Introducing... Champion Catarosa Dolly Mixture

Friends, I must write and tell you all about what's been going on here since we last wrote. The human slacks terribly when it comes to writing, and to be honest, I've pretty much given up on the idea of ever having a regular update on this blog any more. She says that as she's day hunting for such a long time every day, it doesn't really give her much time to write. She's lost touch with all of the peoples she met through blogging too. She says this is cuz Computer keeps deleting email addresses, and it will only sometimes let her leave comments. If anybody wants to get in touch though, she'll answer an email. She might even be able to bully Computer into giving her some lost addresses this week, as she says she's "regressing the software to an earlier version which should help". I don't have a clue what she's talking about, friends, but regression sounds painful. I hope it is. I hate computer! Well, except when he's playing nicely and letting the human tippy-tap what I tell her to so's you can all read it.

Life continues as ever here, except that the human is trying to introduce new kinds of stinky goodness into the diet. Millie's tummy turns ever so un-yummy whenever the human does this, and it makes her trips to the litter tray a bit of an event in our house. The human is to be seen lurking right outside the entrance to scoop her and clean her whenever she's done. My kitten hasn't managed the art of remaining clean even with a runny bum yet. Mind you, one of the flavours upset my yummy tummy too, and that takes some doing! Needless to say, that food has been removed for now. The horrible human hasn't given up on it altogether though. She has ideas of sneaking bits in with our normal stinky goodness in the hopes that our tummies won't rebell if we get it in small portions. She won't fool us though!

Luckily, the kitten got herself better in time for Saturday, as we had a big show to go to! Millie was in a very fancy pen which the human said was called an exhibition pen. I got to go in there for a while too, but was swiftly removed whenever I politely pushed Millie out of the way to eat her foods, then ever so politely tapped her with my paw until she jumped out of her bed so that I could steal, I mean lie in it. The human would have it said that I barged her out of the way to get to the food bowl and that I used smackypaw of doom with claws out to get her out of her bed, but really, you can't be expected to believe such poor lies. I mean, me? Be rude? You know this isn't possible!

I was soon taken to my own pen which was drab in comparison to the kitten's. Mine didn't have nice, fancy curtains or a padded mat. It was the same colour as everyone else's, and it didn't have a nice, frilly bed to lie in! It was barren! I was left to sit in the middle of a stinking cage, to rest my poor bones on nothing more than a warm, padded, fluffy fleece blanket, to drink nothing but water from a bowl and to have nothing to eat except a pile of dry foods. The privation was terrible! I almost didn't survive!

There was one good thing though. My prison was one of a row of prison cells with peoples jeering and taunting us with horrid phrases like, "hello, puddin. Want a cuddle?" and, "I'm gonna come back and take you out in a minute for some lovins and brushing. You enjoy that, don't you!" and, "Oh, what a pretty ladycat you are!" My prisonmates were similarly stoic when it came to the peoples taunting. We all sat in silence. Ok, so I rolled around and showed my yummy tummy, and I even slept upside down for a while, and I might have even said miaow a couple of times, but while I was making my feelings of outrage clear, I couldn't help but notice that either side of me were boys, very handsome boys who weren't like the usual braggarts. They didn't say anything rude or sallacious to me. They didn't make innuendos, and they didn't ask me if I was free this evening. One settled down to sleep, and the other one was making love eyes and head rubbies on the bars where my human was standing. They were so nice that I didn't even feel the need to hiss! In fact, I found eau de mancat very, very interesting. My human, trator that she is, went and cuddled the boy next door for a while in the afternoon, but he was so nice that I didn't even mind his stink on her. She says that he owned a friend of hers, and she'd been asked to feed him and love on him while his slave was helping the peoples in white coats that take us out and say how pretty we are. I only wish I'd been instructed to love on him a bit too!...

Anyway, my human disappeared after that as she usually does, and took all the other peoples with her. When everywhere was quiet, the peoples in white coats came to have a cuddle of us all. They cuddle strangely. They love on us by feeling our heads, checking our teeths, looking in our eyes, touching all over us, but then they finish with a normal cuddle session.

I had quite a few peoples to come and look at me. The first one said that I was absolutely scrummy. I won't go into detail about what she said, as a modest ladycat would never boast, but she said some words that I know would make the human very pleased. Some other peoples came and cuddled me, but I didn't like them as they gave me no prizes. the last people in the white coat was an old ladypeople who really knows how to cuddle good! She liked me too.

In the meantime, the human had come back and gone to see the kitten who was having a whale of a time! She had absolutely wrecked the pen. Just as she was leaving, she said that she saw the kitten stand on the edge of her bed which is raised up, then take a big jump into the middle of the pile of cushions, grab one and start rolling around with it. When she came back though, she discovered that Millie had gone swimming in her water, kicked the bowl over, flipped her bed, spread the cushions around, and then had dug her way under the mat with her straw so that she could kill it in peace. She wasn't frightened, as she came straight out whenever the human came back. She got taken out for lots and lots of cuddles which she absolutely loved! She met lots of nice peoples who said what a lovely, purry girlcat she was. Well, of course she's lovely. She's my babycat! Some of the peoples even came to see me and give me lotsa cuddles, and I didn't even grump at them! I only grumbled when they wanted to put me back in my pen, but I'll admit secretly to you, dear friends, that I only grumbled cuz I was enjoying the cuddles so much and cuz being out gave me the opportunity to stare in at the handsome mancats!

My human got really, really pleased when she first came back to see me. "Tia," she said as she slobbered kisses all over me (Ok, I purred, but I'll never admit it to anyone else), "You've got a CC! Do you know what that means, Puddin?" "Miaow," I said, and she agreed, "Yes, that's right. That means that you're now a GCCF champion! Isn't that fab?"

Well, of course it's fab! I started showing back in the summer of 2010, and although I did nothing regular up until a few months ago, it's taken me 2 years from start to finish to get that title. I went through nine shows to gather all the certificates I needed, and me and the human are just so thrilled that we're finally here!

I told her in no uncertain terms that she should buy me something real, real nice to celebrate, and do you know what she said? She picked me up, gave me a squidge and said, "too slow, girlie. I already have bought you and that monkey of a kitten the most wonderful thing! Just wait till you see!"

The full extent of what she had done didn't become apparent until we arrived home later that evening. After a lot of clattering, a bit of swearing (on Dogman's part only, as a good ladypeople would never swear...) and some grunting as they moved things around, my palace was ready! She had bought me the most wonderful new scratching post! We'll put photos up when we have them, but basically it's a gorgeous pinky granite base, lovely big, thick poles, a soft platform bed that sinks in the middle so that you're real, real cosy in it, a hanging hammock underneath, and a gorgeous full wicker basket on the very top post. She complained that it cost her a small fortune, but I told her that I didn't mind that, and that I was worth it anyway.

After the show, myself and the human had a long talk. We've decided that for now, I'll be retired from showing to have some yummy babies. She's found a gorgeous mancat for me to go and spend time with, and anyway, now that spring is here, I'm feeling the urge to make more. Meanwhile, my babycat will take up the mantle of showcat extraordinaire. I give it to her gladly!

I had some photos taken of me on the day, but I don't know how they'll turn out. They put me in the photo booth right after a big, stinky mancat had been in there. He was rude. He left his calling card so that I'd know he'd been there and was willing to help me in the making babies game, but I wasn't interested! I had to hiss and spit at the flashy box a few times just to get my message across. The human says she'll post photos when we get them anyway.

For now, I'll just be happy with my new title of Champion Catarosa Dolly Mixture. Doesn't that sound grand! All the grander when you've worked out that, being such a highly titled cat, you're entitled to extra perks such as more stinky goodness, more frequent tuna sessions, and extra sleepy time in the bestest scratchy post ever!

Abandonment, Salvation... and a toy!

Hi there, friends. I'll steal this opportunity to write to you all while the house is nice and peaceful. How can it be with a kitten in it, I hear you ask. Well, she's asleep after tiring herself out by running after our new toy, but more on that in a minute.

It feels like ages since we last talked, but I tend to let the kitten do her thing on here as she has so much to say and share with you all. She's so enthusiastic about the new things she's learning and all the places she's exploring that I think it's nice for her to be able to share. I tend to grab the quieter moments when I can write to you all because that suits me a whole lot better.

The human abandoned us last week, cruelly left us to fend for ourselves in the terrible elements. It got down to -18 degrees C over here, and she just didn't care! There's no point sending the RSPCA to our rescue, friends, cuz she'll just mutter something about "but they were indoors and the heating was on", and of course, because the RSPCA have only the brains of peoples which aren't great at the best of times, they'll believe her that we were at least warm. But friends, -18! That was horrendous! And trying to find your own foods in that weather is awful. Even the mousies hide! Again, don't send the RSPCA. She'd tell them that Dogman was here and fed us all the time, but there wasn't the variety, friends. my human rotates our foods for different flavours, and sometimes she mashes it and sometimes she leaves it in chunks. Sometimes she adds water, sometimes a crumbled treat on the top. Dogman? He just opened a packet, tipped it into a bowl and set it down. Why did I ever like him?

The human had the decency to come back just as we were both at death's door. The kitten was so distressed that she ran up to greet her straight away, meowing and purring and climbing on her in an obvious attempt to communicate to the dim thing, "Thank cod you're home. It was awful here without you, and look at how skinny I am! Ignore the tummy, please. It's bloated because I, um, didn't eat anything just a few minutes ago." I, on the other hand, was just too weak to move. I stayed in my near dead state cuddled into the only thick, fluffy blanket I could find, eyes closed, on my back, paws over my head (everybody knows you go belly up when you're about to die), and death rattling. My human says this was a snore, but everybody knows ladycats don't snore, and anyway, why would I be snoring when I was nearly dead? I roused myself as soon as I heard the rattle of the foods bowl, but that was instinct, pure self preservation. The rubbing round her feet and the miaowing wasn't my doing. it was my basic brain kicking in to tell me this was the best way of getting foods. The purring was just the icing on the cake, as was the human cuddling that followed shortly afterward.

I had recovered sufficiently by Saturday to consider attending a cat show, just to shmooze with my adoring public. I'm glad I did! As usual, I pretended to be a grump first thing in the morning (well, can't make it too easy, can I?) but this soon settled when I realised that I wasn't penned next to any stinky boys. Well, I did have one next to me, but he was a sweety really, and wasn't interested in doing anything that a ladycat doesn't talk about with me. Anyway, he was a brown tabby and white, and I know I can't do the unmentionable with a bicolour anyway, as my babies wouldn't be registerable. So I didn't get in a strop with him like I did with the very handsome colourpoint mancat at the last show. By the time the afternoon came, I was giving head bumpies to some of the peoples that came to cuddle me. One ladypeople held me so long that I even gave her a kiss, but only one, and only cuz she was so nice and she gave me kissies and said to my human and me over and over again what a pretty girlie I was and how she loved me. Of course, she said the same about the kitten, but that's understandable. She is my kitten, after all.

My human was all over the place, talking to peoples, putting on those funny white clothes which mean she'll be helping one of the judges with cats (stewarding, she calls it), cuddling other cats. I did permit this as it reminds her just how yummy I am. She did fall in love with a curly Selkirk Rex though, and said that one day we might have one of those too as they're so scrummy, but I just sighed and said nothing. She goes through these phases every now and again, and we always come out the other side minus the new cat, so I'm not too worried.

Soon the results came in, and I've never seen my human so happy in a long time. The kitten had got first prize in her open class, the most important one, and had even managed to take Best of Breed! Not only that, but she then went on to win another class which had a cash prize! I, on the other hand, scored big. I got my second challenge certificate and came first in my open. This means that I need only one more CC and I can then call myself a GCCF champion. How grand is that! I got third in a side class which I was also pleased about. In celebration, I instructed the human to go and spend Millie's winnings on a new toy for us. I thought that the kitten was too young to be expected to spend her moneys wisely as she was muttering something about giving it to the human so that we'd all have won something on the day, so I felt it better to take charge before that crazy notion got too far. My kitten's too nice, sometimes.

So off the human went, and came back with a toy called Under Cover Mouse from Panic Mouse. We got to play with it when we got home, and it's so exciting that I even overcame my initial nervousness that I have of all things new, and played with it without the human having to show me that it was all right and wasn't going to bite me. It's a circular bit of material which covers an electronic pretend mousie who zips around underneath it with only his tail poking out the edge. You gotta catch it under the cover and pin it, but whenever you do, he changes direction and runs away again. He's impossible to kill propperly! No matter what you do to him, he stays alive! For any cat who attacks feets and things under covers, this is such a good toy! Get 'em quick though, cuz they aren't making them for too much longer.

I finished up my day by yelling in the horrible PTU all the way home (well, it's the principle of the thing), then curling up for a good wash and a nap. I'm very pleased with myself and my kitten. We had a super day!

Well, until next time, friends. If you can't be good, be very, very bad... It's much more fun anyway.

Long overdue update!

Hi there, friends. Wow, it's been a long time since I've seen any of you! As usual, it's the human's fault, although I have to confess that I'm not giving her a hard time about this absence as over the last few weeks we and she have been through a lot. Don't tell her, but i actually feel quite sorry for her. I'm sorry we've been away for so long, and I'm sorry if any of you have been worried. I swear that I'm going to learn to type one of these days! As usual, there's an update from her point of view over on The Moonspun Blog
so rather than going into it here again, I'll let you go there to read about the day to day practical boring bits.






Millie: Mum, mum, mum, mummummummum!!! I gotta talk too! Muuuuuummy, will you share with me so's I can tell my friends all about the cool stuff I did? Please? Muuuuuum!





Tia: Cod, but kids are annoying! Just when you think you have a moment of peace and quiet for a good miaow and catch up, they come and hassle you to get in on the action! Ok, for the sake of my sanity, I'll share a post with her. Sorry, friends!





Millie: Hihihihihihi friends! It's me! Did you all miss me? Cuz I missed you lots and lots and lots! Oh I've done so many new things since I said "weeeeow! Weeooow!" to you last time. I'm learning new noises now!





Tia: She is indeed, and me and the human have even caught her practicing them to herself when she thinks nobody's listening. I praise her for her commitment to her elocution, but the human laughs behind her hand.





Millie: Muuuuuum, stop talking cuz it's my turn! Anyway, I can now say "Eo, eo, eo!" I make it short and sharp when I'm asking for something from the human somebody. I do it at food time, and she laughs and says I kinda sound a tiny bit like a dogkitten who wants some milk. I thought about giving her the smackypaw for that, but I still love her too much. I say "wow, wow, wow!" now too to make the bed thing sick the human somebody up in the mornings, and it always works! I have even learned to say "rrrrrrrrreow purpurpurpur rrrrrrrrrreow!" She calls this a chirp. This gets the human somebody's face all smiley and she always gives me yummy food or a tummy tickle or some lovins when I say that, so i prac, prac, try to learn it real hard.





Oh, I gotted real brave the other day too. The human had been eated by the bed thing again, but I gotted to thinking. Perhaps the bed thing wasn't nasty, cuz it always sicked her up again and there was never any of her missing. I decided to go and explore, so when I saw a space between her skin and the thing she calls a blanket, I took a deep breath, said a farewell weeeeow to mummycat and my stinky brother Paws, then dived under it. What I found was a very warm, cosy place with a lot of human smelling thing in it. The thing was warm too, so after I'd explored a bit, I cuddled up against it. Then, get this! The human's big paw hand came down and tickled me! Inside the bed thing's tummmy! Well, I was so shocked that I didn't wait for the bed thing to sick me up again. I runned really fast outta there and climbed on the human's head and then stopped and looked around. The blanket was shaking. There was a strange hahahahaha noise coming from the human. I wondered if she was sick, but she wasn't. I don't know what that was, but mummycat said I should have given her smackypaw for it. Why? I gotted brave a couple more times since then, and I actually went to sleep in the bed thing's tummy cuddled against the human this morning. Aren't I brave?





Tia: Yes you are, but you're also post hogging! Friends, our cat show went quite well. Paws came second in his class, and I came first in mine. Millie came...





Millie: Muuuuuum! That's my story! I went to this big place where there were lots and lots and lots of people somebodies and lots and lots and lots of other kittens and big mummycats and big daddycats and some big cats that weren't mummycats or daddycats. And I gotted to go into a thing called a pen all day, but I kinda liked it cuz the floor was all soft and snuggly with a blanket on it, and there was good food in the pen, and in the afternoon I even got a ping pong ball and a ribbon to play with! And the human brushed me and my stinky brother Paws until we were all fluffy and beautiful, well, more beautiful than I am all the time, and then she went away and left us. And I was a little bit ascared when she went away, and so was my stinky brother Paws, so we both putted our paws through the bars and he said "roooooow! roooooow!" and I said "weeeeeeeeeow!" until a people somebody came and took us both out for a cuddle. And then there were lots of different people somebodies who cuddled me and looked at my teeths and my eyes and my tummy and everywhere! And I talked to them all, and my stinky brother Paws even said purpurpur!





And then my human came back, and she brought lots and lots of somebodies with her. I've never seen so many! She was pleased when one of the somebodies hung a ribbon on my pen. She said it meant I'd won. I was just pleased cuz it was something else to play with. And all the somebodies stopped and made nice talk noise at me through the bars, and if they didn't stop, I said "weeeeow!" until they did, or grabbed them with my paws until they told me how pretty I was! And Paws was really naughty, cuz he kept putting the smackypaw on the bumbum of the people somebody next to us who had a kitten in the pen beside Paws. The human and the people somebody laughed, and the people somebody even snuggled my stinky brother Paws and told him he was a naughty boy, that she loved him and that she hoped he wasn't trying to tell her that her bumbum was fat! I was annoyed though. It's not fair, cuz when I bite Paws' bumbum, mummycat and the human get real mad, but he can smack people somebodies on the bumbum and nothing happens sept he gets snuggles! It's not fair! I won't beat him up for it though, cuz he's got a new home to go to now, and he goes on the 12th of November. And I don't know if I'll miss him when he leaves. He's stinky and I like to beat him up, but he's my brother and when he goes I'll have nobody to play with. Do any of you want to come play instead? Maybe Truffle and her new sister would like to come live with me instead? We could have great fun!





Tia: You might have a new playmate of your own soon, Millie. The human has continued to make kitten enquiries from breeders who will actually let her have a kitten despite the fact that she refuses to get involved in the politics in the cat world (long, long story there), and so something may come of that in the next few months. Besides, I'm feeling certain urges again... I've been thinking a lot about mancats yesterday and today. There's a handsome black tom who now regularly comes to our garden... I know he has no breeding behind him, but still, the way I'm feeling at the moment, I wouldn't much care. I've been really shouting for him all morning, but he hasn't heard me, and the human won't let me go out and find him. She's cuddling me lots though, and scratching at the base of my tail which takes my mind off things for a few minutes. She says she wants to hold off for as long as possible before I have more babies. She wants to give me time to recover from the C section, but ironically, she says she's never seen me in such a strong mood for company since perhaps a year and a half. Now that I know what I'm missing though, I want it all the more! Those pesky kids won't leave me alone to go hunting for love, mind you. I've had to really discipline Paws twice already today, with yowling and smacking at the same time. I don't care if he wants a snuggle. I don't! Thankfully, the human's stepped in and taken him away from me each time, reminding me that he's just had surgery and that I should leave him be for a few days. Maybe he'll learn not to bother me for snuggles then!





I know I'll miss him when he goes. I do love him a lot, and we cuddle together most days when I'm not hunting for a mate. The human hopes he'll go while I'm calling cuz she and I both think I'd notice it less if it happened then. We'll just have to wait and see though.





The decorations for our pens at the Supreme cat show are going well, and should be finished this week! We also have a very interesting competition coming up in the near future. It's food orientated, so if you like your yumyums, then watch this space!





Just to answer some of the comments, I did indeed have fun at the show, but I didn't do much screaming at peoples to come love on me. I left that glory for my babies, and boy did they do well! Tina, we don't have Petco in the UK sadly. Random Felines, Porker is doing very well in his new home now! He is now called Bianco, and they love him lots! Carmine and Milita, we don't have Greenies either! We're deprived in the UK! Truffle, how exciting for you! My human says she thinks she's convinced Bug to bring some over when he comes at Christmas... Or at least, she'll convince him when she asks him. Ahem, Bug, if you're reading this, I love you, and you owe me a Christmas present! Please make it Party Mix! Thank you all for caring enough to keep stopping by! Again, I won't go into details, but those comments spaced as they were over the last few weeks, have given my human smiles on days where she thought she'd have no reason to do so. Thank you!

Thirsty Thursday

Well, friends, all that exercise does leave a body quite thirsty! The human doesn't call it exercise though. She really laughs when she puts an s in front of that word, cuz she says that's what I was doing. She even calls it my dirty weekend. Honestly! There's nothing dirty about, about, well, about the things that I was doing that a good ladycat doesn't talk about!




As you might have gathered, I'm home! The human came and got me very late Monday night so I couldn't write then, and yesterday Blogger wouldn't let her upload posts for some reason, so I'm sorry you've had to wait. Oh, I've missed you all so, so much! And I see my human has been causing mischief on here while I've been away. I've lost a commenter through it and everything. I've scolded her soundly, but she's asked me to reitterate to all involved that she really wasn't seeking to offend anyone or belittle their concern for rescue cats. She apologises all over again if it came across like she was doing that. I gave her a thwap just in case she did, whether she meant to or not! I also thwapped her for another reason, but I'll come to that in a minute. Let me tell you all about what happened.





It started innocently enough, well, innocent if you discount my mischief making. Do you remember us mentioning how disinterested I'd been in mancats this year? Except all of you out there, of course. Well, the human was watching and watching for the signs, so I thought I'd have a little fun with her. I started holding my tail a wee bit to one side. I gave her elevator bum when she stroked me. I even talked more to her and rolled around. I'd fooled her, and the very next day, she put me in the stinky PTU and took me to the house of a mancat. Except that it wasn't just one mancat! My friend lived with two other boys. They each had their own little house inside a bigger one. The human says that it was a big house divided into separate cat runs, all done so that everyone could see and talk to each other for company but not fight, but I say that my mancat owned his own house. It sounds better that way, doesn't it?





At the time, I didn't regard this upstart as my mancat, but just another idiot who wasn't going to milk and tuna me before he had his way! Every time he came close I spat at him and chased him off. I even thwapped him! The human left me there for two days, but I wasn't having any of it, and now that I'd had my fun with her, I wasn't holding my tail to one side or sticking my bum up either. She came to get me.





Now, as many of you will know, mancats who still have their manbits are very, very stinky. They spray a lot so that we ladycats can smell where they are and know they're interested in us. There were three boys in that house, and although they each had their own houses, I could still smell their stink. When I was at the show the week before, I was penned between two mancats who also made a stink for me. All that smell got me to thinking. I could have my pick of five boys, even though the one the human had chosen for me was the nicest. Five were interested in me. Wouldn't it be fun to make the other two that lived with my mancat jealous? If I was interested in him, wouldn't it make the other two work harder to get me, only to be disappointed? That's the way it should be, of course. Cat fans are just as important as judge fans! So, I set to work. I had a good bath (of my own design, not the human's). I made sure that I was extra floofy. Then I waited until Thursday night when the human was already super tired and needed a sleep before I showed my interest. I did this by making my own wee stink. I'm not as ill mannered as a mancat, so I only did this in my box. This had little effect on the sleeping human other than to make her mutter something about cystitis and a trip to the vet peoples. That was the last thing I wanted, so I upped my game. About once every second, I jumped on the bed, woke the human by shouting at her, then walked right across her and jumped down again. I was expecting her to jump up straight away and get me back to that mancat who I wanted badly now, but she slept on! It was only the next morning that she realised I was all the way interested, and even then, she didn't do the honourable thing and get me back up there.





The human says that you should always wait until the second or third day of a ladycat's interest, cuz that's when it's at its peak and she's most likely to let a strange male do the business. She made me wait, but I was so frantic that she didn't get hardly a wink of slepe Friday night. I even kept Dogman awake, and he was in another room with the door closed! It paid off though. First thing Saturday morning, I was put back in the PTU and taken to see my mancat. I was so desperate to get there that I didn't even sing on the way, except to call for him, of course.





But friends, when I got back, I had to put on a show. No self respecting ladycat would go willingly to a mancat, as he'd think he'd caught her too easily. In order to be appreciated, you must make them chase you and work hard, hard, hard to get you. It keeps their interest. So when he started to talk to me and be nice, when he came for a sniff and to make friends, I spat full in his face, then went right past him into his house, ate his food and did my own smelly spray right over his in his box. I was telling him that I was boss, and he'd better remember! The people that he owns said that he's very quick to get girls, and that he was already pacing behind me just waiting for his chance. When I heard this, I turned round quicker than you can say catnip and thwapped him good!





Even after the human left I continued this behaviour. It was worrying his people, and she said she didn't think i'd ever manage to be caught, but I knew better. Later that evening, when he was practically begging me to make friends and the other two boys were drooling with jealousy, I went in the box just to make it mine again, and when I came out, I allowed him to catch me. I put up a fight just to keep up the facade. I pretended I didn't see him sneaking up behind me, and when he got me, I struggled. He's much bigger than me though, so even if I hadn't wanted to be caught, I'd have had a hard time getting away. I'd positioned myself so that the other boys could watch and go green with envy that their friend had got such a catch, and then I let him get on with it.





Well, all that posturing worked, let me tell you. To say he appreciated me would be a grosse understatement. I also don't mind admitting that I appreciated him too. I did so several times over the next few days, actually, so many that I lost count. At one point we were just doing it for the fun of it. The people that he owns told the human she didn't think we were doing it for real cuz I didn't scream or roll, two classic signs that mating has been successful, but I just lay there and enjoyed it for a full ten minutes while they talked on the phone. i'm not telling whether it was for real or not, but when we were done, we both washed up as though it were. The human's friends say that some of their cats never screamed either, so who knows! I just didn't want to waste energy on screaming that time. What's the point when I could save it for some more appreciation? I did scream quite a few times when he was finished, partly to make sure the human knew that there were successful matings, but mostly because that pig of a mancat was leaving me after he'd had his jollies when I wasn't ready for it to be done yet! On the bright side though, he didn't stay away for too long.





When the human came to get me, she said I'd lost weight, and the other people told her that was normal after all the exercise I'd been getting. I stuffed my face when I got home, but not before I thwapped that human. When she came to get me, I wasn't quite done with my fun. She'd asked the people to separate us earlier that morning. She says that if you allow cats to mate for more than two days, it makes prediction of the date of kittening very difficult and this could lead to dangers for me if babies are left inside for too long, or if they're removed too early due to mis-calculation. She didn't come for me until that evening, so all that day I could see my mancat, but couldn't get to him. I called and called. He called and called, but that heartless people wouldn't let us together. When the human came, she took my mancat out for a cuddle and to say thank you. She put him down on his bed, and I sprang at the chance. That was a bit I could get to, so I jumped up beside him. This was to see him and make a fuss of the human, who I actuallly kinda missed. He showed her just how much he loved me. he was washing my face and everything while the human cuddled us both. The people says I was one of his favourite girls. He usually gets bored and won't do any more exercise after two days exactly, but not so with me! In fact, the human says if she hadn't been quick, we'd have mated again while she was there!





So when she put me in that horrid PTU, when she took me out of his house and put me in the car, I was less than pleased. I huffed the whole way home with her. I wouldn't speak to her. I didn't even sleep with her that night. I thwapped her to tell her that I wanted my mancat back, but she wasn't having any of it.





But friends, romance is short lived. The next morning, I crawled up in her lap for a cuddle. Mancats might be for weekends, but humans are a lifelong responsibility, and I made sure to tell her that I forgave her. I've been snuggling her ever since, oh, and washing the mancat wee smell off me. Even though he didn't wee on me, just being in his home made my furr all stink! The human encourages this. She says she'll give me a bath, but not yet. Not for a few days until I'm totally comfortable at home again. She says she might not even do it if I wash up good, cuz she doesn't want to stress me at all while I might be carrying babies in my tummy.





To answer a question, I don't know yet, Clowder. It will take three weeks from the first day of mating before I show any signs, and even then, the human may not be able to tell, which will necessitate a trip to the vet. My nipples will get larger and turn a very rosey pink colour, and the hair around them will thin out a bit. The human says the waiting is killing her. I'm not bothered though. We cats know the merrits of living each day for itself, do we not? And on the bright side, if there aren't any babies there, I can go back and see my lovely mancat again!





I will keep you updated on any progress made, have no fear!





To end, I would like to extend my well wishes to Paula, and my sorrow at losing a dear friend, Sweet Praline
She was one of the sweetest friends on the CB. If you haven't already done so, please stop by and let her know how much she was loved. Me and the human know she will be happier now, in no more pain, but it doesn't make dicisions here on earth any easier. We both send Paula as much strength and love as we can muster... And that's a lot! Sweet Praline was a true tortie right to the end, spitting at the vet people as he helped her pass peacefully with the needle. What a show of tortitude! I am proud to share colours with her!





Until next time, friends. Remind your peoples where that tuna is!

Further Update: Contraversy?

Friends, it's the human here again. I'm sorry it's been a while since I last wrote, but to be honest, I'd been putting it off as I didn't quite know how to respond to some of the comments left on the blog in a way that would get my point across without offending readers or making me seem too defensive. I wish to do neither. After Clowder succinctly summed up some of my thoughts this morning, I figured it was time to get back into writing again, regardless of whether or not I could handle the responses. Avoiding something doesn't make it go away, after all.




I won't say much to answer the comments left, as I feel that Clowder has already done that, but what I will say is that while I understand why some of you feel as you do, I'm going to highlight that I may actually be doing something good for cats. Let me explain. Please don't think that I don't appreciate the validity of your concerns. I agree that there are rescue cats needing homes, but...





For years, Persians have suffered with very severe, crippling health problems. Many have respiratory issues. Lots have trouble with something called tongue tipping which, in its more acute stages, is so desperate that the cat's tongue is constantly hanging out of its mouth because there physically isn't space for it in there. Many have incredibly leaky eyes because of their flat faces. The extreme types often need help to suckle from mum due to their face being too flat to latch on propperly.





Tia has none of these problems, and actually has what is termed as a doll face, or open type. While her nose is a tad too long for a true Persian, her facial structure means that she doesn't have any of the associated problems I've just spoken about. While she doesn't do as well as most Persians on the show bench, she has something to give to new kittens. Again, let me explain.





The typical Persian nose should have a break or stop at the end. This means that rather than rolling off at the tip in a smoothe curve, it should have a definite end point and be flat, rather like a little piggy's nose. Over the years, breeders have worked very hard to achieve this, but in the process, the nose has gotten shorter and shorter, and it is this rather than the stop at the end that causes the health problems.





A Persian's cheeks should also be very full, and are often described as apple cheeks. Again, breeders have worked hard to achieve this in their kittens, but as the cheeks broadened, so did the jaw, and this combined with a flat nose meant that the whole face changed shape so that the jaw and mouth became flat.





I thought long and hard about the boys that I considered for mating. Every one that she's gone to have been extremely typey, that is to say, flat faces, tiny noses. Why? Because by combining Tia's too long nose with a short one with a definite stop, genetics show that I am likely to end up with kittens who have a nose in between, who will most likely inherrit the stop at the end. This is perfect as it will mean a Persian with no health problems, but who conforms to the correct type that a Persian should. By breeding a doll face to an extreme boy, again we should get something in between, so we should have the massive apple cheeks but with a jaw which isn't so squashed, meaning that kittens can suckle and adults can pick up their food easier. Tia's eyes don't run a lot because of her face shape, and a kitten with a longer nose and a better face may avoid this problem also.





From this mating, I hope to establish a bloodline of kittens which are of superb Persian type, but without any of the problems that currently plague the cats who have been made this way by man's striving for a perfection which brings flaws by its very nature. Should I not do this because there's a cat somewhere in a rescue that wants a home? Should I limit myself through guilt even though I could make a massive difference to the lives of so many kittens? Or should I breed a line of cats that can be shown, still achieve titles and show status and consequently be highly desirable to other breeders who will breed from them and hopefully perpetuate the desirable traits in not only show kittens, but many, many pet ones as well? Should I let the people who are already on my waiting list, and others who are yet to come, go to another pedigree breeder and pick up a kitten with more health problems, or who may not have been as well loved as mine have been? When someone has decided they want a pedigree cat, very few of them will go to a rescue just because someone tells them they should, so my stopping will not achieve a thing. Yes, I've heard the arguments. If every breeder stopped, then we wouldn't have this problem. But let me pose two things against that. Firstly, every breeder will never stop, so by limiting one with good intentions, you limit improvements to a breed which will continue to exist because of customer demand (the hypothetical YOU here). Secondly, we actually need stray cats. There is a small island in the UK who ran a massive spay and neuter drive which was successful. Too successful in fact. They had no more strays, no unwanted kittens produced... And a massive rodent problem. This got so bad that they actually imported many ferals from the mainland to repopulate the island to keep it under control. So while it's not pretty, and doesn't sit easy with me to think of so many cats out there in the cold with hungry bellies, there is a need for them.





There, see? I told you I'd sound defensive, and that's not what I meant to do! I must leave the answering of the above questions and the thoughts on the last part to you, dear reader, and hope that you don't burn me at the stake for my herosy! Let me end my rant on one final note. I know that the CB has had at least one breeder of cats before who was well liked and well supported, and I know also that I would like to be received with the same open arms as she was. I hope that my reasons for breeding, having now been explained, are enough for those who worry so that they will be able to welcome my kittens with open arms and share the joy with me as they are born and grow. Please don't think I'm having a go at any commenter who expressed concerns. I'm not at all, which is why it took me so long to decide to post as I didn't want it coming across that way.





Now, on to other things. Tia's first trip out to stud was unsuccessful, but not because the boy wasn't interested. Madam just didn't come into full call, so I went to pick her up on Tuesday night. On Thursday evening, I took her into the bedroom with me, and took a litterbox in too so that I could shut my door and watch TV without keeping Dogman (he's staying with us over easter) awake. I took the cover off it though, as she's still got this problem of lying on top of it, and I'm still working to discourage her.





She seemed very unsettled all night, and made so many trips to the box that I was on the verge of making a very panicky call to my vet to demand she get out of bed and come treat my cat for a probable bladder blockage! However, she didn't seem in pain, wasn't squatting to try and wee anywhere else, and was happy in herself. I left her till the morning.





When I get up, the first thing I do is go and give miss Tia some good morning lovin', and she, it seemed was in the mood to give some back! As soon as I touched her back end, we had a terrible, prolonged case of elevator bum with the tail over to one side. So the mystery was solved. She didn't have cystitis, she was in call.





Many unspayed females spray when they reach sexual maturity. Tia has manners, and will only do this in her box, but only when the cover is on. As soon as I put it back in the morning, she went and liberally anointed both with what I call hormonal pee because it stinks so badly.





One should always leave a cat until she is in her second day of calling before bringing her to stud, so it wasn't until yesterday morning that I whipped her off for her dirty weekend! I wasn't hopeful, mind. She's been out quite a bit now, and has never let any boy near her, but then she'd not long left this particular man, so shouldn't have the same settling in stress. Indeed, as soon as I let her out of the carrier, she went for a sniff, and ate some of his food. Then she was straight in his tray for a spray, which was good on my end because it let the man know in no uncertain terms that she was in call. The owner said that usually he has her girls mated before she can fully set them down, and he started to pace Tia right away, waiting for his chance. But true to form, she wasn't having any of it, and spat at everything and everyone whenever she got close. Even me when I picked her up! So I got on the floor with the pair of them, and every time she ran to hide, I picked her back up, put her on my knee so that she was higher than him (this helps them feel more secure), and rubbed and rubbed the base of her tail. This gives them some relief when they're calling, and they like it a lot. Gradually, she began to associate seeing him with a pleasurable experience. She's always very wary of her back end being touched at all when she's at stud, and I didn't think I'd totally broken it yesterday.





When I left her, she was still spitting at him, but was also eating again, a sure sign that she wasn't stressed. I didn't think much would happen given her attitude problem, but the owner said she'd call me as soon as something happened.





Well, I waited and waited and forced myself to wait some more. I knew no news wasn't good news in this case, and I was too disheartened to phone her myself for my usual daily update, as I knew what she was going to say. Shortly after 8 last night, she rang me, and I figured that she wanted to get the worst off her chest.





Well, was it the worst thing that could have happened? Only you, dear reader, can decide. But I tell you something, I am very, very pleased to report that at 8 PM last night, miss Tia was mated for the first time! The poor boy had to grab her just as she came out of the litterbox because this was the only time he could get near enough to get hold of her. But he did it! The owner says that now that she's been mated once, she shouldnt' be so resistant to it any more. Tia will stay with the boy for two days, as this is how long he'll mate her for. They will do this quite a few times over the next little while. Well, they will if Tia doesn't continue to be a little monster!





So there you have it, my eggsellent news for today! See what I did there? Yeah, bad, I know, but we needed an egg reference in there somewhere!





Let me end by wishing you all a very happy and healthy easter. This year more than any other signifies the possibility of new life for me, and I can only hope that her little easter eggs are as fertile as the male's half of the equasion. Watch this space!





PS: Any and all comments welcome, even if they are only to tell me to stop being an idiot for being so defensive!

Quick Update

Quick Update





Hi there. The human here. I just wanted to give you an update on Tia, and why we haven't written for a while.





Tia, once again, is off to stud! I don't know if she was propperly in call, but it's the closest she'd gotten all year since her last one at Christmas, so hoping that aux the stud wee would help her on the way, I whipped her off to her man friend. As we've moved house, this was a new boy that she's gone to, as the old one was too far away. His set-up is lovely. He lives with two other boys, all separated of course, but in plain sight of each other for company, and all three have gorgeous indoor quarters. I wouldn't have minded living there myself they were so nice! She, of course, did her typical tortitude thing and spent most of her time hissing and spitting at the boy, but seemed to settle down quickly enough, well, stress-wise anyway. She had been reluctant to explore her surroundings, even though the sweet talking lad was doing everything in his power to coax her down. He brought her a catnip toy (no joke!) and then when she was reluctant to play, he lay below her on her perch on the scratching post, and rolled around so much that the owner actually thought it was her after mating!His coaxing didn't work though, that is until this morning. When they were allowed to run together again, she waltzed into his run as soon as his door was opened, and tucked straight into his food.





Neither me nor the owner are quite sure that she's in call yet, but we're hoping that she'll let him mate her today. Fingers crossed, all of you! We may have kittens soon!





I'll write more either as soon as I have anything exciting to tell, or as soon as Tia's home, as I'm sure you'd rather read her chatter than mine anyway! Have a great day all of you. Mine will involve a major de-furring effort while she's away. My sofas may just be hair free for an hour or two. Oh, the luxury!

Yummy Tummy Tuesday

Friends, in preparation for my upcoming show this week, I must be a good ladycat and allow every inch of me to be groomed. Can you see how good I am in this picture? I only bit the comb a zillion times as it groomed the floof on my yummy tummy!






My human says that I have really long whiskers that tickle her a lot when I put my face near hers, which I'm doing more and more of lately. In the shows, there's a class for the cat with the longest whiskers, but because I'm a pedigree ladycat and not shown as a household pet, I can't enter it. How much of a bummer is that! My human says I'd win that class. Do any of you have really long whiskers like me?





The human says that my show bath will be tomorrow now, which I'm relieved about. One more day without torture is a good day in my book! I slept on the bed a little with her last night, but she did have to coax me. She sat me down and had a good talk to me last night, so I thought i'd better give in a little. I didn't like the sound of her getting tough on me. When it comes to things like that, my human is surprisingly effective thanks to her thinking she knows all about cat behaviour. Why does she have to be smart in that sort of area, and so stupid when it comes to the simple things like giving out treats on demand and learning to use a litterbox propperly? Honestly, I don't think I'll ever totally work these creatures out!





I'm getting ready for my big party around here. The human says I can have some more of my new toys on that day, but get this, she says I can't have any stinky goodness! Apparently you shouldn't give it to a ladycat with as much floof as me right before a show unless you make them wear a bib, cuz it stains the fur of the ruff at the front. I'd rather not have stinky goodness than wear a bib, so I'll just wait till the next day and then eat loads of it! I'm not a humankitten, and I will not degrade myself enough to permit a bib to be put on me!





In other news, the human says that she gets to go see the babycats that we told you about a little while ago that were born to a friend's mummycat. They will be five weeks old, and thankfully, the six that were born alive all survived! They will still need some hand feeding as they don't like big cat food yet, so the human will even get to do that! She says she can't wait to have a lap full of babies, and she said it in a tone that demanded I listened. I just laughed at her. If she's hinting at me to get busy and start my elevator bum again, she'll have a long wait! i'll decide when I'm ready for my babies, thank you very much.





The human says she's going to go shopping during the day with her friend too, so she'd better bring me back something to justify me letting her go and see other cats, even if they are cute babies! What should I have in my list of demands?





Now, it's time to catch up on my napping before she gets me ready for the horrid bath! I hear in the grape vine that the Katnip Crew are being cruelly tortured by their peoples, so if any of you want to come nap with me in a house that loves you as you should be loved, then feel free to drop in!... Especially you mancats.

Terrific Tuesday!

It is, friends, and for quite a few reasons. Firstly and most importantly, it's a great day because that lazy bum of a human of mine has finally decided to commit my dictations to paper once more! ok, computer, not paper. It's been too long, and she hasn't even been visiting my friends for me! She says she's still sorting things out from the house move, that she's had a lot to deal with, yada, yada, yada. Does she think I care for her pathetic, pitiful excuses? Cuz I don't. The fact is, she's been neglecting me, and there's no excuse for that!




There's more good news. Last week I had to go to the new lady vet people cuz my chest was sounding all bad and wheezy again. She gave me some more yucky tablets to take, and I finished those this morning. The human took me back today for a check up, and other than having some staining on my teeth, the vet lady people said I was in great health! The human still says she can hear a wheeze in my purr, but the vet lady people couldn't hear a thing when she listened with the listening thing to my chest, so I say the human's being a worry wart again.





The other thing is mancats. My own lovely little mancat is now very far away from me thanks to my human deciding to move house, so I've had to find another one, but you know what? I've done it! There's another boy, and this one's so posh that he's actually international. Isn't that neat? He was imported into this country to live with his peoples because he was so outstanding. the human says he owns his own house too. She says he's had other girls before, but he's a man of the world. Where as my first mancat would take no for an answer, this mancat knows what he wants. She says that he'll show me that having fun with a mancat isn't so bad really. I'll confess that I saw the last one off cuz I was a bit nervous, but if the new one will show me the ropes, I might just let him milk and tuna me!





And the good news doesn't stop there! After being stuck in the house for a week, the human had someone come today to help her learn the way to places with her white stick. She was a nice ladypeople. When the human was getting her shoes on, she said that the lady people could have a cuddle if she liked. As I've told you before, I'm a bit nervous of strangers, but the human says that she wants to show me that I can trust them just like I trust her. She wants to show me that everybody I say hello to will be nice to me, so she passed me over to the lady people. Even though I wanted to, I didn't struggle. While the human went off to get ready, the lady people gave me scritches and rubs and told me all about the two mancats she owns. She said that it was Ok, that she wouldn't be horrible to me and that I could relax. I might have purred a teeny bit, but I'm not saying. I did stare after my human as she left the room to find her keys, but I didn't jump down from the lady people's lap cuz her scritches were quite nice. I wonder, can other peoples be trusted? I mean, really trusted?





The human says that the HG is coming to see us on Saturday and is staying until Tuesday! I got real excited about this until I heard the next things. The HG is bringing her manpeople with her, and he's not so keen on cats. She's also bringing a stupid Dogface. Her stupid dogface is called Nikki, and does the same job as the human's stupid dogface did for her. She stops the HG from walking into things, and helps her find the way to go. I've decided that if she's like our stupid dogface and leaves me alone, I'll not mind her, but if she chases me or sniffs me, I'm gonna disappear. I can't be bothered with Dogfaces any more! Still, I can't wait to see the HG! Do you think she'll bring me toys? Or treats? Or tuna? Or nice stinky goodness? huh? The human says she's going to help with a practice show bath over the weekend. I'm not looking forward to that bit, but if the HG is there and she brings treats, then I'll put up with it for that... Maybe.





Ok, last bit of good news for today, but hasn't there been a lot! This is the biggest news for the human. Her friend's ladycat has just given birth to two happy, healthy, bouncing boy Burmese kittens! The people who belongs to the ladycat has been talking to the human and telling her all about the pregnancy so that she'll know better what to expect when I have my babies later this year, so the human almost feels as though she's had a part in the kittens who've just been born. It made her day! I can't say that I cared as much as she did. After all, I didn't know the ladycat. But I hope that mummycat and babies continue to do well and thrive. If you like, I'll have the human keep you updated on all the goings on with them!





Well, I think I'm all newsed out. Until next time, eat nip!

Special Sunday

Do you know that this is the last sunday that me and the human will spend in this house? It's sad in a way, but in another, it's super exciting. We're just about to start on a new beginning, and I'm glad that she's taking me along for the ride with her! She's over-doing things though.





The human dreads moving for all the same reasons as everyone else, i.e, the packing, the organising, all of that, but she also worries because she has a bad back. Packing really aggravates it, but she usually manages. Well, this morning she woke up and was so sore that she could hardly move. She's spent a lot of time lying flat and getting into a hot bath and doing pretty much everything she can think of, but nothing's helping. I'm on nurse duty, cuz I want to make sure she can go to the work hunt tomorrow to earn the moneys I need for my stinky goodness!





Today is for special things though. Our last Sunday in the house is special. The human's back needs special attention, but what else is there to talk about? Well, there's trust and bonding.





The human says there's something wonderful and remarkable about watching the personality of an adult cat blossom in a new home, but I know that she's talking specifically about me when she says that. After all, I am the only wonderful, remarkable adult cat in this house, right? And my personality has indeed been flowering. Since the tummy rubbing and head rubbing incidents, I've just gone from strength to strength. Let me tell you how. Again, they're only small things, but to me and the human, they are special enough to be mentioned in this post.





Firstly, there's lap cuddling. I've always done this, and I've always enjoyed it, but I am a gentle-ladycat about it. Rather than just pushing my way onto her lap, I come and sit beside her and wait either for her to pick me up or to invite me on. Well, I used to. Only a few days ago, that all changed. She was tippy-tapping away on the computer keyboard, sadly not typing for me (you can't have it all, I spose), but doing something for herself. She sits on the big sofa when she does this, with the keyboard on her knee. Normally when I come and sit beside her, she'll wiggle her fingers at me, and if I climb on her, she'll put down what she's doing and give me love. If I don't come to her fingers, she knows I just want to lie nearby. Well, she wiggled at me and I ignored her, and so she went back to her own stuff. I watched her. I wanted attention, but I didn't want to come to her fingers. I moved around a bit to let her know I was there, but she just thought I was getting comfy and paid no attention. This wasn't good enough. I wanted attention and I wasn't getting it, and that's never a good thing! I went up close to the human, then sat down to watch again. Then, very tentatively, I put out a paw and touched her leg. It was just a little touch to let her know I wanted some loving, but again, she thought I was only settling down. She carried on typing.





This really was intolerable. I wanted snuggling! I picked up a second paw and put it on her leg, then made sure that the first joined it. Now my two front feet were standing on her. I have to admit, when she did put the keyboard down and turn to me, I was tempted to pull back, and had to work hard not to. maybe I just should have waited for her to pick me up. Maybe I should have been more patient. Would she tell me off now for disturbing her? I tensed up as her hand came towards me, but all she did was tickle me and make a huge fuss over me and tell me how great I was for coming for cuddles all on my own. "Well,"I thought, "That was easy." I even got treats for it! If I'd known that it was that simple to get extra love and treats, I'd have done this months ago!





I've done it lots ever since, and now I'm confident enough to put all four of my feet on her lap all by myself. I even sat down today between her and the keyboard, and got strokes and scritches while she was typing. Only problem was that I had to boot the silly keyboard out of the way when I decided I wanted to sprawl out and get really comfy, but she didn't seem to mind too much. Good human!





The other thig I've learnd is how much fun it is to lie on the human's chest. Again, this is another thing I've done before, but while I've been up there, my head has been up and I've been kneading the whole time. no, when I say lying up there, I mean really lying, like sprawling right out then curling into a ball under her chin. The human usually has to use her arms to support me, but it's comfy, so I let her do this. I'll snuggle down there for more than five minutes at a time now, and I don't mind if my head has to lie on her a little bit in the process. She's so warm that I get quite sleepy very fast!





She says the next step for me is to start head-butting her for attention, which I'm very tentatively starting to do, and then to really snuggle up very close with her in bed. Again, this is something I'm starting, but I can only manage about a minute of curling against her before I have to move away and get my own space again. She always lets me go, which is why I know it's safe to come back the next time she picks me up and snuggles me. It's ok, as long as I have an escape route.





But we're not done yet. Special things come in big piles, and the very tippy top of our pile is friends. I love friends, and so does the human. many of you read the blog that the human writes and I dictate, and some of you even leave comments, but today, I'd like to recognise someone who makes me MOL, and the human smile with most of the comments that are left. They write an excellent blog, and, unlike my bad human, they actually have their people trained well enough that she posts every day for them! I wonder if they'd mind sharing some tips? I was going to do a Friends on Friday, but as she didn't write for me, I didn't have a chance. It's probably better that they're in the Special Sunday anyway, cuz they have some very special mancats there who agreed to be my valentine! Not that I'm recognising you just for that... I'm not shallow, honest! Well, not much, anyway. So, who are these friends of ours? Well, the only way to find out is to go visit The Catnip Lounge Cats
and find out! Keep up the good work, Katnip Krew!!





Hannah and Lucy want to know if my mancat friend is a handsome beast. Oh, girls, you have no idea! He is to die for! Mind you, so are those lounge cats. The only thing this one has that the other hunks don't is his man bits... Um, have I said I'm not shallow? Honest, I'm not! A ladycat's gotta have a good time sometimes though, and the boys without manbits tend to lose sight of what a woman really needs. That being said, they're much better companions. Manbits make most mancats interested in only one thing, where as others such as the lounge cats at least have the manners to milk and tuna you first! The human said that should be wine and dine, but I don't drink wine, and I only dine on the finest tuna! If only. Well, a girl can dream, can't she?





And that's exactly what I intend to do for the rest of the day, or at least for the bits where I'm not working on my elevator bum. I'll see you tomorrow! Happy Sunday!

Wednesday Winners and Other Things

Well, I don't really know what to say about the winners. They are super cats, and peoples of course. They won last week too, and were the only ones to enter this week. Nevertheless, congratulations to you all! The human promises she'll post them to you, Karen, when all the Christmas madness is over.





We're a bit disappointed that the give away hasn't been more successful at generating interest. Because of this, we're going to take a break with the last two weeks until after Christmas. That way, it gives peoples a chance to get the holiday business out of the way. hopefully then they'll come and visit us and enter! Super congratulations to you, Karen, and your furries. It's awesome to win twice! Double the fun, eh?





Now, I told you I'd tell you about the human's arm today, and I better had, as she's whining that it hurts to type, and please can I be concise instead of rambling as I usually do. Rambling? I do not! I speak nothing but words of wisdom, and sometimes griping. no wonder she thinks it's rambling when it deals with all her shortcomings.





Anyway, her arm. Peoples, I have learned, have vets too, but they call them doctors or GPs which stands for general practitioner. I've always wondered why peoples feel the need to have multiple talk noise words for the same thing. Doctor? GP? General practitioner? Personally, I think vet is quite appropriate. So, she went to her vet when I was at mine, to be tested too to see if they could help us find out what the mr Bug was. They stole lots of things from her. Peepee, even poop! How disgusting is that! She allowed them to do it, didn't even spit or anything! I vow that I will work on her training for this.





Ah, where was I? Oh yes, stealing. They also stole some of her bloods, not once, but lots of times. They took four lots of blood in two separate lots, but the second time, when the needle was coming out, it really hurt, and the human's bloods kept coming out lots and lots even though they shouldn't cuz the stealing was done. When they went back inside to hide again and stopped coming out, her arm still hurt really badly, but she thought nothing of it. It's happened before when they've hit the muscle, and she knows it goes away in a day or two.





It's now been five days since they stole her bloods, and rather than getting better, the arm is getting worse. She can no longer get it all the way straight, and is having to take tablets to keep the pain at a manageable level. It hurts when she picks me up, and she's finding it difficult to do things like type or hold a pen for signing things at the work hunt. She even struggled to get my food open last night! What good are thumbs if they don't work propperly? This worried me enough that I insisted she went back to see the vet again. She says she's gonna call early tomorrow morning and try and get in to see him before we all head off tomorrow evening. I hope they don't have to amputate. It would be very inconvenient to be burdened with a human that couldn't open food for me.





In other super exciting news, our Secret Paws partner wrote to us today, and it's Hannah and Lucy! They said they made their people send a package on Monday, and we are very excited! I made my human go to the post office today to see if it was there, cuz if it was, we could have told you all about the super things inside. The human said I could open it early cuz I wasn't gonna be around for Christmas. Unfortunately though, it wasn't there. Hannah and Lucy, if it arrives tomorrow, is it Ok if I open it? Then I can take toys with me to Dogface's new home! If not, I can wait until after christmas. Your choice!





Now to a matter super important. Friends, I have a problem. I need a manly mancat to come visit me right here, right now, and I can't find one! I've been shouting and shouting for one, but they don't seem to be able to hear me, and the human says she's not taking me to see my man friend who owns his own house cuz I'm still having pudding poo and she doesn't want him to get sick and anyway, I said I was going with Dogface and I can't do that if I'm with my man friend. Ah, but all that doesn't matter now. My promises to Dogface are nothing compared with my need.





I've left him signs in both of my litter boxes. Many ladycats scent mark (peoples call it spraying) when we want to find a mancat. This surprises a lot of humans. They think it's only mancats that do it, but it isn't. Where many ladycats spray on people things, I won't. Firstly, if a mancat does come, I don't want him interested in people things. I want him interested in me! Secondly, it wouldn't be polite to scent mark the human or the things she calls clothes or the sofa where I sleep. After all, I wouldn't like it if she marked me everytime a manpeople came here. I'd stink!





With all this in mind, I choose to mark my boxes instead. I do this frequently, probably about once every half hour or so, and when I do, I shout and shout and shout no matter what time of the day or night it is, just in case he's listening. He hasn't come though. What am I to do! Friends, is there any way you know of to smuggle a mancat in here? More to the point, are there any mancats out there who would like to come, um, see my place for a bit? The human and Dogface are leaving tomorrow, so we could have all the house to ourselves! Mancat, Mancat, wherefore art thou Mancat! Maaaaaaaancaaaaaaaaat!!!

Tortureshell Tuesday: Drowning the Noise

Oh, oh, oh, it's that time again, oh yes it is! My favourite day of the week! I have a confession to make though. I haven't actually managed to do anything worthy of a naughty tortie this week. Before you all expire with shock, let me tell you that I had a reason! I wasn't here for most of the week, seeing as I was off pretending to seduce mancats. I have a busy life, you know. I suppose you could say that my not letting my man friend get up close and personal was a tortureshell, or the fact that I am now insisting on sleeping by the human's face, but I dunno. They're not up to the usual standards. Allow me, therefore, to tell you about a spectacular one I've been saving for just the right moment.

It was warm. It was dark. It was cosy. It was also noisy, and I was trying to sleep! We were in bed, the human and I, and it was at what my good friend Herman
calls O Dark Thirty . I'd woken her up for a tummy tickle, and because she couldn't get back to sleep, she put her book on. Well, she says it's a book, but I never see any paper or anything that looks remotely like one. Given that her eyes are too broke to read, she listens to a person making talk noise from funny things she calls speakers. The talk noise is generated by her iPod, a little square, hard, shiny black box. I don't know how it makes the talk noise because when I put my ear to it, I can't hear any little peoples inside reading, and yet, voices come from the speakers. The human says it travels up the connection cable, but again, she's just showing her lack of a brain. Even I know that's too small for a people to crawl along as they're reading.

Anyway, I digress. As I said, I was trying to sleep. I was done with my tummy tickles, and wanted some shut-eye. But the stupid iPod man wouldn't shut up! I thwapped him where she had him hidden under the covers, but he pretended he didn't even notice! I shouted at the human, but she just grunted, "You've had enough of my sleep time. Lie down and be quiet, for goodness sake. I have work in the morning!" Her sleep time? What about mine!

I got crosser and crosser and wondered what I could do. How could you shut a thing up that you couldn't even see? But then, I did see it, the long, tantalising connection cable sticking out from the covers. And it got even better. Right below it was my bowl of water.

Now, you all know that when you're hunting, one of the best ways to kill your catch is to drown it. It has the added bonus of cleaning it before you eat, I suppose, but it is very effective at stopping it making noise. Here was the perfect set-up. I knew the human wouldn't be pleased at all, but she had it coming to her. It was her that made the iPod man make noise after all, and it was her that wouldn't shut him up. I had to take matters into my own paws.

Slowly, stealthily, I stalked closer to the cable. The stupid thing didn't even try and run away. It didn't know what was coming. With a wiggle of the bum and a flick of the tail I sprang, pounced and dragged that offending cable, iPod man and all, off the bed. It came slithering out from under the covers, and with a bit of guidance from me, created a super splash-down landing right where I wanted it to, in the bowl of water. There were a few bubbles, and then the talk noise stopped. I stood guard over the bowl, watching for any sign of movement or a recommencing of the talk, but there was nothing. It was dead. I had won.

The human didn't seem to think so though. I've never seen her move so quick! With a shriek, she bounded out of bed and launched herself for the iPod. Dragging my kill away from me, she shook it vigorously. Perhaps, I thought as I watched her with a certain glint of maternal pride in my eye, I've taught her something after all. Shaking a kill is a good way to make sure it's really finished off. But alas, she was only doing it to get as much water out as possible. Then she ran away and left me! No joke! She went to the living room and got out the horrible blow dryer that she uses on my fur after a bath. She put it on the iPod man, and I began to wonder. When I've had a bath, I get really cold because I'm wet. The human puts the blow dryer on my fur and it makes me feel warm and dry again. It leaves me feeling much better, actually. She couldn't be trying to revive the iPod man, surely! She wouldn't do that to me!

But, friends, I am terribly saddened and disappointed to say that she would, and did. She dried him for a long time, then left him beside a heater to finish the job. That night, mr iPod man rejoined us in bed. I considered a repeat performance, but to my further disgust, the human had moved the water bowl to what she calls a "safer location".

So there you have it. I'm getting so good at this that I even broke a rule the human hadn't thought to make yet! She's done it now though, but I don't care. If I've already broken it, it, like every other rule around here, doesn't exist. I'm watching for that iPod man though. He must be really small to be able to fit in the box, which means that when he comes out for a rest, I'm gonna catch him and put an end to his silly talk noise making forever! Are they hard to catch, friends? Do any of you have experience with them? What's the best method of hunting? Is it the stalk, pounce combo, the quick chase and grab, or the good old-fashioned toy with prey and then eat? I just can't make up my mind.

Home Sweet Home

Yes, friends, I am back! And boy am I glad to be home. Things have gotten slack around here in my absence. Stupid Dogface thinks she can get attention whenever she wants it, there's no fur on the sofas and the bed, and there isn't even any food down! Or at least, there wasn't till I got here. I suppose it's good in a way though. All of these signs show me that she hasn't been fratternising with another cat while I've been away. It's a nice thing to see.

I must tell you all about my adventure though. Last week I decided to be a real growed up cat and go and visit my man friend again. He's quite nice really, and I was starting to miss him. I told my human I wanted to go. I did this by sticking my bum in the air, holding my tail to the side and shouting. Crude, I know, but sometimes I have to make the message very, very simple before she understands it. I'd been telling her for a while, but she doesn't listen until I start pretending my front legs are much shorter than my back ones. I suspect that she thinks this is what I have to do now before I can go see him.

Rambling aside though, I got my wish. I got to go in my super cool girlie pink PTU (Ok, so the PTU part isn't cool). The human and I have come to an agreement though. When we're sitting still, she takes me out of the PTU for a cuddle, but when we're moving, like when we have to change from one noisy thing to another (she calls them trains), I go back inside. No, this is not because the noise scares me! I shout at her all the while that I'm in the PTU just to make sure she remembers I'm there, alone, foodless!

We went on two noisy things, then walked a little, at least, the human did. Then we got to the house where I'd been before. The people lady that looks after my man friend took me out of the PTU and carried me to go see him. Ah, I remembered this place well! In fact, I lost no time in running around and checking it all out. He owns his own house as I've said before, and if we are to have baby kittens together, the way I see it, his house is mine. I made this abundently clear by jumping on his favourite spot. It's a chair that's in the outside bit of his house, and it makes a really good place to sit and watch the squirrels, birdies, and even the other girl cats.

Speaking of girlcats, they hissed and spat at me something shocking when I first got there. I think they were jealous. One of them told me that he was her man, and how dare I be in there with him. I just spat back at her. Silly girl. He is mine. "Who's in the house and who has to share with all those other girlcats, eh?" said I, and this made her real, real mad. I didn't mind though. I knew she couldn't get at me.

My man isn't very well trained yet. He kept trying to sneak up on me and get my chair back for himself. I decided that, before we could make a family, the training needed to start. He needed to be put in his place. So every time he came near, I hissed really good, just like the human does when I do something really, really against the rules, and thwapped him until he ran away. Eventually, it started to work.

Over the next few days I watched him, but the training never stuck for long. I kept having to reinforce it. In the end, I decided that he simply wasn't ready for the responsibility of parenthood. The others laughed at me when I mentioned it to them. They say he's already a daddy, but I know it isn't true. One of the older ladies was quite nice though, and she gave me some good advice. "Smack him down, girlie," she said to me late one night when the others were all asleep, "but don't do it all of the time. There comes a point where your needs for, ah, a good time, outweigh the necessity of moulding him into the perfect gentleman. He's a male. They are driven by instinct and primal urges. You can't hope to make them into something new overnight."

I thought long and hard about this. I was forced to admit in the end that she did have a point. I mean, I wasn't planning to stay with him once the babies were put in my tummy. He was only going to be a short-term lover, so was I expending too much effort? This was days after I'd arrived though, and what with the upheaval of moving and travelling and fending him off, I'd quite lost the urge for what the nice older ladycat called a "good time". Maybe next time things will be different. I just don't know. It's not next time yet, after all, so why worry about it?

The human came to get me a short while later, and I must say, I was glad to see her, but not as stressed out and worried as last time. This meant I didn't have to cling to her like crazy when we got home. I knew she was coming back for me this time, you see. I'd been there before, and I know when I go to that place, it's only for a short time. I did give her some good face rubs when I got home, but I was more interested in making sure I had enough food in my bowl for the next week or so. Oh, and the water! Gosh, I can't tell you how good it was to get water that tasted like it should again! The human said she thought I'd explode with the amount I drank, but it just tasted sooooo good!

Last night was good too. The human was extra specially cuddly with me, but the pillow beside her doesn't seem to want me on it. Every time I try, it tips me off. Funnily, the human's hand is always nearby when this happens. I can't really understand it. When I sleep on the human's pillow nothing happens, but when I go on the one next to her, I just get thrown off. The human says this is because she has something called Asthma. Having me sleep round the top of her head is fine, or even behind it, or even with my face cuddled against hers, but when she has my whole body beside her face, she coughs and wheezes a lot. She says my head doesn't have as much fur on it, but when my body cuddles her face, she breathes in more of it and it makes her chest hard to breathe with. I don't get this. She can cuddle with her face and it doesn't make a difference. She says that when she is sleeping, I am close for a longer time, so she gets more of my fur. Also, her breathing is deeper, so it travels further that way. Peoples are very strange. I mean, whoever heard of anyone getting aggravated by fur! It is coming into the colder weather here too though, and the human says that doesn't help either. I just wish the pillow wouldn't be so mean. Stupid pillow.

Oh, in breaking news,The Babycat
has posted on his blog. He has just been nutered. He doesn't know what this is though, and it's not a subject a well brought up ladycat can possibly discuss without a little embarrassment, even if he is just a babycat. Hopefully some of you mancats can give him some worldly advice. By the way, the beginning of this post does not imply that I think all mancats run on instinct and are untrainable. Many of you grow up very nice, but I wonder how much that has to do with having what my human terms as "the snip"? I think you've all had it, and you are all nice. Even my man friend is nice. He's just, well, persistent. Do you mancats think that having the operation makes it easier to treat ladycats with the respect we deserve? I'm very curious. The first mancat I went to see for having a family with was nice too. He wasn't as persistent as the new one who owns his own house, but then he was much younger too, so I'm not sure how much has to do with age and how much to do with not having the operation. Please, enlighten me!

For now, I shall enlighten my food dish... Quite considerably!

Easy like Sunday

Even though I had an unexpected event today, it's still been a pretty relaxed Sunday for me at least. The human's been running around cleaning. I, on the other hand, just sit and watch. I occasionally help her by going to the kitchen and miaowing very, very loudly, just to remind her where the fish is kept. Let it not be said that I don't do my chores!

This morning, the human made up for my lack in sleep yesterday. She slept in really, really, really late! When I say slept, I mean lay in bed. She woke up way past the usual sun up, go out time, then she put on a book to listen to and kind of just dozed for ages, until the sun was right up in the sky! We haven't done that ever, as far as I can remember. When it was time to pull my body out of bed, I was rested and refreshed, so much so in fact that I thought I'd go play with my catnip carrot. She finally got me one! Some peoples brought lots of cat toys to the show yesterday and put them all on a people table. They were swapping toys for the thing the human calls money. She knows toys are worth more, so she gave them some of the stupid money and they gave her my carrot, and lots of other things. how stupid are they for getting the bum end of the deal!

After the human had made more talk noise with Bug (incidentally, Babycat, you can tell him he's moderately safer today), the human picked me up for what I thought was a cuddle. But it wasn't to be. I got stuffed once more into that stupid, stupid carrier. I've told the human she needs a bigger one now, and she actually agrees. She says she needs one with a front and top opening, and she'd prefer both to be caged so that I can see and hear her easily. It needs to be very stirdy for us to take to shows. If any of you other cats use them and have something you could recommend, I'll tell her to get that one. I'd rather take your word for it than ask her to go looking herself.

After a short car trip, during which I talked to her the whole time, we arrived at the vet's place. I've told you that I don't really mind our vet, especially this time because the human said she had made sure we were going to see the nice man vet who I like. We did see him, and he looked at me very carefully all over. The only thing I don't like about the man vet is that he doesn't take time to give me scratches and he smells funny, like dogs and rabbits and all kinds of things. His hands are nice and gentle though, and he doesn't move me really quickly or be even the littlest bit rough with me like some of the others are. The human says it's because they're busy and kind of lose sight of the fact that you should treat every animal like you'd want your own to be treated. She says they get caught up in the fact that it's their job. I don't think this is any excuse though, and neither does she. This is why we try and always see the man vet, because he takes time with us every time.

Today he was very interested in my scabs. To be honest with you, I'm starting to regret ever scratching my neck like this. It's gotten me a lot of poking and prodding and some unwanted attention, but when the urge to scratch hits me, it's kind of hard to remember that. He said a lot of words to the human, but I'll let her tell you that bit.

Human: In essence, the vet agreed with me. I took Tia there to be checked for a final time, just to back up my claims (when I make them, which I intend to). He said that her scabs might have been acne, but judging by the presentation, it shouldn't have been branded as such. Acne is pustular, not scabby, and Tia only has scabs. He says they could have been pustules at one time or another, but they definitely weren't now. It could be many things, but didn't look like any of them. He confirmed that it was most likely she was simply collar scratching as I'd said, but has recommended that I take her to a skin specialist on Tuesday. That way, when they write the letter to give Tia the all clear, and he's almost certain she'll be found to be such, no vet at a show can challenge it, as it's come from a skin specialist. It means more money, but I think I'm going to use my insurance for this. He's sent us home with antibiotics because they worked last time, and another bottle of shampoo at my request. Cindy's problem looked kind of like Tia's, so if the shampoo worked for Cindy, then it might work for her. Better to cover all bases, I figure.

So, as you can see, cat friends, this means another trip to the vet, plus a lot of bathing with that stupid, stupid stinky stuff! I'm less than pleased at the thought of the baths, but I'm wondering if the skin lady vet will be nice like the man vet. I guess I'll just have to wait and see, eh?

When we got home from there, it was time to play with the Catnip Carrot again. Oh, I just love the feathers on the top! I bunny kick it like crazy too. I just can't help myself. It's so, sooooo goooood! Today when I'd finished playing, I just had to come and flop on the human's lap. I was so blissed that I went to sleep all folded over myself. My head was down and my back leg was almost up by my ear! My human says I looked like a ball.

That's pretty much all that's happened today. There's not much excitement to report, so it's been a perfect Sunday. I apologise for the terrible typing last night. You can see just how tired the human was when you read it. She didn't even realise it had happened! To all of you who left comments, thanks so much for supporting me. It's nice to know you think I'm beautiful, and the human says it's also nice to know she wasn't over-reacting to the bad vet people yesterday. Clowder, the human is annoyed too. They were hoping, judging by the facial expressions that Hoover Lady (her PA) described to her that she'd just go away and stop insisting that she was given more than a cursory explanation. I'm glad my human's made of tough stuff and took no notice! I've taught her well. Zoe, thanks for the link, but we're still stuck. The human's eyes are broke, you see, so the usual way doesn't work for her. The computer man who speaks to her (human note: a piece of software which reads text on the screen) won't read that part of the blog website, so she can't upload pictures. Whicky, it's nice to see you around again! My human did rant something about disability discrimination yesterday when she came back to the pen, and she's already emailed the chairman with other issues. This is going to be another added to the list, she tells me. We know what you mean about shows. There are a lot of cats there who are unhappy. Yesterday the human saw a kitten who was just running in circles in her pen, and it made her upset. The cat a few pens down from us was so desperate to get away that he not only crawled under his blanket but got under the litter tray too! Me though? Well, I just went to sleep in the middle of my snuggle blanket with my feet in the air. I was showing off my yummy tummy to all the peoples, and they liked it! My human says that if I showed any kind of stress behaviour past what's normal for a cat initially getting used to a new place for the first little while, she'd not take me to shows any more. She doesn't think it's kind to do that to us. By the way, there's always a place for rough, tough mancats! Wait, maybe that's just in my daydreams. Ah, who cares! Thank you for your offer of hosting pictures, Whicky, and for your advice, Clowder. The very kind Praline and her people have been signed up as guest bloggers, and have offered to put the pictures in the posts that I make. If you see that something's been posted by her, you'll know why. It's really me in disguise, with a helping hand from her! I'll do the same for you, Whicky, and then I can email my pictures to both of you. That way, I'll have two helping, and we can get them posted as quickly as possible! Thank you so much for all your offers of aid. It frustrates the human no end when she comes up against a barrier like this, and me because my paws just aren't made for typing, otherwise I'd do it for her.

Anyway, enough from me. She's just put some chicken down in the kitchen, so to be polite, I'll go eat it!

Grooming Grevances

Ah, peoples, you've gotta love them, right? I'm sorry, but the start of this post is going to be a bit mushy. I care deeply for my human, so when she does something stupid, I always look deeper and find the motivation behind it. One of the silliest, and yet the most sweet things she does is try and groom me.

Any self-respecting cat will keep themselves clean and tidy enough that they don't need grooming, and yet, the peoples persist. I've always had them do this to me right from when I was a kitten. We Persians have very long hair, and some of us really struggle to keep our coats clean and tangle free. I can see why they might need help with grooming, but firstly, there's a vast difference between people and cat grooming, and secondly, I keep my coat tangle free on my own thank you very much.

My human, bless her, is too silly to realise this, so periodically, she'll sit me down and detangle me with the instruments that humans use. A comb and a brush as they call them don't even come close to a tongue. I started out by saying that when she does this, it's sweet. It is. you can see she's trying desperately hard to integrate fully into the cat world, but she just doesn't have the right tools to do it. Poor thing. I'd tell her not to worry about it, but I wouldn't want to be seen as patronising. Instead, I usually just put up with the brushing, mainly because I know that she's trying to do the equivalent ofa cat's social grooming. The motivation is sweet, and so I reward that rather than the act itself.

Last night was different, though. Look, torties have tortiattitude. That's the way it's always been and that's the way it'll continue to be. Our unpredictability makes us fun, vivacious, interesting. It still takes the human by surprise occasionally, but she's getting used to my quirks slowly. Last night, I was as good as gold. I let her brush my back, my sides, even my tail. But my yummy tummy? Forget it. It's yummy just the way it is, thank you very much, but she didn't agree. in the end, I had to shout at her, very loudly, then hunch up, kick her away quite fiercely I'm sad to admit, launch off her knee and go and hide. It was partially tortitude, but also partially because she was heading lower, and the lady bits are lower. I don't usually mind her stroking my tummy. I trust that she won't do anything to me. But the more I get to that point where I'm thinking about mancats, the more I worry when anyone gets to within a gajillion feet of my girlie glories. I know what the men want. Why can't they just be content with company first! Still, it's hard to delineate between mancat and others when I'm caught up in my thoughts, and so, my reaction is instinctual.

The human has this system. Whenever I do something she doesn't like, she'll "tell me off". She calls this part of the training. Training? Yeah right, human. That one works the other way around, and you'll be happier once you've accepted it all the way down. She went through the motions last night, but it didn't do any good. Even though I was hiding and telling her off, and she was upset that I'd smacked her, neither of us can bear a grudge for very long. Soon enough, she was calling me back, and I, like the responsible owner I am, came to check on her and make sure she was Ok. She had another go at the tummy then, and while I wasn't too pleased, I put up with it. She was rubbing my face this time though, and tickling my chin, and all the while, she talked to me. The voice helped me remember that she wasn't a mancat who only wanted one thing, and while I lashed my tail the whole time to let her know I was only restraining myself because it was her, but barely at that, I put up with it. it was worth it, anyway. When she was done, I got some of the Dreamies treats. These are gorgeous. you should get your peoples to buy them for you. But don't let them seal the bag up as mine does when it's not even empty. You can't get into them with teeth, so unless they leave it open, all your treats will be hidden from you.

A brief update on the chicken saga, too. This morning, she didn't cut any of the lumps up even a tiny bit! I'm disgusted, both with her and myself. She's clever. She's gotten me from small pieces to big chunks so sneakily that I hardly realised it was being done. I'll still put up a token protest and not eat the dinner straight away any more in the hopes that she'll think I can't manage it and will cut it for me. But it didn't work yesterday and it didn't today. She did go out though, and I know she's not tomorrow, so if I cry a bit and stand pathetically by the bowl while I do it, she might just take pity because she can actually hear it going on. Anything's worth a try, right?

I'd like to thank so many of you for stopping by and leaving comments. It's lovely to know that others are reading what I write and sympathising with the frustrations I have. I'm glad the human's word pictures seem to be enough for you all to be getting along with. i'll make sure she gives you all a description from time to time. No, that's not medicine, even though the word description does kind of sound the same. Anyway, the human is getting ready for bed, so I must go and settle her in. The work never ends!