I love the time of the year when all the flowers start to grow as it means the insects start to come out for me to chase and the birds get fat and slow and easier to stalk. It also means that I can play lots of games with mummy outside when we go for walkies.
Sometimes we play where’s Jenny. I run around and when mummy’s not looking I find a big patch of flowers or tall grass and then sit or stand really, really still, blending in with my surroundings. Then I wait for mummy to find me, she walks round saying “Where’s Jenny?” I don’t move though as I know it’s all part of the game and it’s just mummy trying to trick me into moving so she can see me. So I sit still and wait until I hear her getting closer and closer and when I hear her breathing I know she really has found me. This game is challenging for me coz I have to find and weave my way into tall things which means pushing my way through the tall leaves which for a blind cat isn’t something that comes naturally. Being blind means that I’m pushing my way into the unknown, it’s harder to find my way back out and hear things that might be in there. The more I do it though the more confident I get and the more fun it is exploring these new places. This game is like hiding in plain sight, I’m not sneaking under anything, just being very still like a statue.
The other game we play is hide and seek. I might be blind but I always know exactly where mummy is but me, on the other hand I’m great at hiding, mummy wanders round saying “Jenny, where are you? I can’t find you” I keep very quiet and as she gets closer I jump out on her to surprise her and she says “Oh! There you are!”. This can be an indoor game too, I often play it with daddy in the evening before he goes to bed, I’ll hide somewhere very secret like under the bed or under the cat tree and he walks round saying “Where’s Jenny? Where are you Jen Jen” then I try to sneak out from one hiding place and keep to another one without him seeing me. If he sees me he bends down, scoops me up and says “I’ve found you” and gives me a quick cuddle before putting me down and then we start all over again.
You all know by now that I love climbing and love spending time high up in the branches listening to the world. Why should playtime stop just coz I’m up a tree though? For me it’s not just about climbing as high as I can – although I love doing that and when I’m in the mood I’ve scurried up to the top before mummy can say “don’t go too high Jenny” – climbing is about having fun and enjoying yourself. So mummy invented a new game called tree twister, she says it’s a bit like people twister but up a tree instead so perfect for me. Mummy gives each tree branch a colour and then says to me “Jenny, left paw, orange branch” and I have to put my left paw on the branch mummy said. We keep going until I’m well and truly twisted up the tree, different legs on different branches and head and tail pointing in opposite directions until I can’t twist or climb any further without getting tied up in a kitty tree knot. Then, I shout at mummy to get me down but she just tells me that I’m quite capable and that I should get down myself, still, it’s always worth a try!
Once the insects start to come out to play then things will be even more fun as I’ll be playing epic games of chase with them outside. There’s so much fun to be had at this time of the year, sometimes though you just gotta use a little bit of imagination and have someone to share that imagination with.
Jenny’s Story 