It’s been a nervous couple of weeks for us as we really weren’t sure if we’d been good enough to make it onto Santas good list. We know Millie would have to work extra hard to get on the nice list after her accident but she just can’t resist being mischievous.
We’re pretty sure that the Catmas tree is put for the sole purpose of tormenting us kitties. This year was the first year mummy and daddy had a tree since Millie and Angelin arrived so this is the first time they have experienced such festive fun. There’s so many things on there which make such interesting noises, tinsel that sounds just like Angelin’s crinkle balls, dangling balls that make fun sounds when you paw at then and even little paper tubes that are just like our kicker toys. Plus Millie says it lights up and twinkles, just to make everything that bit more tempting.
Of course as a last ditch attempt to make sure we were on the nice list we helped mummy decorate the tree and she did say that everything on the bottom half was ‘unbreakable’ and so it was ok if we played with those toys…I mean decorations a bit. The top half was out of bounds though as that’s where mummy put all her special decorations. Well Millie took mummy’s words very seriously and made sure she tested every bauble, every piece of tinsel, every paper tube and anything else she could find. The baubles were the most fun for me as once Millie had managed to get them off the branches they made fun noises as we batted them round the floor, a bit like our toy ping pong balls. We also found out that at night after mummy and daddy had gone to bed that’s when they sound best bouncing and rolling around the floor. Then once Millie had explored the bottom of the tree it was Angelin’s turn to be naughty, she climbed up the scratching pole next to the tree, crossed over into the radiator bed and started trying, well chewing the tinsel and lights at the very top of the tree! Then I heard mummy say to daddy “your little girl is destroying the good part of the tree” daddy went over and plucked her away from the good decorations, I heard him whisper to her “that’s naughty Angelin but you’re a clever girl for figuring out how to get up there.” Of course not to be outdone a few days later mummy caught Millie eyeing up the shiny star at the very top of the tree – “No Millie, that’s not for playing with, leave it alone” when Millie kept reaching for the star she too got plucked down but mummy was also proud that for the first time ever Millie had climbed the big scratching pole, it’s no easy thing for a tripaws.
We also helped mummy wrap all the presents, this is always great fun, crinkly paper to pounce on and mummy let us chose which paper we should wrap each present in. For some reason mummy said the wrapping took extra long this year with all us girls helping, I take that as a sign that we did a great job helping her. Either way we all had fun together but I think mummy missed having Peppar around to help keep us girls under control. He never helped wrapping presents and decorating the tree like we do but he was always there to make sure we didn’t get into too much trouble and told us off if we got too naughty before mummy and daddy found out what we were up to. It will be a very different Catmas without him by our sides but whenever I feel slightly naughty I can almost feel his paw giving me a gentle tap to keep me on the playful side of naughty.
When we woke on Catmas day mummy was really excited and before long there was a knock on the door and mummy’s brother came in to see us. Mummy was really happy as she hasn’t seen him for a really long time. We all checked him out from a distance and he smelt of cats so we figured he must be ok. As mummy cooked dinner we all decided we should also have some of their special dinner so we all sneaked out and tried our very best to join in at the dining table. Normally we’re allowed to go up on the table but mummy and daddy were very mean and said that whilst they were eating the table was off limits! The cheek of it, where are we supposed to eat our special dinner? They always say we’re part of the family so we really should be allowed up there to share their dinner. Daddy said that we would always get some special dinner and that he had save a bit specially for us to have later.
Then they all chilled out in front of the TV and laughed and chatted and drank and, then daddy gave us our special dinners but then they gave each other presents. Hang on! Where’s ours? Oh no, maybe we didn’t make it onto the good list after all! We felt sad at this thought so we all went off into the spare room and went to sleep until we heard mummy’s brother leave. Then mummy put her shoes on, what’s going on? “It’s ok Jen” mummy said “I’ve just got to go off and give some special dinner to your friends Jimmy and Habsi as their mummy and daddy have gone away, I’ll be back soon” Well this is all to confusing and I waited impatiently for mummy to come back.
Eventually after what seemed like ages she came home and then daddy said “Come on then girls shall we open all the presents?” Presents! For us? I meowed excitedly “of course” said daddy, “ they’re under the tree, mummy’s going to get them out for you to open.” Well that was it I was relieved and excited all at the same time. Hurry up mummy we all shouted and one by one mummy brought out the presents. We each got something just for us but there was a joint present for us to share too.
Not only did I get sent some great Catmas cards from all my furriends around the world before the big day but for my present I got some beautiful new bandanas to wear out on my walkies. Angelin got a ‘grass’ crinkle mat to play with, mummy said luckily there were two as it took us about 5 minutes to rip it into pieces. That was great fun and we all joined in playing with that together, mummy didn’t even seem to mind all the bits being shredded all over the floor! Angelin did get told off for trying to eat the grass though. Millie got a snake toy which zooms all over the floor for her to chase and then we opened our joint present…we got a ball pit – complete with a ton of balls to play with. The balls can’t escape us either and as mummy swooshed them around I couldn’t help myself and jumped straight in. I love playing with balls and I think this is gonna be a fun toy.
At this time of year I can’t help but think just how lucky we all are compared to our lives on the street before we were rescued. Not all kitties are as lucky as us which is why as a thank you for all the cards I received mummy and daddy made a donation to the Christmas fundraiser run by the charity that rescued me – World Animal Friends. This helps the kitties in the rescue centres they support around the world have enough food so the kitties can have full tummies like we did so they can get fit and healthy and hopefully find their own forever homes.
I hope you all had as fun a time as we did and that you too were on the nice list and got some lovely presents to enjoy like we did.
Jenny’s Story 