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Tom shared his life with me, Holly & Pepper
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Thomas was a fine handsome chap - (well he thought so anyway)
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I have included some stories that Tom & Pepper dictated to me - I hope you enjoy them
Tails of a Tommycat
Loving greetings to my new friend Bunny, and of course Cat girl. I gather that mum has already told you how she got me, so I thought that you may like to hear some of the funny things that have happened to us, and that I have got up to.
I realised early on that mum needed training regarding how to care for a cat, she was very kind, but had NO IDEA about the little things that are so important in a cats life. One of the first things I had to educate her about was my sleeping arrangements, she was under the impression that I should be using this box thing, that her father had made for me, it was ok - as boxes go, they had tried to make it cosy, added foam padding, and furry blankets etc, but I ask you - if given the choice between that, and a nice 4ft 6ins double (human) bed, complete with duvet, & pillows, what would you choose ? - exactly !!! and so did I. One night she even got in the box herself to try and convince me that that it was comfy - NO chance, I just looked at her, then jumped up onto MY bed, curled up & went to sleep, - she soon learned that lesson !!!
Mum has had several other cats over the years, but now there are just the three of us Pepper & Holly, these are the only two that mum has had since kittens, Holly was not too bad, but Pepper as a baby was so naughty, the first night she arrived mum put her on the floor, and showed her her food, and the litter tray, but Pepper did not want to know, she walked up to Poppy sat down, then smacked her round the face, and then did the same to me ! - Poppy and I were so surprised - we did not know what to make of this new arrival, Poppy was quite upset, as she was looking forward to 'mothering' the little one, but it was soon made clear to us all that it was not nurturing she needed, but a good telling off !. She was always getting into places where she should'nt, although she did look quite cute sitting in the middle of mum's lovely Swiss Cheese Plant - which did not last long once Pepper had discovered the fun involved in 'swinging' off it.
Mum said that she & your mum were chatting about our likes, and dislikes of 'human' food the other day, Poppy was a great one for this type of cuisine, I remember one day mum had cooked a large chicken and had left it to cool - she was having friends over later, I had never jumped up onto the work surfaces, so mum did not think twice about leaving it out - this error was to cost her dearly, when mum went back out into the kitchen later she let out a scream !! the chicken was now reduced to just bones !!! - Poppy was laying on the bed (now accepted as OUR bed) - I had never seen a black & white cat look green before! - and her tummy was SOOOO full , it was solid, she could only just about move her little head and wimper, - mum then got worried that she was going to have to take Poppy to the vet and have her tummy pumped out due to a 'chicken overdose'.
Another of Poppys 'helping herself' stories concerned some prawns that mum had left out overnight to thaw, there were two packets - one of the large expensive King Prawns, and a pack of the smaller type prawns. When mum came downstairs in the morning there was only one packet left - which one do you think it was ? - yes you've guessed it, - Poppy had managed to open & eat (although she did throw some to us) the large King Prawns - and very tasty they were too !!! Even Poppy felt embarrassed about this, and if anyone mentioned prawns to her after that, I she almost blushed.
When I first came to stay with mum we lived in a ground floor flat (or as you call them apartments), so to come and go I used to use the bedroom window, during the summer mum would leave this open, but in winter she had to get up to let me in , and out - one night I had been feeling restless, and in & out several times, mum was getting a bit fed up with me, and told me that next time I went out I was going to have to stay out until she got up in the morning, so five minutes later I demanded to go back out, when I came to ask her to let me in ( I used to Scratch at the window) she did not get up. - Hmm - so I looked around , and noticed that the flat above mum's had a window open (this belonged to a lady called Hilary). So I went round to the next garden, jumped up onto the wall, then onto the roof of the other flat, and from there into Hilary's bedroom - she was bit surprised to see me !!, but she was very nice about it, and picked me up, took me downstairs, banged on mums door, and gave me back to mum, - mission accomplished !!
I think it took a while for mum to 'cotton on' that just cos I looked cute, and furry, it did not mean that I was stupid, and that the only way things were to be done was going to be MY WAY (burst into Frank Sinatra's song). Over the years she has come round to my way of thinking, and is now quite well trained in most aspects of cat care. The main thing is that she now knows that 'Moggies Rule' - at least in our house. Although there are still a couple of areas that she could improve upon, the first is the 'breakfast battle' - do you have trouble getting your mum out of bed to do your breakfast Bunny?
Well we do - We want our breakfast when WE wake up, regardless of what time it is, or if she is still asleep, I frequently have to sit on the pillow and smack her (gently to start with) round the face, if she does'nt respond to this, and I know for a fact that sometimes she pretends she is still asleep, then we have to increase the effort (she says that we beat her up), I have now organised the others into a sort of routine, I keep on at the face, Pepper walks up and down on her, ( Pepper is very good at this, the best one is when Pepper bounces up & down on her bladder - this ALWAYS works), and Holly concentrates on her feet. Eventually she gets the message, and we get our breakfast - but all this hassle is so tiring, I often have to go right back to bed after breakfast to get over all the work.
Earlier I mentioned that Holly as a baby was not as bad as Pepper, but I forgot to tell you about her most annoying habit - she would NOT leave my tail alone, all day & night mum could be heard saying ( I think she should have made a record of it) - " Holly - leave Thomas's Tail alone" mum must have repeated this at least 20 times a day ! - but Holly never took any notice.
You may have noticed in the photos that mum sent, I am a fine handsome chap, although some people will insist that I am a trifle overweight ( Its not true). When mum was going to adopt Meggie from the R.S.P.C.A. they sent a man round (one of their inspectors) to check that we were suitable to have her, the interview was going well until he passed comment on my figure, to be fair mum did try to warn him, but he did not listen, he then proceeded to tell mum that I was FAT & then he had the cheek to bend down to stroke me!! - Well I was not going to have that - so I promptly bit him - hard !!!
(Chuckle Chuckle) - I bet he now thinks twice before calling other cats fat!!
Another person who tends to mock my fine physique is Jo, she thinks it highly amusing to make 'funny' comments. For example she calls me 'Bagpuss'& 'Garfield', and she makes loud comments about the D word (diet). I usually just walk off with a flick of my tail, to show my contempt, however I do sometimes get my revenge, when Jo comes to stay, I get Holly to play all night long - (Tee Hee).
Another moan I have about mum is her boyfriend - Peter, he does'nt stay often, but when he does he thinks he has the right to sleep in our bed - he does not even ask for our permission (I think he has this weird idea that cats should not sleep on beds), I remember once that they had gone to bed, so I crept up onto the bottom of the bed, curled up & went to sleep - I was not in anyones way, or causing trouble. All of a sudden I woke up as I hit the floor, he had quickly raised his legs so that I fell off. As you can imagine I was most upset about this, so I waited until he had gone back to sleep, then quietly eased my way under the duvet then attacked his feet!!! - AHH revenge is sweet, he then had a go at mum for what I had done - but she stuck up for me, and told him it was his fault for tipping me off the bed.
Mum and I have been together now for nearly 13 years, ( I was 1 when she got me) and I think we make a pretty good team. She still needs the occasional reminder of who is the boss, like during the summer she bought me a new sun lounger, now I'm not greedy, and I do not mind her using it if I'm not on it - but I take my sunbathing very seriously, and do not take kindly to her trying to get me off, when I have just made myself comfy. Also she takes her time in getting off it when I want it, - sometimes I have to lay to top of her (she hates this cos she then ends up with a large white patch on her suntan), before she gets the message.
Well I think I will finish this for now. I hope that you have enjoyed hearing about my life, I will dictate some more to mum another day, - but you know how it is Bunny, life is so tiring, and mum keeps moaning about me keep taking cat naps.
Take care of yourself Bunny, and look after Cat Girl for us - I think that mum is also trying to get Holly & Pepper to write their stories, and she will send these on at a later date.
Also I forgot, mum is hoping to be able to buy a new camera in february, so she will be taking lots of new pictures of us- I will make sure that she sends
some to you.
Lots of love & Cuddles, & hugs
Thomas
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My interests:
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Here is another Cat eye view
Pepper's Paws for Thought
A huge big Meeeeeeouw, & lots of pretty purrs to you all. Mum was telling Tom last night how much everyone had enjoyed his 'Tails of a Tommycat', well Tom was sitting there preening looking very pleased with himself. Well I have to tell you I was quite upset, why doesn't anyone want to know about me ? just cos I'm not as old as Tom, it does not mean that I have not got a few things to say. - mum must have realised that I was a bit miffed - because I would not sit on her lap, - so she then said that she would do my story next, (yawn) - sooooo I've been up all night dictating this, I may not be the raconteur that Tom is, but I've done my best.
I'm a semi-longhaired mainly white, with tabby patches, and a smudgy bit on my nose. I am five years old, and I have been with mum since I was 6 weeks , - I think I came as a bit of a shock to them all. Firstly mum had not ever had a kitten before, and certainly not one like me!! And secondly I was very definitely the adventurous type - although there appears to be a difference of opinion on this subject, mum & Tom tell everyone that I was just plain naughty.
I vividly remember the day that mum came to collect me, I was so excited, I had been looking forward to this !!! Mum turned up at about 7 o'clock - she had even brought me a collar - trouble was it was a cat sized collar, it would have gone three times round my middle, with enough left over to loop over my tail!! She then proceeded to try to stuff me into this cage thing, as you will all know - none of us like going in one of these ( I now realise they are called 'pet carriers') - so I waited until we were in the car then I went to the toilet in it - I thought that this would demonstrate my displeasure, it certainly worked, she had to get me out, but she still would not let me climb all over the car - why not ? this was all new to me, and I needed to be able to investigate !!!
We finally got to my new home, and mum started to show me around, first off she wanted me to meet my new friends Poppy & Thomas, they looked ok but I was determined to show them that just cos I was little I was no pushover. Poppy had that sloppy mothering look on her face - well mothering was one thing I did not need - clearly I had to show them who was boss!! So I marched up to Poppy, sat down, then whacked her round the 'chops', - Tom was watching all this with great interest - but I intended to be very fair, and he was next to get 'the treatment'. Having established my position, I then proceeded to check out the furniture for climbablilty - not bad at least 9 out of 10. ( I was to discover later that climbing mum was 10 out of 10 - the screams added the extra point).
All this activity was quite tiring, so at this point I decided to take a nap. Later on mum introduced me to the important parts of my new home, - food bowls, litter trays, & bed, like Tom I already had quite definite ideas on this subject, and had been practising very hard on climbing up valances, so that I was now fairly proficient. The bed also played an big part in a really good game - 'The Duvet Game' this is still one of my favourites, basically you stand on the Duvet, and then pounce hard - using claws, & teeth on any part of mum's (or anyone's for that matter) that moves. This game does require a degree of expertise - if too much pain is inflected on the person under the Duvet, they tend to try to boot you off the bed. Much later on I taught Holly how to play this, - she enjoys it too.
The next day I started to explore my new home in greater detail, it was at this point that I also learned my name, I was clearly superior to Tom, & Poppy, as they only had short names, - mine was much longer " Oh no Pepper - what are you doing there" - to start off with mum abbreviated it to "Oh no Pepper" - and then with time settled for just 'Pepper'.
Mum had obviously designed her house with my interests at heart, there were sooo many things for me to investigate, climb, and swing off, one of the best was this huge big Swiss Cheese Plant, - I used the sit in it, and pretend that I was in the jungle hunting for tigers, or that the tigers were chasing me & I had to escape by swinging off it. - for some reason though the plant died. Mum then replaced it with an arrangement of silk flowers, but they were not the same.
I was throughly enjoying my new life, but there was one habit that mum had that I was determined to break, she would keep reading these book things, this meant that she was not concentrating on me !!! I tried really hard to distract her - but she kept on reading, in the end I developed this routine, - firstly I would rest my face on the top of the book, then I crept under the book, and lastly I came round the side, this always worked - she was laughing so much that she gave up, and played with me.
After a trip to this horrid man who stuck needles in me, I was allowed outside into the big wide world, although mum was concerned that maybe the world was not quite ready for me! This was great fun, even Tom used to come in the garden, and we would play chase together (Poppy was too dignified for this). In those early days I was afraid of nothing, but that was soon to change, mum was having problems with her landlord, and sometimes when she was at work he would let himself in - mum did not know that this was going on for a while, and when she did she changed the locks, - but when he came in he used to shout at me, I know that was a long time ago, but I am still a bit careful about strangers now. (I hide under the bed until I think that they are OK). - I like Jo , she plays games, and puts on puppet shows for us ( I think she's a bit funny in the head).
I have to admit that I was naughty to Poppy, - I used to ambush her when she was on the litter tray, & chase her round the house, Poor Poppy she used to try so very hard to get me to behave like a lady (Poppy was very elegant), I did not realise what a trial I must have been to her, until we got Holly, and I tried to get her to behave herself, bringing up kittens is hard work !!!
The only other one I was mean to (still are when I get the chance !) is mums boyfriend - Peter - he's has the view that cats should not be allowed on human beds, now I know that Tom has tried to change his mind about this, but I have a much better trick than Tom's, when he stays I climb up onto the wardrobe, and then dive bomb him - all night long !!! - this might explain why he calls me 'The Beast'. - I have heard him say that he was going to put me down the waste disposal - tail first !!! - but I think he was only joking, anyway mum wouldn't let him.
Well friends this will tell you a bit about me, I must say we all enjoy hearing about what you have been up to, mum always tells us the news when she gets in from work, - it's a really nice feeling knowing that we have got a whole lot of cat friends of the 2 & 4 legged variety all over the world. - be good (well goodish), and don't give your mums & dads too much trouble.
Lots of love
Pepper
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