This weeks been a difficult week. Millie, our ginger tornado girl, our crazy, floofy, tripaws, loudmouth has been in the vet hospital and this place is just far too quiet without her. I’ll leave mummy to tell the story…

We were just getting ready for bed and as I put my glass in the dishwasher I heard a lounge kind of doink noise from the direction of our balcony. Normally that kind of noise is when one of the children higher up throws something like a toy off their balcony and it hits ours on the way down but it was far too late for these to be any children outside. As I shouted Millie! Daddy shouted “that sounded like a cat”. I knew Millie had been outside sitting in the well made butt grove in the planter. Me and daddy rushed outside and looked over, we couldn’t see anything so shouted for Millie, we could hear her yelling from the gardens. In my pyjamas I put on some shoes grabbed my phone as a torch and ran out to get her. She was there sitting under the building overhang, scared and confused. I grabbed her up and rushed her back inside, she was shouting loudly all the way. Once safe and back inside we gave her a big cuddle and put her onto the floor. Immediately we could see something was wrong, she was limping badly, we immediately thought she’d damaged her one back leg but when I examined it I couldn’t see anything wrong, she didn’t wince or show any signs of pain when I touched it but nevertheless there was something just not right. Despite being home she was still shouting a lot and this was worrying as well, what if, when she fell she hit something on the way down and that was the doink we heard.

I got dressed and rushed her to the emergency vet. Millie protested loudly at this all the way up and showed her displeasure by being sick in her carrier. This is normal for Millie as we think she suffers from travel sickness. Once at the vet she had a good look at Millies back leg, couldn’t find anything immediately wrong so put her on the floor to see her walking. Her gait from her back leg looked fairly normal and just as I was starting to feel stupid that I was an over anxious cat mum and had taken her up there for no reason, there it was – as she sat under the vets table I spotted her front paw bent at a horrible angle! It’s the front paw on the same side as her one back leg, that’s why we thought she had a back leg injury she was compensating for her damaged front paw.

I was amazed when Millie, snuggled in my arms, actually let the vet examine her damaged paw without any obvious sign of pain even when the vet felt it and gently moved it to try to fathom out what she had done. I thought then that this wasn’t a good sign but cats are good at hiding their pain so I put that thought to one side and agreed for the vet to admit Millie. The vet explained that Millie already only has three legs that this is serious, if she had badly damaged her paw then it might need to be removed which on a cat with three legs is even more serious than for a ‘normal’ cat for obvious reasons. We would have to wait for the result of an x-ray to see what damage she’s done.

All the time I was in the vet I could hear my phone pinging, daddy was texting to see what’s going on. I called him from the car after I’d said goodnight to Millie. I told him what had gone on and what the outcome could be and we both agreed then and there that we weren’t going to lose her. She’s so young and been through so much already that we can’t let her down, We must try everything, we took her on and she’s part of our family and for family you do whatever it takes.

After a long sleepless night and anxious morning we got a call from the vet. The X-ray had showed that she had badly damaged her paw and ripped all the ligaments which is why her paw was at such a horrible angle. They described her injury as a catastrophic one and there was no doubt she would need surgery to repair it. They were concerned though as the x ray wasn’t detailed anough to show the state of the tiny bones in her ankle and paw so to get a better idea of how to fix her they needed to do a CT scan as well. We agreed. There were two options at this point:

1. Depending on the state of her ankle they could fuse it together to make a solid joint but to do this they need solid bones to fix the plates to.
2. If the bones were broken as well then it would be a referral to Noel Fitzpatrick the Supervet as fixing this would be beyond the capability of our local vet, this could mean she might need to have the paw removed and a prosthetic one fitted.

It was a waiting game but there was nothing else we could do. Another sleepless night and long morning and then the call from the vet in the evening, they had the CT results and it showed that Millie hadn’t broken he bones in her paw or wrist but dislocated all of the wrist joints. The vets said they could fuse the joint and we didn’t need a further referral. This was the best outcome of the worst situation. We agreed to go ahead with the operation but there was a further complication, her paw was so swollen that they can’t operate yet, they wouldn’t be able to see the joints inside her paw well enough and the tissue wouldn’t be flexible enough to cover the wound properly so we must wait. In the meantime they had splinted it and bandaged it to help try to reduce the swelling.

We’ve been to see her every evening, she needs to know we’re there for her, that she’s loved and we want her back home as soon as we can. She’s in good spirits although drugged up to the eyeballs with pain relief but has been enjoying cuddles with us and tummy rubs. Despite all of this she’s still just the sweetest girl and I think she’s stolen the hearts of the staff at the vet hospital as they all smile at her and give her chin rubs and cuddles at every opportunity.

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We managed to bring her home yesterday to spend a couple of days with us before her operation which they’ve scheduled for Monday. She’s spent some time in a cage that we’ve prepared for her to keep her from being too active and Peppar gave it a thorough inspection just to make sure it was all set up properly. She’s spent most of the weekend cuddled up on daddy’s lap sleeping, she’s exhausted bless her.

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Perfectly imperfect cats are, if nothing else curious, more so than we ever imagined. Before we got Jenny our ‘normal’ cats showed no interest in escaping or exploring the balcony further than the planters and were content just sitting out there enjoying the sun. Then we got Jenny, who in true Jenny adventure cat style decided to stick her head through the railings to ‘see’ what was going on down on the ground. This prompted us to net the railings to stop any more acts of dangerous curiosity. Then we got Millie and Angelin and realising what an escapologist Millie was we re-netted, extending the netting further and moved the chairs and tables right back as far as we could away from the edge. We thought we’d got everything covered, we really did. We never thought that a cat with only one back leg could or would try to jump so far. She’s never shown us that she could jump as far as we suspect she did. We really thought we had done everything possible to prevent this from happening but now we’re re-thinking and re-designing our cat proofing and furniture set up. We’re experienced cat owners and I hope that by sharing this story we can highlight just how clever and surprising perfectly imperfect cats can be. Please, please learn from our experience and of you think a blind cat will never… or my tripaws cat can’t …. Think again, think bigger because they will and they can.

It’s me Jenny back again. As much as we didn’t like being without Millie, Angelin and I don’t really like having her back either, I know that sounds bad but she sounds different, there’s an odd noise when she moves around and her meows aren’t her normal jolly, happy Millie meows. She also smells funny so Angelin and I are just being a bit wary of her. We’re leaving her to be with mummy and daddy and we’ll keep each other occupied and comforted until Millies back to her old self again which paws 🐾 crossed won’t be too long.

Yesterday was my birthday and I turned 4. Can you believe it? I sure can’t, it seems like only yesterday I arrived here in my furrever home with my new parents.

As a little stray street cat I didn’t even dare to dream of being 4 but here I am living a fun filled life and making the most of every minute I’m here.

I’m such a lucky girl, I’ve been spoilt rotten all weekend and have even got some amazing presents as you can see from my new bandana in the photo above. I got to do all my favourite things and have had such a fun time with my sisfurs and brofur. It’s been really hot and sunny all weekend so we haven’t been doing too much running around but the odd bum bite and play fight is just enough.

I got an extra long walkies with mummy on both days and despite it still being hot we played football and ran around a bit then had a little sit down in the shade to cool down. We went out a bit later in the day when it was a little bit cooler but I still got to listen to the birds in the bushes, chased some pigeons and chilled out under my favourite tree, just enjoying being outdoors.

To help keep me cool daddy played lots of my favourite games of damp hands and put ice cubes in the water to play with. I just love trying to find the crinkly cold, hard ice and it feels lovely and cool on my paws. As always I made lots of mess trying to catch the crinkly ice cube but somehow I never quite manage to get it, I think it has mystical powers which make it just disappear! Even my super blindie senses can’t find it!

As it was a celebration weekend mummy and daddy let us have yummy cooked chicken for dinner but I think mummy was being mean as she made me share it with Peppar, Millie and Angelin. What the heck! It’s my birthday so this is surely the one day I shouldn’t have to share and can be just a bit selfish? Mummy did say though that if the hot weather carries on I might even get a cool kitty ice cream to enjoy.

After we had walkies on Caturday I got really, really excited as mummy brought out something crinkly and put it on the floor. Happy birthday Jenny daddy said as I pawed excitedly at the crinkly paper. I tried and tried to open the package and eventually with a bit of help from mummy I opened the paper and look what’s inside some lovely new bandanas and bow ties for me to wear when I’m out on walkies.

I never thought as a blind street cat that one day I’d be celebrating getting older and also getting presents as well. Things that are just for fun, not because you need the to survive. Things that you can have just to look pretty and have because you want them not because you need them These are just things that a poorly blind street cat doesn’t even know about let alone dream of.

Here’s to being 4, having a furrever home and a family who love me. Here’s to living a long and happy, active life as an adventure cat and…Here’s to all my friends around the world who follow my adventures and support me in everything I do.

Even I’ve heard that there’s been a lot of talk about football recently and I love playing football with mummy and daddy either indoors our outdoors. I’ve even got little kitty size footballs to play with. I might be blind but as you already know my senses are so good nothing gets past me. Fast or slow it doesn’t matter the ball can’t escape me!

Sometimes I play with my sisfurs as well, the rules might change a bit but we make a perfectly imperfect team with rules to match. We’ve got a blind referee (daddy says that’s quite normal) and she’s just rubbish at spotting when I’ve been fouled. The odd flying tripaws tackle is allowed as is the odd bite on the bum or body block. We can’t help it, it’s just the way imperfect rules football works in our house. Not quite no rules but just different like us!

Mummy says she ‘doesn’t do football’ but even she’s gonna be watching the telly and she’s been getting me in shape outdoors too. Walkies isn’t just for chasing insects, climbing trees and stalking birds, it’s for playing and spending time together too. You can find almost anything to play with outside. Mummy finds little branches to drag along the ground for me to chase, leaves that crinkle and at the right time of year the little apples make great footballs for mummy to kick and me to chase. Sometimes we even take my little footballs outside to run about with too.

I’m great at chasing and dribbling the ball but not so great at giving it back! Once I’ve finished with I’m guarding that ball, I chased it, I caught it and so it’s mine, no-one else is getting it. That’s the right rules isn’t it? Well that’s my rules at least and I think that makes me a great footballer! take a look for yourself.

Maybe I should start a blindie football team,

Mummy and I went out to pawractice again today, I wanted to make sure that I’m fully warmed up and ready to go should the call come coz they need my super blindie skills to win the game. I’m not just a one trick cat though, I can dribble the ball but I can also take a really good tackle. Today I thought that I’d better get my tackling up to standard and making sure that if I get tackled I can fall dramatically on the floor to show that someone has fouled me. I do this when we’re playing indoors and Angelin is referee, I roll around on my back with my legs in he air but she never falls for it though and completely ignores it when there’s a bad tackle.

Then just as mummy and I were running about getting fit and ready to go someone nearby started letting of the loud sky rockets 💥. The noise was just so loud and I could tell it was very close by, the doggies in their homes started to bark, I went into panic mode and tried to run for cover, even mummy jumped it was so loud. She locked my lead and tried to calm me down and daddy phoned to make sure we were ok. By mummy not letting me run I felt much safer as mummy wouldn’t keep me somewhere dangerous and I soon settled down and we carried on with our walkies and football game. Then just as we’d settled back down and we’re enjoying ourselves whoosh, whoosh, BANG, BANG 💥💥. That was it I’d had enough and rushed to head home, mummy slowed me down and game me a stroke but followed along with me. I headed for one of my favourite trees, just in case I needed to head for high ground, somewhere safe (I always feel safe high up in a tree) but as we sat and mummy chatted to me and gave me another cuddle to keep me calm. I thought I might be better just going home so we wandered back round the garden towards the door. Mummy said I could go in if I wanted to but I like being outdoors and surely there can’t be any more sky rockets? So I sat quietly under a large bush just to be able to enjoy being outside then just as we thought it was all finished BANG, BANG 💥💥 again and that was it I can’t take it any more and ran for the door, tummy to the ground and shouting to mummy “I wanna go in NOW”.

Maybe, with my skills I could start a blindie football team 🤔

I’m soooo happy, I had so many wonderful people vote for me in the competition I just had to thank you all.

I thought that I should let you know how I did but before I make the big announcement I just wanna say how lucky I am to have so many lovely friends all round the world. I’m so glad that you all enjoy following my adventures and seeing what I can do and hopefully showing what any perfectly imperfect animal is capable of.

We haven’t had anything back from the competition people and we might not hear where I officially came in the competition but mummy checked a few minutes before it closed.

So go on, take a guess where do you think I came? Where did I get with that fab photo that my grandpawents chose? Did I win? Did I come last? These were all questions I really wanted to know. This is kind of how the conversation went…daddy was sitting right there with us to share the excitement.

Me: “Mummy, mummy, where did I come mummy? Did I win? Did I come last? Did I promote us perfectly imperfect kitties well? Was I a trailblazer?”

Mummy: “Well Jenny, I think they’ve still got to validate all the votes to make sure no-one cheated but the top three were quite a way ahead of the rest but let me just tell you some figures that I’ve worked out first”.

Me: “Mummy, just tell me I just wanna know if I’ve shown what beautiful cats us perfectly imperfect kitties are”.

Mummy: “Just wait a minute Jen, let me just explain. I want you to understand everything first because this means a lot, it puts everything into perspective”.

• There were 119 pages of entrants photos
• On the first two pages there were 50 photos each
• Assuming there were 50 photos on each page that means there were around 5,950 entries!

Me: “Ok, ok so there were loads of entries and I know you’re just preparing me for bad news as there’s so many cute cats and dogs who don’t have my differences so ok I’m braced for the bad news now”.

Mummy: “I’m really sorry Jenny but you didn’t…”

Me (interrupting): “I knew it, I didn’t show off well enough, I wasn’t cute enough against all this normal pets…”

Mummy: “Jenny! Let me finish please, you didn’t win this time but out of all those entries you came in at number 14! You had over 200 votes!”

Me: “WHAT! You mean I came in the top 20 out of all those photos, out of all those perfect pets? I came almost at the top?”

Mummy: “Yes Jenny, you did amazingly well, you were also the highest blindie and perfectly imperfect cat as well, although not the only one who entered”.

Daddy: “We’re just so proud of you Jen, you did so well and have really helped raise the profile of those animals who are slightly different but perfectly beautiful and amazing”.

Me: “Oh wow I’m so happy, I won top perfectly imperfect cat and that’s what really matters, showing everyone in the whole world how beautiful and amazing we really are”.

Mummy: “You’re so right Jenny and you did get votes from all around the world, as far away as South Africa and America! You’ve got some amazing friends out there supporting you and wishing you well”.

Daddy: “You really need to thank all of your friends Jen Jen they did so well supporting you”.

Me: “Oh yes! You’re so right I’ll have to thank everyone and tell them how well I did and how much I love them all for supporting me. I don’t care that I didn’t win the whole thing, that’s not what it was about was it mummy?”

So here I am saying a big thank you to everyone, I really can’t believe that little old me came 14th out of thousands in a photo competition. Now I’ve done one I think I quite fancy doing some moewdelling and mummy and I really had a fun time doing our outdoor photo shoots to try to get the perfect photo, I was up in the trees, lying in the grass, stalking the birds, posing and strutting my stuff. Mummy says it wasn’t all that easy as I never, ever keep still and somehow I always seem to know when she’s got the camera in front of me as I walk towards it and all she gets is a giant blurry picture of my nose or ear. I can’t help it I can hear and smell when mummy’s in front of me and I just go over to give her a quick nuzzle.

Maybe we can enter another competition one day and have even more fun and maybe sneak into the top 10 – who knows, the sky’s the limit now!

Thank you again and I am so lucky to have so many friends supporting me. I love all of you and hope you continue to enjoy my stories, adventures and my weekly antics.

This week has been so exciting, I’ve done something that I never thought I would ever be able to do. By now you know me well enough to know that I can do anything that I set my mind to but this weeks topped it all. Mummy and daddy have truly surpassed themselves and now I’ve got a lot to live up to and I’m up to the challenge but I need you guys to help me. For once this is something that I can’t do by myself, I need your help. I’ve done all the hard work for you though, you just need to tap on your typing machines a little bit.

As most of you know I started this blog not only to tell my story but also to show everyone what amazing creatures us perfectly imperfect cats can be. To show that you don’t need to feel sorry for us just coz we’re different as we can live fulfilling and happy lives just like any other cat. Well this week I’ve got a real opportunity to do something really, really good and totally amazing.

Mummy and daddy entered me into a meowdelling competition! Imagine that, little old ex street cat blindie me in a proper national photo competition! What a long way I’ve come from a poorly cat living on the streets of Cyprus to a super meowdel! Well not quite yet but mummy and daddy say it doesn’t really matter, it’s the taking part that counts. Are you kidding me? Now I’ve been entered I wanna win!

Imagine all the good I could do as a blindie ambassador! Imagine how I could show everypawdy that being a blindie is beautiful, that I see with my heart not my eyes. That even as a purrfectly imperfect kitty I can climb trees, hunt birds and insects and be an outdoors adventure cat. I could show that us rescue cats really wanna live life to the full, all we need is a bit of belief and confidence from our humans and we can do anything. We aren’t sad little cats who feel sorry for ourselves, we aren’t shy and retiring, we are happy, confident, capable and outgoing and just get on with life. Give us your trust and support and we can do anything.

I would really love to be a blindie and special needs ambassador, imagine little old me being the face of a major pet food brand here in the uk! Paving the way for others like me, showing that ‘normal’ can be different too, normal doesn’t always mean the same, normal can be a state of mind, a feeling, a way of life not a ‘look’. Showing that being different can be beautiful. Imagine seeing my little blindie face everywhere during July, promoting those who might be a little different whilst hopefully making a big difference. I’d also be purrfectly placed to raise awareness of rescue animals as pets coz there’s just so many looking for their furrever homes. Meowmy always says we should ‘adopt don’t shop’.

The most pawesome thing about this whole thing is that my human grandpawents who love me so much chose the photo for the competition. They chose the purrfect photo and as yew can see I’m enjoying the summer breeze, taking in all the scents that the breeze brings with it. The scents building up a picture in my mind of the world around me. I might not be able to see the world around me but I can picture it through the scents and sounds that my other senses pick up. I just love being outdoors surrounded by nature and doing the things us cats just love to do.

I promise that if I win I’ll work very, very hard and try my best to make a big difference. I really wanna challenge…no, smash the perception of special needs cats and other animals too.

So please, could you vote for me? Voting is open until the 30th June, just go to the link meowmy has put below, scroll down until you find my photo or search for ‘summer breeze’ and place your vote. Feel free to share the link far and wide and to all your family and friends who might also be kind enough to vote for me. I really would like to make a difference to those less fortunate than me.

https://purinaemena.qualifioapp.com/quiz/918900_2429/Studio-Photo-Vote.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=button&utm_content=cta1&utm_campaign=NNP08445_Purina_SS_FU_June21_BT

Thank you so much, I’m so excited to represent all us blindies and special needs animals and I’ve got all my paws crossed that I’ll win. At the very least I’ve already done a little bit to help raise awareness by putting my face out there. As me and my sisfurs and brofur don’t need any help with food I will donate the food prize to a local charity to help out some little kitties who really do need some help and support.

Have a great week everybody and I’ll update you on the results when they come through.

Today is all about daddy, it’s his special day, a day just for him. I love my daddy.

He always lays out his damp towel on the bed for us to lie on, it’s one of our favourite places to sit, specially when the weather is warm. If mummy has to go out to work and comes back late daddy will make sure we’ve been fed and he’ll clean up our poop 💩 so that mummy has time to take me out for walkies (sometimes an extra long one if she’s been gone a long time).

Daddy is always there for us no matter what. Whilst mummy and daddy have been working at home and not going out it’s given daddy and I time to bond and develop our relationship. He always sat back and let me and meowmy be best buddies and let me and mummy do everything together. Now though daddy and I play a lot more, I’ve taught him the damp hands game and we play this at least twice a day and I love it. Whenever I hear the tap going I go running to him meowing and he rubs me all over with his wet hands as I run around the flat meowing with joy. Very occasionally I sit on his lap or sometimes when mummy’s not here I sit next to him so we can keep each other company and he can rub my chin.

Oi! Wait! Get your paws off Angelin, I’m writing about daddy.

I know Jenny but I wanna write something, daddy is my most favourite and I loves him so much I wanna tell everybody.

Well, ok I suppose you can write something, here you go but don’t mess it up.

Hey everybody, Angelin here. I just wanna tell everyone how special my daddy is, he’s my bestest friend and I loves him lots and lots. I know mummy and Jenny have a special bond and go out walkies together but daddy and I have a special bond too. He’s my hero, I loves him loads and I follow him around wherever he goes, he makes me so happy my tail goes big and fluffy all by itself. He calls me his little puppycat and gives me loves and strokes and head rubs whenever I want. If I climb up high he’s the one who comes and rescues me and makes sure I’m not scared, sometimes I even stand on him when he gets me down! He talks to me to make sure I’m ok and says that it’s ok I can’t get down by myself yet and that I have other beautiful and special qualities. When he goes under the waterfall in the bathroom, I like to sit with him to keep him company and make sure he is properly clean and wait for him when he comes out, just in case he gets lonely without me. When I’m tired I back up to his lap and point my bottom at him, that’s his cue to lift me up and gently put me on his lap. He gives me a full body massage then I snuggle down to sleep on his warm cosy lap. Once I’ve snuggled down he doesn’t move at all, not at all, not even for coffee or a drink or anything. He stays there all still so I can have a good sleep. Daddy also makes the perfect bed and when he’s sleeping at night I climb up onto him and snuggle into his legs or his bottom and we sleep together all night long. Happy you day daddy, love your little shadow, your little puppycat Angelin.

Right I’m back now. Hey Millie! Stop pawing at me, I might be blind but I know it’s your giant paws tapping me on the head!

Well, if Angelin gets to write something then I want to write something too. Come on Jenny, you gotta share, he’s my daddy too.

I’d just got a great idea of what to write but you’ve spoilt it now, that head tapping tapped the idea right out of my mind. Typical Millie, always gotta jump right in all three feet first! You’re such a ginger! Ok, fine, here you go, have your turn but don’t be too long, I’ve got deadlines to meet.

Millie here, hi everyone. Daddy is just the best, he plays my favourite nobbly ball games with me and bounces them all over the flat. He taught me that the best bouncing spot was on the small table where I can sit and give the balls a really good swat back. Mine and daddy’s favourite place though is when he sits on the white chair in the bathroom, I love to keep him company. He used to read paper books but that’s no fun so now I keep him company, sit on his lap, climb in his trousers and of course play fetch with the nobbly balls. I love bathroom time with daddy, it’s just me and him, our special time. I’m pretty sure sometimes he goes and sits in there just so we can have some fun time together, just us two. We don’t just play in the bathroom, we play all over the flat, with me running around, up and down the corridor. Lots of exercise helps to keep ‘mental Millie’ at bay but he always makes sure that I have some playtime that I can do sitting down so my back leg doesn’t get too tired. During the day I always get lots of little cuddles, belly rubs and head massages which I just love, the more attention the better for me daddy. We always have a play before bed and sometimes he even lets me attack his feet under the bed covers. I love to curl up in his lap but now Angelin’s always there so I don’t do it as much but I’m working on that. Thanks daddy for being my nobbly play buddy and for playing with me like I’m not different to the others. Oh! I nearly forgot, he always, always shares his human food with us but it’s me that always get first offers on any leftovers. Love you daddy, Millie.

Right, that’s enough Millie, you’ve written loads now, it’s my blog not yours, you’re always so jealous of everything.

Angelin! stop shoving me, you’ve had your turn already, you can’t go again. Get off!

Girls, girls, girls, that’s enough! Why do I always have to stop you squabbling? Honestly who’d have sisfurs! It’s none of your turns, it’s my turn now, I’ve known daddy the longest so I get to have my say too.

Ok then Peppar, here you go. We were only fooling around, honest, they’re just so annoying and it’s my blog and I didn’t get to finish what I was saying.

You can have it back in a minute Jenny and you can have the last say as always but now it’s my turn.

What more can I say other than for 14 years you’ve been there for me. You didn’t even mind when as a tiny kitten I left a chocolate drop 💩 on your arm by mistake. We’ve got through some tough times and I was a right scaredy cat all those years ago. Now, thanks to you (and mummy) Im just a chilled out boy trying to keep these girls in their place and find a quite place to have a nap. I always love my night sleeps on mummy’s pillow but your lap (when Angelin and Millie aren’t hogging it) makes the perfect evening nap spot to stretch out on and watch the tv, us boys have got to stick together after all. I’m sorry that I stand on your crotch before curl up on you but it takes a while these days to get these old bones comfortable. Love you lots, your old boy Peppar.

Ok, so back to me now right? No one else got anything to say? No, ok then. Now where was I? Oh! I can’t remember now with all those interruptions, I’ve lost my train of thought. Oh well, never mind all I have really got left to say is thank you for always making me look pretty when I’m out on walkies with mummy, you always choose the purrfect bandana or bow tie for me to wear. It makes me feel like you’re with me on walkies every day. Oh and thank you for always being the one that says to mummy “shall we tuna them tonight?”.

I don’t know what I’ve done wrong! I’ve helped mummy with her work, helped her exercise and even entertained her by fooling around and making her laugh, cuddled on her lap and even helped her with the gardening.

Not once but twice, TWICE! Mummy missed taking me on walkies recently. She missed taking me out for my most favourite thing, missed spending together time with me, missed me running around, climbing and rolling in the mud. How could she? Her and daddy went out and left us, for the whole day – twice! They said something about going to see their friends who they haven’t seen for a long time but friends over walkies? Come on mummy, that’s just not fair.

Each time they went out by the time they got home, it was (according to mummy) too late to go out, “what do you mean” I meowed as I made a rush for the door, “we can go walkies anytime, it doesn’t matter to me I don’t mind.” “Jenny,” mummy said, “it’s already dark outside and I can’t see and I haven’t got blindie super senses like you have so we’ll have to wait till tomorrow and have an extra long walkies instead.” I walked off grumbling to myself and went and sulked on the balcony. I can’t be mad at mummy long though and I thought about how hard it must be for mummy and daddy not to see their human friends for so long, I know how much I miss them when they were gone for a day. So when I heard daddy in the bathroom I came back in to shout for a game of damp hands and played fetch with mummy.

After the first time they left us, whilst I was playing with mummy she was telling me all about what they’d done all day, that they sat out in a lovely garden in the sunshine and how much I would have loved it. She said there were some big trees that I would have tried to climb and a wood behind the garden fence, there were lots of birds and insects to listen to and chase and grass to roll around on. It sounded so lovely and I could understand why they went there and stayed there all day, I was a bit jealous that they had been outside all day whilst we were stuck indoors as I love being outside. Just as I was about to ask why they didn’t take me along to such a lovely garden mummy said “You’d have loved it Jenny but it was a bit noisy, there were a few people there, not too many but enough to make you anxious with all the talking and people moving about.” Oh yes I wouldn’t like that plus she said it had been a long journey in the car and I don’t really like car journeys too much as it means being imprisioned in the dreaded carrier so I understood why I wasn’t allowed to go with them.

The next day mummy did take me out for walkies and it was an extra long one and we had lots of fun together. I ran and chased and leapt and rolled and explored all the bushes and had a thoroughly good time.

The second time mummy missed walkies it was the same thing they both went out and left us but this time when they came home I was just happy to see them. Mummy said that I definitely wouldn’t have liked to go with them as there were two children this time and whilst I like children and they sometimes join me and mummy on walkies it’s only for a short time and I’m not sure I could cope with them for too long. They’re quite noisy for such small humans and they run about a lot and that scares me a bit.

This time I also knew that mummy would make up for it by taking me for an extra long walkies the next day instead and having slept most of the day while they were out I was ready for extra time to run about. But to also sit with mummy and just listen to the world around us and relax a bit.

Even when mummy takes me out for an extra long walkies I love being outside so much I never want to come in and often stage a protest! Once mummy has persuaded me to come in I realise, although I’d never admit it, just how much I’ve run about and how tired I am so it’s a quick bite to eat and then off to bed

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This week mummy had to go to work one day but it was the day I really needed her coz a big monster turned up outside. I was peacefully trying to get daddy ready for his work after mummy had left, following him into the bathroom to make sure he cleaned himself properly, meowing at him to make sure he didn’t miss anything or take any shortcuts. Then just as we were getting settled I heard a loud noise from outside bang, clang, bang, clang, bang, clang. What on Earth was it that could make such a big noise, it must have been a huge monster to make such loud banging footsteps which made such a big thump I could feel its vibrations in my paws and it sounded like he had some kind of metal armour on to make such a clanging noise. It was lovely and sunny outside and normally I’d have a little morning sunbathe on the balcony to warm up my fur, have a little wash and dry out ‘au naturale’ but not today, not with the big metal monster making such a horrid noise.

I think the monster must have been captured as I could hear two humans talking out there every so often, shouting over the noisy monster who was grumbling away, all the time, I think he might be hungry as I could hear his tummy rumbling constantly, I know if I get hungry I get grumpy too. Maybe this is why the monster was angry and stomping around all day – he was being held prisioner and really just wanted to escape and be free and was really hungry. Maybe his humans aren’t as nice as mine and wouldn’t take him out for walkies or let him climb the trees and give him his dinner. I could smell the creature and his hot smoky breath. I’ve heard stories about a creature called a dragon that breathes fire when angry and I think this might be one of those and I think he’s already getting pretty angry.

The dragon made so much noise that daddy had to shut all the windows to try to make it quieter for all of us, I have such sensitive hearing that for me this noise was unbearable and I didn’t like it, that poor dragon, being miserable and angry all day. Daddy said that it was better for him to get a bit hot and sweaty if it meant that we didn’t get so scared of the loud noises. The noises reminded me of the time when the year changed and mummy and daddy were celebrating and there was something called fireworks which I just hated, loud bangs all around and I didn’t like that at all so I hid under the bed to get away from it all. It was similar noises but a deeper, fuller noise and much closer. I often hear loud noises and I’m not often scared of them as normally I can tell they’re not very close and you only hear one or two but this went on all day and then with the sun out and the windows closed we were all getting hotter and hotter and hotter and that made me cranky as well. Then I remembered that mummy wasn’t here to comfort me or sit with me so I moaned and moaned to daddy who played with me and gave me a damp hands cuddle and I finally settled down for a nap as far away from the noise as possible while I waited for mummy to come home.

Eventually the noise stopped and daddy opened up the windows for some air and we all trooped cautiously onto the balcony to see if the monster had gone. Millie looked out and said she could still see it out there all on its own but it wasn’t moving. I listened very hard but couldn’t hear it, not even a little breath or grumble. Maybe the humans had finally fed him and he’s gone to sleep for the night or maybe he’s just tired out from all the stomping around he’s done all day. Either way I wondered how mummy and I would go for walkies when she got home if there’s a dragon sleeping in our gardens. I went to ask daddy and he said that mummy would be home soon and not to worry as she’d still take me on walkies. Not long later mummy came home and sure enough on went my harness and lead and we went off for walkies. We went our normal route, which I was surprised about, maybe daddy hadn’t told mummy about the dragon, maybe we’d walk round the corner and wake him up so I was very cautious.

As we rounded the corner I could smell the dragon, again and so I was a bit scared in case it woke up and got angry and breathed fire over us but mummy didn’t seem scared so I started to explore. Mummy said to me “Oh look Jenny, there’s a bit giant climbing frame that someone’s built” A climbing frame how fantastic I love climbing but as I went over to explore I was confused, to my reckoning, it was in the same place as the dragon. I meowed at mummy and she told me that this was a human machine, that they had been making a deep hole in the ground so I couldn’t go too close but that it was nothing to be scared of. She said that daddy had told her that I was scared of the monster outside so she had deliberately taken me walkies this way to show me that this wasn’t a monster to be scared of but just a few bits of metal with a motor like a car. “Don’t worry Jen Jen, it’ll be gone by tomorrow and it’ll all be back to normal again” I was so relieved that it wasn’t the big scary dragon I had feared but equally pleased that everything would be back to normal again so quickly, it wasn’t a fun day at all but mummy and I enjoyed the rest of our walkies.

The next day mummy and daddy were right, the dragon was no longer being noisy and we all had a peaceful day at home. Everything was back to normal and mummy and I went out for walkies as normal that evening, I was happily chasing the insects and stalking the fat pigeons when as we went right up to the end I could smell the dragon again. He hadn’t gone away after all but had just moved further round and was making another deep hole in a new place. He was there sleeping again but this time I wan’t scared at all and we just carried on our walkies as normal. Whilst exploring though I did find what I thought might be some big dragon teeth, maybe whilst grumbling so much he wore some of them loose and lost them.

If the dragon hadn’t been so noisy I would have come out and helped to dig the hole. I love digging and help mummy whenever she needs to plant anything in our balcony planters. I’m sure I could have dug a really long way down given half the chance it may have taken a while but I’m much, much quieter than the noisy dragon machine although my paws might have got a little dirty. The next day we went out the dragon had gone completely and everything was back to normal except for a few extra muddy patches that smelt a bit funny which mummy wouldn’t let me walk about in, what a meanie. At least now I know that if I ever hear a noisy dragon again that it’s nothing to be scared of and it’s probably just human machines making a big old racket and disturbing the peace.

Well, walkies has been rather exciting this week, mummy and I had a furry friend who wanted to join us. Mummy had to go to work one day and came home quite late, well past our normal walkies time. I had all but given up hope that she was coming home at all but as I paced round the flat meowing at daddy to ask when mummy was coming home and when would she take me walkies daddy said, “she’ll be home soon Jenny and even though it’s a bit late she’ll still take you out for walkies.”Well eventually I heard the cupboard open and daddy clipped me into my harness just as mummy walked in the door. Yey mummy’s home I shouted and bolted for the open doorway, Daddy handed mummy the lead and off we went.

We went about our normal walkies and then I smelled something and stopped what I was doing and turned round, as I did mummy did too and there he was just standing there watching us a young fox 🦊. Mummy said that he didn’t seem scared of us or angry at us, just curious, standing there just watching us. It was like he hadn’t seen a human out walking a cat before! I know there are foxes about as I can smell them when I’m outside in the gardens and in the hedge in the park that I love exploring through the railings. They also dig their homes in our lawn and sometimes when they dig a new entrance and I’m running around I fall into it coz I don’t know it’s there! I normally have a roll around outside their front door, just to let them know I’m around and these are my gardens but they don’t normally come out to say hello though so I thought I’d better check him out to make sure he’s friendly in case I need to defend mummy.

It started to get dark quite quickly and I wasn’t scared of Mr. Fox, he wasn’t running towards me or making lots of noise so I went to say hello to him and ask him if he wanted to come with us on our walkies with mummy and me. When I went to say hello to him though he ran off under the rail and into the hedge in the park. Mummy and I carried on our walkies but with Mr. Fox moving about in the hedge the rustling noise was just too much to ignore so I went to see what he was doing. As I went closer I felt mummy lock the lead, she knows me too well and knows that I can sometimes go from a standing start to full speed in a split second and she said she didn’t want me following Mr. Fox through the railings. I sat there straining at the lead trying to inch forward but mummy was stood firm. I had my ears in full hunting mode, pointing up and on full alert, head held high and proud so my ears could hear every teeny tiny noise. No matter how quiet Mr. Fox thought he was I could hear his every move.

I was also catching his scent on the air around me, whilst listening I was taking deep breaths, my super blindie senses working together to pinpoint exactly where he was. Mummy was laughing a bit and saying how funny it was that she was relying on a blind cat to see where the fox was! I was right every time though, as mummy pointed her camera in the direction my ears were pointing there were the foxes eyes shining back at her from inside the hedge. Whilst I was playing hide and seek with him he was talking to me, challenging me to find him, he was chirping at me almost like a bird. Mummy said she could hear it as well and it really didn’t sound like the noise you would expect to come from a fox. Normally at night whilst I’m out on the balcony I hear them barking to each other and sometimes if I hear this when I’m out on walkies I head for the nearest tree and climb it! This was different though and sounded friendly and playful so mummy let us keep playing. Then after a while he wandered off, I scanned the hedge with my ears and listened extra hard as I was enjoying playing with him but I couldn’t hear him at all anymore so we both thought he had gone off to play elsewhere in the park.

Then mummy decided we had enough excitement for one night it was time to head home. As we headed back indoors we heard a noise behind us and there was Mr. Fox following us again wanting to join in with our walkies. With the evening getting darker by the minute and mummy finding it harder and harder to see Mr. Fox and he was getting a bit too curios for her liking so she decided it was really time to go indoors and scooped me up and in we went. Night night Mr. Fox.

Then on another day we were out walking and I heard this big boundy, boundy sound of paws coming towards me at full speed. I recognised the noise from one of my doggie friends but this one smelt different, not one I knew the smell of. The paws stopped a little way away from me and I could hear it huffing and puffing, being really noisy and sniffing at me which was quite scary. I lashed out to tell her to back off a bit, spitting at her and went to give her a good slap, I missed, but I’m sure she got the message. Mummy told me off and said I should be more friendly to the doggie, that she had never met a cat before and was just coming to say hello to me. She said I was being rude and should be a bit more friendly next time. She was confused why I was so sacred of the friendly doggie but not of the fox. You have to see this from my point of view though, the fox was quiet, slightly standoffish and didn’t rush towards me noisily. The doggie on the other hand was just so full on and rushed towards me without giving me any time to prepare to say hello, after all I can’t tell happy rushing paws from attacking rushing paws. When something rushes towards me so full on it puts me on edge and my street cat instincts kick in and I go into defence mode. Sorry doggie, maybe we can try to be friends another time when you’re not quite so excited to see me.

This week was another week of celebrations, this time for Angelin’s 2nd birthday. It only seems yesterday that her and Millie arrived and I remember that time very well. I was very scared when they arrived and thought that I wouldn’t like sharing my home and family with more kitties but as it turns out I love my little sisfurs. Mummy and daddy say us girls are as thick as thieves, I’m not sure what that means but I take is as a compliment. Angelin is, at least to mummy and daddy, a sweet little cat who has the softest fur and follows daddy round like a little shadow or as he says a puppycat. She loves a good chin rub and cuddles up on daddy’s lap to keep him company whilst he’s working. She doesn’t really say much but when she does she does her voice is more like a bark than a proper meow.

Unless she’s playing with her favourite crinkle ball or crinkle stick she never really runs anywhere, she just kind of walks extra fast, hence her nickname ‘little poddle’ coz she just kind of poddles about.

To me though she’s my wrestling mate, we’re always rolling around fighting and playing. Then she’s not so sweet, she’s a right bruiser, with street fighter instincts. One moment you’re there just about to bite her bum or leg to start the playing, the next moment she’s full on launched at you, both front paws around your neck and you’re bear hugged to the floor by a fluffy white cloud! Still my blindie super senses are much more honed than Angelin’s, (she’s was rescued much younger than I was so she didn’t need to rely on her senses to survive like I did) so even lying on my back on the floor with my paws in the air I know where she is and get in a good left, right combination before running off, knowing that she isn’t as quick as me around the flat. I can hear her poddling pawsteps coming a mile off and so ensues a game of chase come hide and seek. I can always hear her coming as she doinks into everything in her excitement to find me, doink – cat litter tray; doink – door frame; doink – cat perch as she rushes about, her blindie map slightly out of sync. This doinking around made her other nickname dippy doink.

We had such fun on her actual birthday, we all played, Angelin napped on daddy’s lap and then in the afternoon Angelin opened her birthday present, a whole new bag of crinkle balls. The bag is nearly as big as she is and she was so excited she couldn’t control herself and her tail went all big and fuzzy with happiness. We all helped Angelin with her present and even Peppar came along to see what all the noise was about.

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In the evening we got treated to Angelin’s favourite dinner a tin of tuna to share between us all. Peppar and Angelin tucked right in, Millie and I had a little nibble to celebrate but that’s not really our thing so we left Angelin and Peppar to finish ours off.

Then a big box arrived and daddy said we were all very lucky as everything inside it was for us, so of course we had to help mummy unpack everything and make sure it was all ok by sitting on it and quality inspecting everything. Millie tested the strength of the dry food bag by giving it a good pawing with her giant paws and I sat on the tinned food box to check it was up to protecting its yummy cargo. As the birthday girl Angelin was relieved of inspection duty and sat in the box playing the the cardboard pull tag. Once mummy had unpacked everything we joined Angelin in the box to have fun and play. Then mummy filled the box with more cardboard, so we helped her and sat on that as well, “good girls” she said “What good little helpers you are, I needed to flatten all that out to put it in the recycling bin later.” As a cat I do of course prefer the box of anything to whatever comes inside it, it’s just something that is built into a cats instincts, find a box, sit in it!

Happy birthday my sweet little sisfur, enjoy your crinkle balls, safe in your forever home with your forever family.