So what do I do when the weather is actually bad enough for me to decide I don’t want to go outside? Well, I still need my time with mummy so of course we have to play. That sounds easy right? Not true though when you’ve got two annoying little sisters who want to get involved in everything that you do. I’m quite a thoughtful cat and so I don’t just go running after things willy nilly, I hunt them first and this can take time and patience. I need to find how far away the prey is that mummy has, is staying still or moving around, if it’s moving is it moving towards or away from me, is it moving in a pattern that I can predict or is it just running? I need to understand all of this before I go in for the kill. It doesn’t take long but it’s a process a good hunter needs to go through, you only get one chance to catch your dinner after all.
Millie and Angelin though just don’t think, they just bundle on in full speed, chasing everything in sight. Angelin is just so young that she never really had to fend for herself as she was very tiny when she found a human to look after her. To her everything is just a game, nothing more serious than that, no struggle to catch her dinner or to just survive. Her favourite toys are crinkle balls, she loves them and is getting better and better at chasing them, she’s learning how to play and how to catch her prey. The more she plays the more she learns and she is a quick learner. She’s learning to be a bit like me, she’s learning how to stalk her prey, whether that’s a toy, daddy’s feet or Me, Peppar or Millie, she’ll lie on the floor flat as she can make herself, head forward, paws and legs at the ready and then when the time is right she leaps forward, claws at the ready.
Millie on the other hand just wants to be the centre of attention, everything that moves she wants to chase, she gets so excited about everything and so wants everyone to like her. She will chase anything and will charge in on us when I’m trying to play with mummy. Mummy and daddy are trying to teach her that she sometimes needs to calm down a little bit and let someone else play. For a tripaws she’s really, really quick and so has an advantage over me and Angelin but mummy’s clever…Milly’s favourite toys are nobbly balls and she loves to play fetch with them down the hallway so mummy throws one of those for Millie and then throws a toy for me to chase into the bedroom. If you’re chasing toys then you just run, no stalking or waiting, just running and instinct. Daddy often tries to distract Millie by playing fetch with her with the nobbly balls while mummy and I play in the kitchen. Sometimes he’ll manage to distract both Millie and Angelin so I can get a really good playtime with mummy and not get put off by the little ones stealing my toys.
All mummy is trying to do with me is play with me in the same way I would behave when I’m outside chasing, stalking running and as she says burning off some of my energy. There’s other things that we do as well, I might help her put the washing out on the airer or put the dry stuff away (as long as Angelin isn’t sleeping on it). As she’s carrying the basket down the corridor she says come on Jenny are you coming to help me? Of course I am mummy! On Sundays I supervise mummy do the ironing – cats are very good at supervising, especially when it involves directing humans in how to do things properly. We’re specially good at helping with the things humans do around the house like making the bed, Millie chases away all the wrinkles and then helps to pull the sheet around, she sits in the middle of the duvet just to make sure it stays still whilst mummy puts it in its cover. Somehow mummy doesn’t always see this as helping for some reason, I’m not sure why as it sounds very helpful to me. She always says an extra pair of hands is always helpful and often asks daddy to help her so I’m not sure why isn’t it helpful when we help.
I keep mummy company when she does the washing up, we then play the game ‘damp hands’. This is such fun, I can’t wait for mummy to finish washing the human bowls so we can play our game. All the time that mummy is doing the washing up I sit next to her on the floor I keep telling her to hurry up, wash up faster mummy I want to play, if that doesn’t work then I rub her legs and if that doesn’t work either then I reach up and give her trousers a little tug just to remind her that I’m there waiting. She always says careful Jenny you’ll pull my trousers down! When I was smaller I would climb her to get her attention but when I tried this the other day she said I was too big to do this, I’m supposed to be grown up now and have big claws which can hurt her if I’m not careful. I don’t mean to do this but sometime I just get so excited hearing the splashing water that I just want to get closer and make mummy play with me.
The damp hands game works like this, mummy does the washing up and gets her hands all wet and foamy, she bends down real close to me, right down on my level and then rubs her damp hand all over me, she runs her fingers up and down, backwards and forwards over my back and sides, ooh it feels so good! She makes my fur go all spikey but I love this, I shout and meow at the top of my voice with joy. Again mummy, again, again! When her hands are dry she washes off all my fur and off we go again. We’ll carry on doing this until my fur is soaking wet and there’s no more bubbles left. After we’ve been playing mummy says I look like a punk cat coz of my spikey fur.
Just recently we’ve been playing damp hands on the side of the bath too. I jump up, as I walk down the edge of the bath mummy gently rubs that side, just enough to make me damp but not enough to upset my balance. I get to the end of the bath, turn around and back I go so I can get the other side done, then up to the end and back I go. I do this over and over until I’m nearly as wet as mummy in the bath! Then when she’s ready we can both dry off together in a big snuggly towel.
I love helping mummy with whatever she is doing she spends a lot of time playing with me and taking me for walkies but it’s not all about running around, it’s just about being together. If I’m there with her she will talk to me and I can listen to her and I then chat with her, I’m not sure she understands everything that I’m saying but it doesn’t really matter. I’m part of the family and that’s what matters. Everything I do is just engaging my senses and my brain and keeping me occupied and stops me from getting bored. Bored cats are mischievous cats and mischievous cats get into trouble and told off for doing naughty things.
Then there’s the balcony, no matter what the weather our balcony is covered so most of the time the weather doesn’t matter, I can sit out there and listen to the sounds of the world. I can hear the birds tweeting, the humans in the park with their dogs barking and the noises coming from the other flats around. Occasionally the rain blows in if the wind is blowing the right way but not often. Out here I can escape from the madness inside and have some space to myself I might be a cat but like you humans I do occasionally like to be on my own for a bit.
Jenny’s Story 