The Good-Cat-Bad-Cat Routine

Dora the Good has moved out. Dora the bad has moved in.

I decided it was time for a change. I have been here a couple of months nearly and decided that being good is tedious. Firstly, I scratch on things, nothing too serious yet but I am just testing the water. The slaves try to dissuade me but fairly gently so I reckon I could step up a gear soon. At the moment, it is just a chair, wicker baskets and the Front door but hey, the World's a scratching post you know. Secondly, I like to get them worried so I leap about on the landing, above the stairs as if I am about to fly off into the void and drop the whole way down to the ground floor. Even more fun is to balance on the handrail surrounding the steps down into the cellar. I make sure they are watching and pretend to go all wobbly and fall. But all I do then is to grab the handrail and hang there for a while, swinging my rear end around in space. Then I climb back up and parade a bit more. Finally, I get up onto the kitchen worktops. That is quite good fun, nosing around for any bits of cheese rind that might be destined for the birds; poking my head into the sink and so on. Inevitably, that ends with me being scooped off and dumped back on the floor. Sometimes, if I get myself sorted first, I thwart the slaves' efforts and jump down. Like I said in an earlier post, everything seems to have shrunk. Except me of course, I am the same size.

Had my portrait done a few days ago ...

Fun Fun Fun

Nothing really much to report from the last few days, been teaching Jaffa about the Internet and showing her how I do my blog but she wasn't very interested as you can see ...

 

A couple of days ago, we found a great new game. We discovered a small hidey hole just the right size for me. It is under some shelves. So I go and hide in it and Jaffa pretends to find me. Then we poke at each other with our paws and send everything on the shelves above flying. It makes a brilliant noise and it doesn't take long for the slaves to put it all back ready for the next game. We also have devised a game on the setee. A slave puts the fake mouse on a string over the back of the settee then one of us tries to pull the mouse down to the floor whilst the other tries to stop it. Sorry, the slaves are useless when it comes to videos so it is sideways on ...

New Games

I was feeling a bit off colour yesterday afternoon so I had a snooze and kept one eye on the rugby. Leicester vs Toulouse it was. The match wasn't great, but the weather looked really rubbish, the Toulouse kickers missed everything and so they lost.

I am back on top form today, eating and rushing round. Jaffa seems to have found her goalkeeping skills again but I have a new game. It is to leap up and clamp firmly to the leg of a slave when they are dangling the fake mouse on a string for me to chase. It is much more fun to go for the hand end than to go for the mouse end.

We really need Rose to sort out her fixtures, she seems more interested in eating, sleeping and cuddling up to Tollie.

Five-a-side

Bizarre! I was just thinking last night that Jaffa and the others seem to have become smaller. I used to have to look up to Jaffa and the rest but now, they have come down to my level. I don'd get a cricked neck now when bumping noses. Everything in the house seems to be getting smaller too. a few weeks ago, I couldn't get onto the windowsill upstairs without some assistance (a basket full of the slaves odd removable fur). Now, it is easy because it it much closer to the floor. I had a good snooze with the slaves on their bed last night, the one with a bumpy chest fussed me a lot so I purred for ages. It's good to keep the slaves 'on-side' every now and then.

But anyway, that's all by-the-by. I am trying to get a five-a-side team together. I was hoping to sort out a proper team but, when everyone stands still so I can count them properly, we only have seven. None of us are that keen on rugby sevens so five-a-side it will be.  Tollie is too fat and limps a bit so he has agreed, very altruistically I thought, not to be one of the playing staff. He said that he would be happy to look after the half time biscuits. Rose is a bit posh so she has agreed to be the fixtures secretary and the physio - she is very good at treading so she will be good for massaging tired muscles and other injuries. Jaffa was the obvious choice for goalie, she is brilliant at catching stones, snowballs and fake mice in mid-air. Fizz wasn't keen at first, she always seems to be a bit apart from the rest. I got her on board by promising that the ball would be a walnut. I had the slaves throw her half a walnut shell and she was off. She will be on the right wing. Left wing will be Coco, she is really fast and puts in good crosses. I will be in the centre forward position as I am organising it and so it is only natural. I can direct operations better from there as well. Obviously we will all be getting stuck in with the defence but Basil has agreed to hang back to slow down any breaks so the the rest of us can get back. He is usually very laid back but every now and then, he can get quite wound up and be a real thug - perfect for a defender.

Going Mad

Wednesday 16th Jan 2013

The day started quite well, I think Coco likes me now. We had a great chase round the room and she didn't attack me, in fact, she even let me do some of the chasing. That's a real turnup for the books as she has always been the one who has hissed at me the most. Me and Jaffa then did some chasing and practice fighting as well. It's dead easy to knock her over, I just jump really fast and there is nothing she can do ablout it. Ha ha.

It was a bit cold and snowy outside so the others all decided to sleep on the slave's bed en-masse. After a bit of 'chase the fake mouse on a string' with a slave, I trundled off up and joined them.

Jaffa showed me the ropes of drinking from the shower ...

A Long Journey

I feel that I have come a long way over the past 4 weeks, from being a naiive and lost kitten in a snowdrift to the confident one that I am now. I have plenty of new friends, food, beds galore and I have learnt the noises that the food cupboards make so I don't miss out on any feeding opportunities.

I like Basil, although he was a bit poorly last week but is better now and bumps noses with me again when we pass each other.

Jaffa is great fun, but then again, she is young like me and not yet a boring olf fart who sleeps all day! Jaffa seems to like to disappear through the little window in the front door.

I haven't figured out how it works, it seems to go one way only. I did try hitting it with my paw a couple of times but when it bounced open and nearly hit me on the head I thought I would leave it alone. I have decided to watch the others (although Jaffa seems to be the only one who can open it without scratching for the slaves to come and open the big door) to figure out how it works.

People

A couple of days after New Year, loads of people suddenly appeared. Even though I am Dora the Brave, I was a little overwhelmed. But it was OK in the end, two small people played with me a lot - mainly string but a little bit of 'throw the fake mouse' plus a bit of fuss too. It was nice so I purred a lot for them.

I have yet another new bed and like to alternate between the main one with the others and my own.

New Year

The ginger one who seems to answer to the word Jaffa, has decided that she is happy to play chase now. We don't get too rugh but it is great fun tapping each other on the head and rushing up and down stairs. The slaves were missing for most of the day so we had the run of the house. Tollie got a headache because of the noise - 8 paws thundering around on the wooden floor make a very satisfying racket. Here's a picture of me taking a nap in between chases.

Between Christmas and New Year

Well, this last week has been interesting. The only one of the others who still hisses at me is Coco. Even the ginger one has bumped noses with me this week. I like her, maybe we can play chase or have a couple of fights in the New Year. We'll see.

I have a favourite new toy. The green ball. I like to kick it around because it makes a brilliant noise. It has a bit of string on it which is really convenient for carrying it across the room. I still like playing 'beat the monkey'.

I have also found a great hidey hole. Fizz and Rose told me about it. You can get behind and underneath the cooker and dishwasher if you go behind the fridge. I can have the slaves looking all over the house for me, only to pop out and sit innocently in the middle of the room as if I had been there all the time. It is also a good place to hide my toys. That confuses the slaves too. They spend ages looking under and behind things for the fake mice, the green ball and the fake mouse on a string. When they aren't looking, I bring the toys back out of hiding.

Christmas Day

Brilliant, the fire was started early today, just as well as it was a bit chilly. Basically I spent the day running around, chasing small balls of paper and my fake mice. I also am working on destroying some green string that Fizz told me came from the fake mouse that Jaffa and Coco destroyed in September. Wherever it came from, when my slaves move it around on the mat I like to chase it and grab it in my mouth. I think that tomorrow, I might just start carrying it round the room and leaving it in different places.

There is a really big container of soil upstairs now, with a few plants. It's great for digging. I don't think that it impresses my slaves when I do that.

I have noticed as well that the others seem to sleep upstairs with the slaves, I think I will investigate tonight. Meanwhile, here is a self-portrait of me, tired out after writing my blog.

Christmas Eve ...

I thought that it was about time I did something 'cute':

Business as usual

December 22nd. Carried on as usual. Mice, kicking soil around, running up and down stairs and so on. Here is a video that I really like as it makes me look HUGE!

 

I must admit, I did forget the script ... I remember it was supposed to start with a scene where I was having a wash followed by some running around but when I couldn't remember what I was supposed to do next I hid. I think it was because I was excited that Fizz had come home today and I just couldn't think straight. 

Trouble at t'Mill

Oh dear, I was in severe trouble today (21st December).

I discovered upstairs. I also found a place with some really good soil containers so I scattered the soil all over the place so that I could play with it a lot better. That didn't really go down well. When I got tired of that, I hopped onto a nice soft warm bed I found near the soil so that I didn't have so far to walk to play with it again when I got the chance ...

Now, what else did I do? Hmmm? Oh, I remember, I ripped a couple of leaves of some other plants, poked some soil out of some plant containers downstairs and did a really runny poo on the steps to the cellar. A fine day indeed!

Starting to find my feet.

Up to Dec 20th now. Fizz is still at the doctors.

I am getting to quite like the others, they are getting more used to me too. I regularly bump noses with the lads. They're cool.

I also have started to throw the fake mice around and up into the air, that is so much fun. My slaves throw them along the floor for me to chase as well. That's even better as it is less effort! I gave the monkey a really good beating and have slept on my two beds. I was a bit worried about where I would find my food when the slaves collapsed and took away my bedroom - I needn't have worried, I eat with the rest of the clan. Here is a picture of me eating with my friend Basil.

December 17th - I slept well on my new bed. I feel quite refreshed now. I feel so refreshed that I have started to beat up the Monkey ...

I can get pretty much a whole leg or an arm in my mouth if I really try and I really enjoy kicking it with my back paws.

Me and the cat who answers to the word Fizz nipped down to the doctor's this afternoon. The doc said I have some neurological damage but I feel OK. Poor Fizz had to be left down there for some tests, I hope she will be OK, I have started to bump noses with her too. It's only the tortie and the Ginger one that hiss and growl at me now.

A New Bed ...

OK, I am still a bit behind, this is about the 16th December. One week after I was rescued from the snow. My bedroom disappeared last night. I realise now that what I thought were my adoptive parents are actually nothing more than personal slaves, here to cater for my every whim. They have cleaned out my bedroom every day for the last week but last night, they folded it up and took it away. Lucky I found a new bedroom. It was a but unconfortable at first but then I thought about rearranging it. Here is a self-portrait I took once I had it sorted ...

Today was really good too because I bumped nosed with the cat that responds to the word Basil.

Playtime!

Having started to bat the little things that look like mice around and not been in trouble, I have done it a bit more today. I quite like pushing them across the floor and poking them under the things my people seem to sit on. My adopted dad has to get a stick to get them back out again. That's even more fun. I discovered today that there are containers of soil around the place - brilliant for pees and poos. I am starting to like it a lot here. I like it so much that I have decided that I will raise my tail to the others.

Here are some pictures of me. First, having a spot of lunch in my bedroom ...

Here is an action shot of me batting a fake mouse.

And here's one of me and Rose taking a siesta.

Learning fast ...

I am learning lots very fast now. Here is a picture of me doing my checking my email before doing my blog:

 

As you can see, it is a bit cold at times, so I need to wrap up well whilst doing things that don't involve rushing around.

The person that was here last week, one with round things over his eyes who called me 'Splodgeness Abounds' turned up again. I didn't need to hiss at him much this time.

I decided to throw the fake mice around a bit today, just to 'test the water' so to speak. I didn't get into trouble for that though the other cats looked a bit disdainful, snooty even, as if that sort of thing was beneath them. I will wait until they go out through the hole in the door and play with my toys when they are not looking.

I figured out that the two people who are here all of the time must have adopted me as they seem to do what my first mum did, feed and fuss me. I might just see if they will play tomorrow, I will do a few gentle test chews and kicks on their paws and see what happens.

They still put me into my bedroom at night and the others just come and go.

A New Bed ...

I saw on the calendar that it was the 15th December now. This is my 5th day here and I am feeling a bit more settled. I am a bit more confident and don't need to hiss at the people any more. I know that I get let out of my bedroom when it is light and can dash around to stretch my legs. That's a nice feeling.

The other cats are still a bit hissy with me and the small ginger one is really horrible to me, hissing and growling and if I try to go and make friends it hits me on the head. But it doesn't hurt me, 'cos I'm so tough.

The one that seems to answer to the word 'Tollie seems to be OK, I bumped nosed with him. He is a big chap, fairly relaxed though he looks a bit overweight and limps a little. The others still don't like to come close.

I have had some fuss from the people again. I am still a bit nervous and have a lot of wind and they are not too chuffed when I release it. But you know what it is like when you are relaxed ...

Best of all today, I have found a new bed, maybe I can stay on it all night ...