Birthday Girl

On Monday it was my 6th birthday and whilst mummy had to go to work I had a fab day at home with daddy having lap cuddles, running on my wheel and playing damp hands with him. Then just around the time mummy was due home daddy said that mummy had a surprise planned for me, I meowed and meowed at daddy to tell me but all he would say was that I’d have to wait till mummy got home. After what seemed like hours and hours and hours I heard the sound of mummy’s car pulling up and rushed to the door, as it opened I meowed loudly and gave mummy a special twirly and meowed loudly to welcome her home. Then I heard the sound of daddy going to my accessory box, come on Jen he said, let’s get you ready whilst mummy changes. Then, after daddy had clipped my harness on I heard the familiar noise of my backpack coming out. This must mean we’re off on a proper walkies, I hope it’s to the wood, I love the woods. I meowed and meowed to mummy to tell me where we were going but she was as unhelpful as daddy and just said you’ll have to wait and see Jen. Well, it turned out I was right it was the woods and it was wonderful.

Mummy and I walked and walked and walked, I said hello to the cows, I explored the wood, I climbed a tree and I listened out for my mousie furriend that I saw last time but he didn’t want to come out and play. We did meet some doggies though, they were all very well behaved but some were a bit surprised about meeting a cat out for a walk with her mummy, mummy stopped and chatted to them and explained all about me and how I love being outdoors despite being blind. How being blind doesn’t stop me from doing anything and just to prove her right I climbed up the tree! That’ll show them 😺.

Whilst the wood is familiar, each time we go it changes slightly, new smells and sounds to explore, new trails to follow and new things to find each and every time. This time there was a new creature smell, just after mummy had let me out of my backpack, she saw something hopping away from us and off into the trees, I could smell the new trail, I could tell there were fresh paws and so I followed it but it disappeared off into the field where I can’t go. Mummy said it was a squirrel 🐿 she saw not something that I’ve met before here, we used to have them in my old gardens but this is the first time I’ve met one in the woods. Then with that excitement over it was time to go off and explore further, following the path and stopping off at every opportunity to sniff out a new scent trail to follow. I’m very lucky that mummy lets me wander a little way off the path into the undergrowth where I can, she doesn’t follow as she says that she doesn’t want to disturb the nature and the little creatures that might be hiding or living there. This is where mummy and my experience in walkies is very important, we work together so that I can explore under the bushes but also so that my lead doesn’t get caught up, otherwise mummy would have to come and untangle me. I trust mummy completely and so I know that if she gently pulls the lead this way or that way that I should follow her guidance, generally it’s because she’s trying to get me to come back the exact same way I went so I don’t get tangled, or that she’s trying to get me to avoid something like a branch.

Sometimes though mummy lets me fully embrace my adventure cat spirit and when we found the stream again, I was a bit more curious than before, I ventured right down the steep bank, mummy said “be careful Jen, if you slip you’re going to get very wet” “you’ll save me though, won’t you mummy” I meowed as I ventured further down, “I’ll try” mummy said “ but my reflexes aren’t as good as yours” and with that thought I decided I’d leave getting closer to the stream to another time. “I don’t know why you’ve always got to do things the hard way Jen, there’s a much easier way down just over there” well that just wouldn’t be me now would it mummy I thought to myself but she’s right I do like to take the challenging route most times.

Then before I knew it, mummy was saying it was time to head back, aww do we have to I meowed, dragging behind mummy on the lead, mummy explained that it was nearly time for dinner and that she had another special treat in store for me as part of my birthday. Apparently we can’t stay in the woods all evening, even if mummy does say that it’s so peaceful that we could spend a whole day here, given the chance. Still as mummy mentioned dinner, I realised that all this exploring and the smells I’d been following had made my tummy hungry so off we went, following the path back the way we had come, only stopping a few times to investigate something interesting. Then mummy scooped me up and popped me in my backpack and we headed for home.

I’m not really very food motivated, which is a bit unusual for a street cat, they can be a bit greedy but not me! My most favourite food is steak but we normally only get that on extra special occasions but mummy also knows that my second food love is chicken and she cooked some specially for me for my birthday treat dinner. It was so yummy I gobbled it all up and meowed for more, I ate till I had a full tummy and then found a cosy spot to curl up and sleep the night away, dreaming of my special day and all the fun I had. I such a lucky girl to be spoilt so much.

Precious was back at the v-e-t this week to get her stitches out, all went well but she had to keep the cone in for a bit longer, just until her ear fully heals. I’m still staying a polite distance from her, she still sounds odd and none of us really like the sound the cone makes when she shakes it about or scratches at it. Mummy and daddy have been giving her some cone free time each day, meaning she can have a bit of a wash and be a bit more comfortable and today even when mummy and daddy went out Precious was allowed to keep her cone off. It’s her first full day without it for ages, I hope now we can start to get to know her properly as mummy and daddy say she’s here to stay.

It turns out that I was quite lucky my birthday was on Monday and I got the chance to go to the woods as it’s rained every other day since then. Mummy and I have had to be ready to go out for walkies at the slightest sign of the rain stopping or easing up, it hasn’t been a dry walkies every evening, some evenings it’s just when there is a bit less rain than there was before rather than none at all.