Cats on Mat

This afternoon we are being calm and relaxed. The humans think we should use this mat to sharpen our claws on. That was produced after we made it clear that the blue post thing is beneath our notice for claw-scratching.

Humans have strange ideas. The furniture is so much more effective, and that was already there. We just have to make sure they're not looking, as it makes them agitated.

But the mat is good to sit on.

Human games

Sometimes my female human servant plays a wonderful game. I don't think she wants us to join in, but we're trying to show her how much more fun it is when we play too.

First she takes a bit bird on the end of a stick and pushes it around in the bookcases. She calls it 'dusting', but if she wants dust, she should get some from outside on the balcony. It's very dusty there. So Joan and I see who can jump the highest and attack the stick.

The human pulls it away before we can get it, so we try harder. And sometimes we succeed:

She sighs, and sometimes she shouts. Sometimes she carries us upstairs to the room with the big bed and shuts us in. I like that room, but not when someone is playing a good game downstairs.

When she's finished the 'dusting' game, she gets an even bigger stick with a fluffy thing on the bottom. That's so much fun to chase and attack:

I don't know why the human sighs and shouts. What fun is it just to push the thing around the floor if nobody's chasing it?

Rooftops

Last night my sister and I went out for a run around on the upstairs balcony, as we usually do before the big bedroom door is closed for the night.

Joan was being a bit boring, just rolling in the dust and batting around a bit of old foam, and I was thinking of going inside again. Then I caught sight of something flying! I don't know what it was, but it was a lot smaller than me. I want to learn how to fly, so badly.

The flying thing was teasing us. It flew over our heads and I leapt to try and catch it. Then it flew off, over the roof behind the balcony. We play out there sometimes so I chased after it...

...and then I did something very silly.

I forgot where I was.

I forgot how important it is to have an escape path.

I jumped across a gap without thinking, and I landed on a piece of roof I had not seen before.

I looked around, but the flying thing had disappeared. But when I tried to get back, I couldn't do it. The gap was too big, the drop to the ground much too scary.

I explored for a while but it was lonely. I started to cry, I admit it. I heard my humans calling for me, and I cried a bit louder. They didn't hear me.

I was getting very scared, and feeling hungry too. I didn't know what to do.

Then I heard one of my human servants calling. I called back as loudly as I could, and he heard me. He had a magic light spot that he threw up to the roof, which I chased for a moment, but then he made it fly across the big gap. So I cried that I couldn't do it. I'm not big and strong enough.

It was a long time later, after lots of humans talking and calling, and I was crying in desperation by this time. Suddenly I heard my human's voice quite close to me, and saw his arm. I ran up to him, and he grabbed me. It wasn't very comfortable but I was so pleased to see him.

He spoke to me sternly and I tried to get down, but he carried me all the way home. Such a pity, as there were so many exciting things to see, and I thought maybe we could play hide and seek, but he took me inside and said it was bedtime.

I don't think I'll do that again. I hope I remember, anyway.

A doggy cat?

Sometimes I eat my food very fast. I'm always worried someone else will get there first. I like lots of human food, like cheese and eggs, and pittas. It's fun to eat breadcrumbs from the floor too.

Sometimes I chase and attack things. I like to roll over in the dust outside, and I like to chase balls, and flying things.

I'm also aware that I'm not very good at landing on my feet, unless I concentrate very hard. My sister Joan is much more graceful than I am.

And the humans tell me I lie in a most undignified fashion:

I just think it's common sense when it's so hot.

Especially when my sister wants to lie next to me:

She doesn't like being on her own, and I know I'm the biggest and greatest so I have to look after her.

But my humans keep laughing, and said that I must be part dog.

I assume this is a compliment? 

Friendly cats

Those two old cats were a bit suspicious of us at first.

But we knew how to allay their suspicions. We did the whole bow-down-and-submit thing when they hissed, and we let them bat us on the head sometimes.

It's working. They don't mind at all when we sit near them now:

Next step in the plan is to eat at the time as they do, at the same bowl, instead of waiting until they are done.

Unfair sister

It's bad enough that humans are unpredictable and have some strange ideas.

But my sister Joan is starting to get quite boring sometimes. She was sleeping today and I was looking for something to do. I had washed myself all over, and had a snack, and was wondering what to do. I thought perhaps I'd give Joan a wash, as she wasn't doing it herself.

So I jumped up and started to lick her face. At first she purred in her sleep, so I kept washing. Then I started biting her ear and she woke up. She wasn't happy with me at all, so she rolled over and started biting me back:

That seemed most unfair.