I was thinking the other day about what I was like when I first came to the UK 🇬🇧. Although I was a fairly confident cat and bought that I had seen such a lot in my first short months I now realise that there was so much I was missing out on. Life as a street cat is tough but your main aim is to survive – by any means. Focus is on getting food and not becoming someone else’s dinner. This is tough for any cat but one who starts life out at a disadvantage by becoming poorly as a kitten and gradually loosing one’s sight it is especially difficult. There are not only things such as animals that might want a little kitty for dinner but so many other things that might hurt us, there are cars to look out for too, they used to go very fast and having to cross the road was like running the gauntlet, once you started to cross you just had to keep going and just hope that nothing would come too close. If anything did hit you they didn’t stop to see if you were ok as you’re ‘just a street cat’. I was lucky, I tried to stay away from the roads and nasty, noisy, smelly cars. We tried to stay away from humans too as some of them were very nasty, they didn’t like having cats near them living on the street so would do horrible things if they saw you. Not everyone sees animals as creatures, living beings with feelings and spirit. There were dangers everywhere.
Life was tough then but I didn’t realise just how bad it was until I was rescued and became a cat with someone who loved me and a home.
Now, if I go outside mummy is with me to stop me hurting myself and anything hurting me, my confidence is growing all the time, I used to be scared of the cold, windy, rainy weather but not anymore. We go outside in all sorts of weather. When most cats are curled up in the warm, snuggling with their humans, I’m outside with mummy, taking in all the different smells and sounds. Different weather makes different noises, if it’s been raining the ground feels and smells different and this is interesting to a cat. It might be that I’m the first one who has walked on that bit, so I’m the first smell laid down after the rain. Rain doesn’t wash away all the smells, but I have learnt that each trip outside is different from every other one, that why I like exploring the outdoors so much.
Having a home, I can now do things because I want to not because I have or need to. There is food and water which my mummy and daddy provide throughout the day, I don’t have to hunt for it or find what has been left out by one of the nice humans that feed the street cats. I can eat when I want, there’s always water and more than one place to find it. A bowl in the kitchen and a fountain as well just for us cats, there’s a cup by daddy’s side of the bed for us as well as the taps in the bathroom when mummy and daddy are doing what they call their ‘blushons’ in the morning and before bed. Mummy and daddy were really amazed to see that one day when I was in my usual spot by the sink supervising them that I stepped into the sink and started lapping up the water from the tap. Just coz I’m blind doesn’t mean I can’t tell where the freshest water can be found.
I don’t know, these humans are funny creatures, they are amazed by so many things that I do that just come naturally to me!
I can sleep wherever I want, mummy and daddy have put out lots and lots of cat beds, perches, and furniture just for us that there are lots of places to relax. I can choose any one I want, we all share, although we each have our favourite spots. I don’t have to worry about something coming to attack me when I’m sleeping (except my siblings – but they’re learning) I don’t have to find somewhere dry and warm, I don’t have to keep one ear open to listen for things coming that might be dangerous. In my forever home, there is nothing dangerous and once I learnt the different noises that humans make in their homes I could start to relax. It took me a long time to realise that I could go into a proper, proper deep sleep. Thinking back I don’t think I ever really had a proper nights sleep on the streets but obviously I didn’t realise that at the time as that was all I knew. Most of the time when I sleep I like to be close to mummy and daddy so I go up to the bed just behind the sofa and curl up there. Sometimes when I’m having a really long sleep I’ll creep down the back of the sofa and then curl up next to or on mummy’s lap.
Sometime I just want to get away from all the noises and my manic sisters (Peppar is really chilled out anyway) I can go into the spare bedroom, where there is another cat tree, it’s quieter here and I can be alone with my thoughts and just have some peace and quiet. If Peppar is in there as well he’ll be in his new snuggle bed on top of the human bed just sleeping so hes no bother. Sometime if he’s not there I’ll nick his bed and snuggle down in it for a nap. Much like mummy says that people need their space sometimes animals do as well. I’m so lucky that my pawents have made it so that even in our home there is space for everyone, we can all be together or we can have our own space too.
Although living with mummy and daddy means I can pretty much do what I want when I want I know that there are things that I shouldn’t do. Daddy says there are things called rules which we must all follow so we can live together happily. There are some rules for mummy and daddy and some rules for us kitty cats. There aren’t many rules to follow but sometimes the street cat in me forgets what I shouldn’t do. Street cats each have their place in a clowder and you must respect your elders and the queen of course but there aren’t any rules to follow, it’s each for their own really. It’s because of this that sometimes I forget mummy and daddy’s rules, they are simple ones such as we aren’t allowed on the kitchen side, we mustn’t climb on the table, we shouldn’t scratch mummy and daddy’s furniture – we have lots of our own furniture that we can scratch at as much as we want. We aren’t allowed to climb onto the outside or top rail of the balcony as we might fall and hurt ourselves. Oh and we aren’t allowed to eat food from their plates. I keep forgetting that I’m not supposed to climb on the furniture and so I keep getting told off for being naughty. One thing about me and other blind cats is that once you’ve got something in your mind wether it’s a route, activity or behaviour it’s very hard to change. Everything I do is by routine and repeating things until they’re mapped in my mind, once I’ve done something a couple of times it becomes part of my memory. Unlearning that process is very difficult as it’s like trying to unsee something that you’ve already seen. It’s very difficult to break the habit but I will try to as it will help me bring more peace to the family and stop me from being a naughty girl.
Play is something that I didn’t do much on the streets, I did rough and tumble with other cats but for us this isn’t so much play as learning. It is our way of teaching each other how to fight and be able to defend yourself if you need to. Cats will always rough and tumble with each other but the play I’m talking about is toys. I never knew there could be something so fun! I’m not normally amazed by humans but this did…there are people who make fun things for us cats to play with for no other reason than it will make us happy! How amazing is that people wanting to play with cats just because it’s fun. My family have loads of toys, sticks, feathers, balls, toys that are quiet, toys that are noisy, ones that we can play with by ourselves and ones that we can play with with mummy and daddy. There are soft ones, hard ones, ones that are crinkly and ones that are smooth. Some move really fast and some much slower, some fly through the air and some roll along the ground. There are even some that give out treats as you play with them. Imagine the place that all these toys are made in…maybe that is cat heaven? Maybe that is where Piper, Misty and Mia are, playing away in the cat toy factory. Maybe they’re even helping make toys for us to play with.
My life as a street cat is a distant memory now but I try hard not to forget that memory as it’s so important, it’s part of who I am. It makes me appreciate my new life all the more, realise how lucky I am and what it is like to have a proper family. I knew there were good people in the world but I didn’t know just how good some people could be.
Jenny’s Story 