What do you all think? Seriously though, if you know anyone who can give these two a home, please let me know. They're in the Bradford area which is in Yorkshire.

Also on a very serious note, I came across this link yesterday. It made me sad and my human absolutely mad. We need to catch the woman who dumped the poor cat in a bin. She needs to be stopped! Please read, and what's more, pass the link on. The more people who see this, the more chance we have of catching her.
Woman Dumps Rescue Cat in Bin After Befriending Her

Anyway, on to other, hopefully brighter, things. I was going to post happy things yesterday, like Dogman's song for me (I have one now), or a post for Fin's scafflaw week,
but nope, the human had other ideas.

For a few weeks now, she's noticed me scratching. This is pretty normal. If you've got an itch, you gotta get it, right? But this weekend, she noticed that I'd given myself a tiny scab, and then another, and another. Again, not too uncommon. I like to keep my claws sharp, so this occasionally happens. She'd also wondered if I was alergic to the wool I'm wearing. Show cats don't wear collars because it flattens our fur all in the wrong places, but because the human's eyes don't work, she needs me to wear a stupid, stupid bell so that she can tell where I am. She put it on a piece of wool instead, figuring that it wouldn't flatten my coat as much, and, if the worst happened and I ate it (it has been known), I'd not get sick as I could digest it.

Anyway, she came home yesterday and saw that I had a couple of lumps under my chin. I'm sorry to say, cat friends, that my human is a bit high strung at times, and she freaked. She kept muttering about how mummycat had been sick and she hoped I wasn't coming down with the same, but how could I be because she'd kept us separate, but better to be safe than sorry even if it was unlikely. This went on for a while, all while she stuffed me into the stupid carrier, took me in a car and then to the vet! I complained bitterly all the way there in the car, but of course, none of them listened to me. I can't say I'm surprised.

When we got to the vet there were a couple of massive dogs there who decided it'd be a good idea to bark at each other, just for fun, you know? Have I mentioned that dogs are stupid too? Anyway, I decided at that point that my carrier needed defending. This meant that I had to hunker down, scrunch up as small as I could and bury my head in a corner. Classic en-guard pose, don't you think? I was shaking because of the coiled spring effect, the same one that would have me shooting to the attack if one of those hounds came close. I wasn't scared, not me.

Soon though, the vet called us. Now,I've told you that I like our vet man before, but he wasn't there. It was a lady people instead, and to be honest, I'm revising my opinion of vets rapidly. I didn't like her at all. She poked me, prodded me, put a cold thing on my chest for ages, looked at my scabs. What's worse, she even stole my fur! No joke! She snatched me away from the human, hussled me into the back room, and, by force, removed some of my gorgeous coat! The irony is that she didn't really need to. It's for general tests to make sure i'm not carrying any horrible infections or fungus, which I know I'm not. The vet even agreed that it wasn't likely given the appearance of the scabs, but then said the thing the human had, "better to be safe than sorry". Well, I'd rather be sorry, thank you very much. That was my fur, woman! She didn't even tell me I was beautiful!

She thinks that the scabs are a bacterial infection that I've given myself by scratching. She also thinks that I could be alergic to the wool. Well, duh. I started scratching when the human put it on. The human said it didn't explain why I have them on my chin too, but the vet told her that often allergies present like that around the face. Anyway, she gave me antibiotics to clear up the infection which she says isn't serious and won't be transmitted to anyone else (thank goodness!), and the human has taken that stupid wool off me. I'm back on a normal collar, which I suppose I'll have to put up with.

We've heard no more on kittens, either strays or the new one for the human, but when we do, I'll be sure to tell you. If it hadn't been for the human, I'd have posted my Scafflaw by now, but that, I suppose, will have to wait till tomorrow. Anyway, I still need your thoughts on Tortureshell Tuesday, so fire 'em at me!

Not Easy Like Sunday

I wish I could say I had an easy Sunday, but to be honest with you, I didn't.

It started in a pretty usual way. The human slept in late, and, being a devoted follower of all things which require little effort, or in this case none, I joined in. Dogman woke us up, or should I say, his stinky hound did, by beating her tail repeatedly on the wall of the bedroom, all because he'd rolled over. If she was allowed, Molly would jump on the bed whenever Dogman showed the first signs of getting up, and by this, I mean even the slightest change in breathing, but as she's forbidden, she contented herself instead with attempting to bang a hole in the wall with no more than a tail. This dragged the human out of bed, and not long after, Dogman appeared.

He's strange. When my human wakes up, she sounds sleepy, but she still talks propperly. Dogman kind of grunts first thing in the morning, for a good long time or until he's had his coffee. Incidentally, I still haven't gotten a taste of that. Nor have I been able to try the Paw trick, because he didn't set it on the floor again.

After such a rude awakening, I wanted to get some more shut-eye, but it wasn't to be. My human has things right in one area. She doesn't do the washing up first hting on a Sunday. Truth be told, she leaves it for as long as she can because the bubbly soapy stuff makes the skin on her hands go sore and cracked. Dogman, however, cleans everything in sight first thing in the morning, then flops for the rest of the day. He did this this morning with the dishes, and my human, getting the guilts for being idle, actually got up and helped. How am I supposed to sleep when my cuddle spot is mobile? More to the point, how's a girl supposed to sleep with all that noise going on!

If only he'd stuck to the usual Sunday routine of do as little as possible, but he didn't. He and the human went out, and when they came back, they had a box! Great, I thought. I love boxes, but the first attack I make on them is usually done when nobody's watching. I like to claim things in private. Truth be told, it's because of my exuberance. I'm supposed to be a well-bred lady, and that means showing enormous dignity at all times. When you're rolling around attacking imaginary things inside a box, you kind of lose that angle. Once I've done this once or twice though, it's out of my system. Then I just use the box as a cosy place to snuggle down in and peak at the world.

Dogman didn't leave this box alone long enough to let me do that, not even when it was empty! So much for me making friends with him this morning. I made a point of stationing myself right in the middle of the TV screen when he was trying to watch it earlier today. Why? Because he was sure to notice me there, and he must have, because he did give me ear rubbings and head scratches. That's about all he gave me though, and he certainly didn't donate that box!

Anyway, I digress. The thing that came out of the box was a human thing, so not all that interesting, until they plugged it in, however. A funny smell came from it then, and I got closer to investigate. It was hot too, and Dogman stopped me putting my face too near. See what I mean? He spoils all the fun. Then, out of nowhere, my human picked this thing up, and it began to hiss! A lot! I fled at that point. No way am I sticking around something which is big enough to have enough breath to spit for that long. After a time though, my curiosity got the better of me. I came slinking round the side of the sofa, ready to dart off at a moment's notice, but also ready to defend my human if necessary, but only if the thing wasn't too big you understand. There are limits! All I saw was the people thing! Very, very strange.

My human says this thing is a steam iron and that it hisses because very hot water is coming out of it under pressure. Again this just illustrates the point that they are stupid. First of all, if you have to be near water at all, it should be cool enough to drink or bathe in, not hot enough to hiss and come out as steam. Secondly, why in the name of holy cats would you go out and bring something back that does nothing but hiss and spit at you! In the sensible cat world, we call such things disfunctional and steer well clear. We definitely don't bring them back to the house! I think Whicky has the right of it sometimes when he calls his peoples apes. They really are abominably stupid at times. Nothing I said would make her get rid of this abomination though. I've decided that I'm going to boycott it. I'm not going near it, and any time she uses it I'm going to kick up a stinker of a fuss. I might even try turning myself inside out. Either that or I'll hide. This is to make the human feel guilty over thinking that it scares me, not because I'm really scared, you understand.

Now, onto the exciting news, or exciting for the human at least. Kittens. The owner of the mancat that I went to see last has just had a litter of kittens born. My human says that this people breeds cats with an incredible pedigree. Again, she's showing her stupidity here. We're all incredible regardless of pedigree. She mutters something about the show bench here, saying that this people's kittens are usually well placed, yada, yada, yada. I'm not talking about the human's sayings more today because she's just too silly to pay attention to. I'm not one of this people's kittens, and I still placed well in my first ever show. Just look me up on Cat Planet or the GCCF if you don't believe me. My show name is Catarosa Dolly Mixture, yet another piece of people idiocy.

Anyway, back to the news. This people doesn't usually sell girl kittens for breeding because she worries about the homes they'll go to. A lot of breeders keep so many cats that we never get to be truely pets, and live in a cattery instead, and this people doesn't want that for her babies. Good for her, I say, and my human, in a single second of sanity, actually agreed with me. To be fair, she's pretty immovable on this point. If cats aren't given the good life, she gets very, very upset.

After speaking with my human, but more importantly, seeing how loving and content and beautiful and cuddly I am, this people said that she'd be happy for my human to have one of the girl kittens to breed from and show with, but finding a cat of that quality is usually quite difficult. Because of her standards, only the best kittens from this people are even considered, and by best, I mean this idiotic notion of people that we have to look a certain way. I know, I know, it's pathetic, but there you are. There's only so much I can train her.

The people phoned the human a few days ago and told her that one of the cats had just become a mummycat, and she had three little girls. So now she's got her fingers crossed that one of them will be the right cat for us. It's not going to be an easy find. The people is selective about which ones she'll offer, and my human is even more selective about temprament. She wants another lovebug, as if I'm not enough! Honestly though, if we have to have another cat, I agree with her on this. Before Ming came alone, I'd have sworn I'd not want another stealing my human, but kittens aren't so bad really. A nice one is a bonus.

So, that's where we are at the moment. Kittens loom large on the horizon, the house has returned to normal, or something approaching it, and Dogman has left us. Sadly, so has his suitcase. Oh well, there's always a next time.

Suitcase Saturday

Cats, kittens, peoples and anyone else who matters, I've discovered something wonderful! Oh yes I have, and this thing is so good that you should all hear about it and, if you haven't got one already, ask your peoples to go and buy one for you to explore. It's called... A suitcase!

I discovered this quite by accident, actually. you remember me mentioning that the human's friend was coming again this weekend? Well, he brought a suitcase with him. It's a hard one and on wheels, so at first clance, doesn't look very interesting. But oh the fun to be had!

I didn't realise this at first, so, in my usual way, I showed it dignified curiosity, which involves having a look, then a sniff, then walking away and studying it intensely from a distance. New things should all be given this treatment. The human's friend, who I shall now call Dogman for reasons explained in a minute, took it into the bedroom where I don't get to sleep with the human when he's here, and I thought no more of it... Until today.

First of all I'll explain why he is to be called Dogman. It's because of Molly. Dogman absolutely loves her. He growls at her, rubs her, gets down on the floor and rolls about with her, even sings her songs! The current favourite is "Mollypop Mollypop, oh Molly Molly Molly Mollypop!" It's kinda catchy, but I'd never admit that to Dogman. He doesn't need any encouragement to sing more, unless it's songs about cats. He doesn't do that for me, so I don't bother with him either. you want attention, you gotta give it first, in my book. This morning, he laid on the floor with Molly, and both of them curled up together for a sleep, so he's now Dogman.

While he was moving around this morning though, he left the door of the bedroom open. I, being a super opportunist, took advantage and darted in as quick as I could. The Dogman likes his sleeping area to be cat hair free. He needn't worry. I only try and fur up things that need help, and judging by the amount of Molly hair on his clothes already, any of mine wouldn't make much of a difference for keeping him warm.

Anyway, I'm getting side-tracked. I slipped in, as quick as a wink, and there it was. I saw it. The suitcase. It was only open slightly, so I knew I'd have to wriggle. But what cat can refuse the challenge of a small hole with unknown adventure lurking behind it? Accordingly, I slunk closer, eyed the gap, then before you could say Catnip, I darted forward, engaged in a swift bout of hip shimmying that would make any topcat model proud, and I was in!

Oh, the delights that were in that case. First there was a mound of the soft fur substitutes that the peoples put over their skin to go out. This pile was made for burrowin'! And that's what I did. I rolled in them, batted them, even crawled through the middle! But there was more. On the other side, there were wires. I love wires. I usually leave the human's wires alone, or at least, the ones that are hanging from the computer, but these were different. you could actually grab these. What's more, you could hang on and roll, and the clothes made a great, soft place to lie while doing it! It was so dark in there too. you know as well as I do that cat's eyes are better in the dark, so that, added to the clunkings I was able to make off the hard shell as I thrashed just added to the atmosphere of fun, fun, fun!

It was when I was attacking the bag of toiletries that they caught me, or should I say, discovered. Caught is such a guilty word, isn't it? Hearing what she describes as the "unearthly rumpus" coming from the case, the human flipped back the top to explore. Of course, I just couldn't resist reaching up to bat her hand as it came towards me, and at my touch, all was revealed. All she could do was sit back on her heels and laugh. She's a good human not to interrupt a game of mine when I'm having fun. She did call Dogman though, and he wasn't as pleased at the mess I've made. The human solved this by picking me up for a tickle and a scratch, and I can't say I minded.

I did mind, however, when I went back for another turn with the great case and discovered that the door was once again closed! I've been checking periodically all day, and telling my human off whenever she walks near that door but doesn't open it for me. She hasn't listened, but I can't say i'm surprised, given her poor aptitude for language. I'll wait though, and once more I'll slide in when nobody expects it! Watch this space!

I know I said I had news involving a kitten, but I think I'll leave that for the next post. For now, suitcases are all I can think of!

Rest and Reprieve

I'm sorry that I didn't blog yesterday. I didn't really have much to tell you on the Molly front, and as that's what's dominated mine and the human's thoughts, we didn't feel like writing much else. We have news though.

The peoples from Guide Dogs called the human today. She still hasn't made up her mind because they can't guarantee that Molly will be retired. She might go on something called the Buddy scheme, which pairs dogs which aren't good enough to be guide dogs up with younger children to give them confidence in new environments. The team might also keep her themselves and use her to go and see people to help assess if they'll be good with a guide dog or not. The human's still not happy, but Molly was due to go in for some retraining anyway in a couple of weeks while she's away on holiday. What she's planned to do is let her go, find out what they have to say after the assessment, then make a decision when she comes back from holiday. She knows that it would probably be best to let Molly go, but she just can't face the thought of her being shipped out to a few more homes before she's finally allowed to retire. She needs to be strong and do what's right for us all. I tell her this, and I have faith she'll make the right decision in the end.

To answer a couple of comments placed, the human doesn't really have the room to leave a cage up that is big enough that I'm comfortable eating in. You're right though, Molly couldn't pull that apart. I guess this is something we can explore in a bigger house, but even if cat food wasn't a problem, the dog shouldn't be jumping and climbing to get food. When you are out all day with a working dog, you can imagine the problems this could pose at lunchtime in work, for example, or at other peoples' houses. I keep telling her that working cats are a much better idea, but she mutters something about strong-will and stubbornness. I ask you, what rubbish!

Other than that, life has been fairly normal. The human's friend arrived on Wednesday night, so I've been watching him closely just in case he's here to make off with some of the ping pong balls! I know he's a shifty character because he wouldn't even let me share his coffee! It smells so good, doesn't it? The human doesn't drink it, so I can only sniff it when other peoples are here. This one said I'd not like it if I tasted it, but I'll never know. He didn't give me a chance!

The human's sleeping in the living room again, which is great. I don't even have to walk far to find a bed. Last night they had gammon for dinner. The human says to tell you that if you don't know, it's like a big thick steak of bacon, kind of. Anyway, she didn't eat all of hers, so I got some! I'm not sure if I like it though. I did the same thing with the gammon that I did with the rabbit, but she's left me some down today while she's out at work. I haven't touched it yet, but I'm really thinking about it.

I was really sad to hear about so many of the other cats on the Blogosphere leaving us forever a few days ago. While I didn't know any of them, I and my human know how hard it is to lose someone you love, and we send huge snuggles to the families of those who have gone. We grieve with you.

My human has entered me in a contest to win a Kritter Kondo, and I must say, it looks fab! This would give me the chance to go outside a lot more, something I struggle with now because the only way the human can take me is on a leash. I am not a dog, nor will I ever be, so although she's trying to teach me to walk, when she puts that and the harness on me, I belly out to make her know my point. She'll either have to drag me or give up, as no way am I putting up with the indignity of wearing what a dog would! She usually gives up. With the Kondo though, she can let me out in that and not worry that her eyes can't see me as I move around. I'll let you know if I win.

I have also been reading about a cat rescue place called Tabby's Place, and boy are they nice peoples! They take cats from shelters where they would otherwise have been killed, and they let them live in the place they've built just for cats. There's no cages, and they all get to live with the company of others. What's better, even if no peoples come to adopt them, they can live there for the rest of their lives without fear of being killed cuz they've been there too long. Currently, I have my eye on one of the cats who lives in the human offices. She's not very well, and could really do with massive support. If you want to send her love, head on over to their blog.

Tabby's Place

My human is due home from work in a few hours, and I'm getting ready to welcome her back. Mummycat's still making noise, but I'm used to that now. I'm more happy because I know she's eating more, but I wish she'd be quiet and learn that no matter how much she screams about it, the human is mine first! When next I post, I'll share with you exciting news about a kitten!

Wordy Wednesday

Well, I don't know where to begin, or how, even, to thank you all for your support for my human and our household. Never in a million years did I dream I'd get that response when I asked for your thoughts to be with us. When the human read the comments this morning, her eyes got so, so leaky. Even her nose got stuffy she was leaking so hard. I was awfully worried for a little while, but I'm getting used to their runny eyes now. Maybe the human and peoples don't get sick the same way as cats do when their eyes run.

The peoples from Guide Dogs came today to look at Molly. They didn't really do a lot other than make the talk noise with the human. She told them all the bad things the dog was doing while I strutted around and looked pretty. This wasn't easy. Molly went into overdrive with the excitability and was bouncing about all over the place, but the peoples did comment that I looked very cute when I went to the middle of the floor, miaowed loudly (to get their attention, you understand), then rolled over on my back and tucked my paws right in. I know I'm cute, but it's nice of them to say so. They are stupider than the human, though. She knows cutiful. They don't.

They talked for a long time, and in the end, they left, but left Molly behind. The human has two days to think about things. Guide Dogs are strongly recommending that the human gives her up, and they're almost sure that Molly would be retired from service, but they're not 100%. My human's best friend will take her if she retires, so she told them her decision would be much easier if she knew that could happen. This way, she can still see Molly and know that she's happy. The peoples said they would go away and talk with a manager, whatever that is, and would phone her on Friday to tell her. So we're still in limbo, but we are a bit more settled because we still have Molly with us. The human has almost made up her mind that if they'll let her retire, she'll give her up, but if they're talking about retraining her and giving her to someone else, she will probably keep her and work very hard and bravely to overcome her fears. She's not looking forward to this, but really doesn't want the dog going somewhere that she doesn't know.

I'll try to answer some of the comments that were left yesterday, as there were some really good suggestions which, sadly, the human has already tried. She's put my food up high ages ago, but the dog has learned to climb to get it now, and yesterday morning, in fact, she did it while the human was in the room (she usually waits until she's alone to thieve). She doesn't have any health problems. Guide dogs are checked by the vet (I can say his name because he's a nice man who offered my human seeds to gro fresh catnip brought all the way from his garden in Spain! We both like him) every six months, but as Molly has a skin condition, she goes every month. They always do a full exam, and they know she has no injuries or joint problems. As far as the house settling, we've been here for months, and the other little cat, Anna, was here for almost a year. Molly is very used to us, and her behaviour didn't change in the slightest when we came. This aggression is a very, very new thing, and food stealing is very, very old. It's been going on since the human got her. Molly's issues are long-standing. Guide Dogs considered retiring her three years ago, the human says, but she asked them to give her a chance to work them through as she loved the dog. Silly of her really, to love something that isn't a cat, but Molly's all right, from a distance. She smells too doggy to get very close to.

Ming, dogs are much more than just belly rubs and paws. They stink, they shout really noisily, they lick a lot, and worst of all, they eat my food! I tolerate this one because the human likes her and she pretty much leaves me alone.

Mummycat was off her food kind of ever since the human brought her home. She's just never settled, but it was when she stopped eating unless someone was in there with her that the human worried. It was Ok until the amount she was eating was dropping too. Then it was time for mummycat to go to the vet man too, except that it was a lady for her. I don't know if I like her. I haven't decided yet.

We've tried putting the food in a box, but I don't like eating in there, and Molly just claws it to pieces when the human isn't around to stop her. I don't like it because I can't see anything except box when I'm eating, and that worries me enough that I don't eat as much. The human doesn't want me getting too thin, and it wasn't working anyway, so we stopped. She also tried putting it behind the sofa, but the dog just barged that out of the way, wriggled in and ate all of my food! I find it hard to think she's all right when she does this. After all, I don't eat her stinky dog food, do I?

The human says that currently, there are 20 peoples on the waiting list for guide dogs in our area alone. Ten of those are priority like she would be, meaning they need a dog, and they need it fast. Only problem is though, they have to find the right dog for each people, and that takes a while. Given that my human needs a very, very specific behavioural type, even the peoples today said it would take time to find one. If she got a dog when she should, without problems, given that they get a maximum of six dogs to train every three months, if they had full classes each time, my human would still, at best, end up waiting nine months. Realistically though, it's going to be longer. It took them two years to find Molly, and even she was only half suitable.

The human has used Feliway before and hasn't noticed that it makes any difference at all. She's been spraying in mummycat's room anyway, but there's been no change. The apetite stimulant does appear to be starting to work, mind you, so she's relieved about that. Her ears aren't sore from grooming. She scratched it too hard at one point, and the human thinks it might have bled. The vet checked them and said there's no infection and no ear mites, so just to leave it for a while and see if it settles. It appears to be doing that.

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to all of you. Even though the human had runny eyes, she said they were happy runny eyes because she saw how much peoples cared. All of the purrs have been so appreciated.

I've stayed very, very close to my human all day. She seems surprised about that, but I don't know why. I'm a responsible cat, and I care for her happiness. I could tell she was upset, so I haven't been far from her side all day. I'm a cuddler, yes, but I'll usually cuddle for a bit, then flop on the sofa beside her. not today though. I sat on her, lay on her, slept on her, even slept on the arm of the sofa rather than the cushion so that I could be right by her face. She says she's not used to having someone who's in tune with her emotions like that. No wonder, if she's only had the dog for all this time. Well, human, things are going to change, whether you want them to or not. Let's hope that the old saying stands true. "A change is as good as a rest". We all know how much cats love rest! Change must be great then. Come on, change. We're ready for you, even if it does mean we have to fight a bit to feel happy again. These paws were made for fightin'!

Once again, much love and purrs to you all. you made my human feel a bit better, and for that, I am in your debt.