Posts tagged cats

While we were on holiday a friend came and cat sat for our beloved moggies.  Unfortunately poor old Tiggy died while we were away – she didn’t come in for her dinner and the next morning Ed found her under her favourie bush in the garden. 

A huge thank you to Ed for sorting this out and taking her up to the vets.  We aren’t sure why she died but the odvious thing was that she was a bit of a fatty and one of her organs was under too much pressure and failed as a result.  We had tried to get her weight down since we got her a year or so ago from the rescue centre – she was on diet food – but she never lost any weight (the vet thinks that she was ‘popping’ into other houses and helping herself to their cat’s food).

It is really sad that she died – she was adorable and Chad and I are missing her loads.

The interesting thing is the personality change in Sophie, our remaining cat.  The loss of her mother has totally changed her personality.  Whereas before she was shy and retiring, now she is highly vocal, affectionate and sits on our laps for attention (this NEVER happened even once before).  I have done some googling on this and it is probably simply that she was being submissive and was under oppressive mother rule. 

So there we go – we have a much happier cat on her hands.  Motherly love not always good love it appears.

I mentioned in a recent post that Tiggy and Sophie are returned; back from the cattery after the completion of the building work. It is great to have them back home – they are so entertaining and adorable. Nothing beats the sound of a happy purring cat to lift my spirits and make me feel content about life.

What is so lovely about them is their predictability, interspersed with acts of randomness, that really delights. Following the predictability path Sophie and Tiggy reacted to coming back home in exactly the same way that they have done previously following their mini breaks at the full board luxury lodgings provided care of the Animal Medical Centre of Cricklewood.

Tiggy, aka Fat Mama, falls straight back into family life – trying to hunt out the junk food she loves and chilling on the sofa. Sophie, aka Pensive Daughter, was, well her usual pensive self. She has been hiding a lot under the bed or behind the sofa and then dashes out for attention and then runs off again. She also barely ate a thing for two days – just to make us worry and get some pay back for sending her away for nearly three weeks. She is such a funny thing – she loves attention, especially diving in and shoving Tigs out of the way (which often results in Sophie getting a whack on the head from her mother).

Despite being so bold Sophie will sometime have a freak out and end up deciding that she needs to hide again. No-one puts baby in the corner – she puts herself there.

Chad and I had to drop Tiggy and Sophie off at the cattery today. We have building work starting tomorrow for three weeks and they will freak out with all the noise and general stress. We have also been informed that this is a good decision because all the dust might cause them health problems with their eyes and lungs.

It is really bonkers how guilty we both feel – like sending kids off to boarding school I imagine. You know it is going to do them good but neither the kids nor the parents really like the idea of it – well not these kids or parents anyway! As I am sitting here typing I really miss the fact that one of them is not trying to walk over the keyboard. I didn’t awake to four eyes staring intently at me waiting for breakfast which weirdly I miss.

They are in a ‘penthouse’ for three weeks, will get their nails done and will be looked after by very attentive staff – sounds like a good holiday to me. I have convinced myself that it OK. A bit too much anthropomorphic projection I hear you cry. Yes probably true but these cute little moggies are like our babies (friends refer to them as our gaybies) – which unless you are a cat lover you probably won’t understand.