Whilst it’s so hot I just wanted to give you my top tips on how to stay hydrated. I know I’ve given you my top five tips before but this is just so impawtant that I thought I’d share my ideas again, over my time here I’ve learnt some new things as well as still endorsing the classics.

Hydration.

Water, water everywhere. Cups, bowls, fountains, basins, taps, baths – it doesn’t matter, the more the merrier. Different cats like different things so it’s always good to have a variety of things to drink out of, always kept clean and fresh of course. Water in different rooms and areas means that no matter where we are we’re not far away from something cool and refreshing to drink. I sometimes go into the bathroom with mummy and climb into the basin which I my hint for her to turn the tap on so I can have a drink. When it’s really hot mummy or daddy add an ice cube to the water bowl for an extra cool drink. Plus they make great crackling noises that I just can’t help playing with! It means that the water doesn’t always stay in the bowl but hey ho it’s all good fun. It doesn’t have to just be water though cat milk can be just as good and a tasty alternative sometimes, served straight from the fridge.

Cool surfaces.

Find yourself a nice cool surface to lie on, mummy and daddy have a big glass dining table that we’re not supposed to go on. Millie keeps getting told off because she’s always walking or sitting on it. “Millie get off the table.” mummy says to her but she either doesn’t learn or, more likely, doesn’t want to learn as she keeps doing it time after time 🙀! I think she likes it because it feels lovely and cool plus there’s a breeze through from the kitchen to the balcony which is nice when it’s so hot. The cool surfaces can be a bit hard and uncomfortable so Mummy and daddy also put out some cool pads on some of our comfy beds so we can be cool and comfortable at the same time. They’re so good that even daddy sits on them sometimes to help keep cool.

Washing.

I know humans like to wear as little clothes as possible when it’s hot but for us cats that’s not possible and so you might be tempted to clip your cats fur to help keep them cool in summer. As you would expect though we are purrfectly designed for all kinds of weather and temperatures. Our fur not only helps keep us warm in winter but it actually helps keep us cool in summer whilst also protecting our skin from the sun. We can also groom more in hot weather which cools us through our saliva cooling us, like your human sweat does on your skin. See we’re not so different after all!

Playtime.

Obviously my favourite game of damp hands helps in the summer so mummy, daddy and I have been playing this a bit more often recently. This is fine by me as it means I also get lots of attention during the day with the added benefit of making me cooler too. Mummy and daddy also limit how much running around we do when it’s very hot and so playtime is short bursts followed by a nap to recharge. As it cools down during the evening we gradually ramp up playtime with the added bonus that we wear ourselves out in time for second dinner and then bed.

A shady spot.

If like me you can go outside, even if only for a short while then this can be really good too. If you can go out later in the day or evening when it’s cooler then all the better. Just find yourself a nice cool shady spot to sit and chill out in. When I go for walkies when it’s hot I don’t run around quite so much but mummy and I sit under a tree and just chill out, happy in each other’s company. Sometimes there’s a little breeze outside which helps to make you feel cool as the air flows gently through your fur like your own personal cooling fan. If you can’t go outside then purrsuade your mummy or daddy to make a shady spot somewhere by closing the curtains or blinds, they can simulate an outside breeze with a fan.

Frozen yoghurt.

Cats like ice cream too but not your human stuff, that’s not good for us. Instead mummy and daddy take the liquid yoghurt treats and put them in the freezer to make cat ice cream. Now that’s an extra special yummy treat on a hot summers day. As a blind cat though licking these can be quite messy but I don’t care and if mummy gets it all over her hands then I lick those clean as well for her .

Damp towels.

When mummy and daddy have been in the bath or shower and have dried themselves with the big fluffy towel the towel becomes slightly damp and this is lovely and cool to lie on in hot weather. Not only do you get the lovely fluffy towel feeling that cats love you get cooled by the damp bits as well – purrfect. Mummy and daddy put their damp towels out for us on the end of their bed so if we lie out on them sometimes there’s not much room left for them when they come to bed! Still they don’t seem to mind as we don’t get moved off and they just fit themselves in around us, I hear them say “ahh they’re absolutely flat out and look so peaceful we can’t possibly move them”

Really whatever you would do as a human to keep cool you can do for us cats as well.

It’s been a bit of a week of it here, Peppar has been off to the animal doctor that mummy and daddy call the vet a few times and he’s not at all happy about it. He doesn’t like the vet at the best of times, last time he was there mummy told me they nicknamed him the velociraptor 🦖! Peppar when he’s not at home with mummy and daddy is a big scaredy-cat cat and he specially gets like that when meeting people he doesn’t know or going anywhere other than being at home with mummy and daddy. Still mummy and daddy were worried about him so off he went.

Well, apparently Peppar wasn’t very well behaved at the vet and wouldn’t let them have a look at him and hissed at them and tried to bite them! He’s not a good like I am, I learnt early on that human vet doctors are there to help and certainly for me they made me feel so much better. I learnt to let them touch and feel me, open my mouth and even take my temperature which is NOT a nice thing to do. Sometimes it’s easier to just let them do what they need to do and get it over and done with. Peppar doesn’t share that view though. This meant that he had to go back again the following day, mummy said they were going to make him go to sleep so they could have a good look at him. The vet didn’t want to risk losing a finger or two as it was his teeth that mummy and daddy were worried about and that he wasn’t putting weight on. So poor Peppar had to go back and then a few days later he had to go back again, I was worried about him and I know mummy and daddy were too, after the first visit he had some bald patches and a nasty sore bit on his neck which he kept scratching and mummy said he was making it red raw, so they had to put on a bandage to stop him scratching until he went back to the vet who could give him a cat onesie to wear like little Angelin had after her lady operation.

Peppar is so scared when he’s not at home that he was sent home with the onesie for mummy and daddy to put on as they didn’t want to make him any more stressed. I think secretly they were scared of him and didn’t want to risk life and limb trying to get it on him. Peppar didn’t like it much but mummy and daddy said he had to have it on until he stopped scratching himself. The said it suited him and he looked really handsome in it. It’s been really hot here the last few days and mummy and daddy were worried about him getting to hot so we’ve been working on how to keep cool.

Peppar normally spends his time sleeping on mummy’s pillow or curled up in his snuggle bed but in his onesie he decided to find a spot up high and out of the way. He went up onto the top of the scratching post where it’s out of the sun and there’s a slight breeze to help keep cool. He still went to keep mummy safe overnight by sleeping on her pillow, it also meant that mummy could keep an eye on Peppar scratching and give his neck a gently rub to stop the itch and try to make him feel better. Every so often they give the saggy tummy part of the onesie a little wiggle to help get some air in but also make sure we have the cool pads out and plenty of water to make sure we can always keep cool.

I don’t like it when Peppar’s poorly as he’s my rock, he’s the one I go to when I need help and support and a snuggle, I’m the only one who’s allowed to snuggle with him other than mummy and daddy. I made sure that I’ve looked after him all week, made sure he’s ok and that the others left him alone and that didn’t pick on him for smelling funny when he got home from the vet or for wearing his onesie. I’ll always protect him, he’s my big brother and my best friend. I even let him have my cardboard box whenever he wanted it. I watched out for him coming back when mummy took him to the vet.

I knew mummy was worried about Peppar too as he kept having to go back for more tests and scans so I took the time to have a cuddle with mummy on the bed. I don’t do this often but I wanted to do it this time to show mummy that everything was ok and just show mummy that I care. I don’t snuggle with mummy very often and it helped me too as we both lay on the bed with mummy stroking me and me licking mummy’s hand and purring.

It all paid off and Peppar’s fine but needs a couple of teeth out (once they’ve done this he’ll only have two left!) which they’ll do in a few weeks, mummy said the vet said he needs time to recover from the stress of all the visits but mummy and daddy think it’s the vets that need time to recover from the stress of having Peppar there! Now he’s back home and he’s had his onesie off I can relax again safe in the knowledge he’s there for me again if I need him. Of course I’ll always be there for him if he needs me but I prefer it the other way round.

Even though it was my birthday last week mummy said that the two of us had to go on a little journey, she put me into the dreaded carrier one evening and without even telling me took me up to the animal doctor. I don’t really like going up there, it’s not so much seeing the doctor but I don’t like the carrier or the journey, it reminds me of when I was first rescued and had my long journey to meet mummy and daddy which was very scary. Once we had arrived though it was very different to how we normally see the doctor, we didn’t wait in the big room with all the other cats and noisy woofing dogs around, we waited in the car together, just me and mummy. Whilst we were waiting mummy opened the front of the carrier so we could have a cuddle and I could smell the outdoors. Mummy said to me that because the nasty virus 🦠 was still around she wouldn’t be able to come in with me as she normally would and that I would have to go with the nice doctor by myself. “You’ll have to be a brave girl Jenny” she said “I’ll be here waiting for you”

Before long mummy shut the door of the carrier and was talking to another person, she handed me over and I went in the see the doctor all by myself. “Be a good girl Jenny” mummy said as I was carried away “I’ll see you in a few minutes”. I was taken into the rooms as normal, it smelt very clean and the doctor opened the carrier “ hello Jenny” she said, “I’m just going to give you a little check over and then I’ll do your vaccinations”. She had a good feel all over me and pressed here and there, she even asked me to “open wide” so she could check in my mouth and check my teeth. “Well they’re all fine” she said, I meowed that “I could have told you I was feeling fine without all that fuss if you’d have just asked”. A couple of nasty pricks in my neck and before long I was back in the carrier and re-united with mummy. The vet told mummy what a good girl I had been and then I was back in the car and home. Phew over with for another year.

As you all know that it’s taken some adjustment for me to adapt to mummy and daddy being home all the time and the last couple of weeks have been particularly difficult for me. I’m not quite sure why, I love mummy and daddy and spending time with them. As I’m sure I’ve said before mummy and daddy say I’m quite a highly strung kitty at the best of times. As I explained last week, when I was a kitten I was always on alert and listening out for things. Normally during the day whilst mummy and daddy are at work the flat is quiet and I can relax a bit. Then when they came home I was all recharged ready to greet them and play and run around. Now though there is noise in the flat all the time, when mummy’s and daddy are awake there is talking, walking about, tapping on the work machines, the big screen is on. Mummy makes them food to eat and daddy does drinks and so there’s lots of noise for me to keep an ear out for. Then even when they go to bed there’s snoring, moving and other strange noises whilst they’re asleep. Occasionally daddy might get up and use the bathroom. Then there’s mental Millie rushing around like a mad thing as well, Angelin jumping on me wanting to play. There’s no-where to get any peace and quiet – why can’t everyone just leave me alone for a bit?

The only real quiet time I have is whilst out with mummy on walkies, when I can just relax where it’s quiet outside with the birds and insects. I love being outside with just me and mummy. We walk and talk and chill, play football and run around. I don’t want to go back inside to all the noise.

For me all this builds up, I get anxious and wound up and if only they would just let me back outside. I thought that if I sat at the front door and shouted “Mummy, I wanna go outside, let me out please” and yeowled loudly I’d get to go out. That didn’t work so I went into the bedroom where mummy and daddy were asleep, “ let me out, let me out” louder and louder until they heard me. “ Jenny, shut up it’s really early, it’s not time to get up yet”. Round and round the flat I’d pace, meowing at them to let me out, I couldn’t sleep much and that made me feel even worse, the more it went on the more stressed I got. I was grumpy and kept lashing out a growling, playing didn’t help and I starting doing more stress circles. I heard mummy and daddy talking and mummy was quite upset, she was saying that she was worried about me, I was getting myself so stressed and worked up and she could tell by my body language that I wasn’t my usual self. Daddy said he had noticed it too and that mummy shouldn’t worry as they’d do whatever it would take to get me back to my old self.

The next day a package arrived and mummy said that something had arrived for me which she hoped would make me less anxious. She put some stuff on her hand and rubbed it onto my chest. It was very strong smelling and not a smell I really liked, I gave myself a wash and after a while I started to feel a bit less stressed and a bit more chilled out. As all the stress melted away the tiredness took over and I drifted off to sleep, I couldn’t fight it off any longer. That night I snuggled up on mummy and daddy’s bed with my big brother Peppar, he always knows when I need him most and he always knows how to make me feel better. I slept a deep sleep that night for the first time in a while and I woke up in the morning feeling better. Mummy gave me some more of the horrible liquid the next day and I had a good day of sleeping, playing, damp hands, games and cat naps then evening walkies with mummy. I was feeling much more like my normal self again.

I guess we all need a bit of help from time to time, specially during these times that mummy and daddy call the new normal.

This weeks blog is all about me! Well I know it’s about me every week but this week is special. On Friday it was my birthday and I turned 3. I’ve been so excited all week as I love birthdays, mummy and daddy buy me presents and we get to eat extra special food and I get to do what I want for the day.

In your human years I’m now 28. Before Friday I was what’s known as a junior and before that and before I found my forever home I was a kitten. Being 3 is a big deal for me, on the streets becoming 3 is quite an achievement, you’re considered quite old and I never really thought I would make it. In my forever home though 3 is just a youngster my big brother Peppar is 13 and my big sister Mia was 17 before she crossed the rainbow 🌈 bridge, Peppar says that Misty who crossed over and made way for me to join the family was 26 so now I have the chance to live a very long and happy life.

Mummy and daddy thought that I wouldn’t notice something new hanging off the dining room chair! I know I’m not allowed on the table but the chairs are ok, I hoped up there the other day and smelt a new smell, I felt something soft and furry just above my head so I gave it a sniff, touched it with my paw and it felt lovely and soft, I felt a little way further to get an idea of what it might be and it felt just like the hammock beds we have on our climbing trees so I gave it a go and hopped in to give it a try. Mummy turned round and said to daddy “ oh no, she’s not supposed to be in there it’s her birthday present!” Daddy said “ she wasn’t supposed to find it, we were just airing it out before we gave it to her but we should have known she’d find it!”

So as you can see I got this lovely hammock bed and I also got some more toys to play with. A while ago whilst mummy and I were out on walkies she found a small foam ball which we started to play with and I love chasing it and running about after it. It’s just like my favourite nosey toy that I used to play fetch with down our hallway. I love playing with the new ball so mummy and daddy thought it would be nice for me to have some more to play with and got me a whole set of balls to run around after. I’ve got ⚽️ 🥎 🏀 🏉 to play with now and if one gets lost under the table I can just go and get another one. Millie seems to like them too so I might have to share them with her but as long as she knows they’re mine that’s ok.

I’m such a lucky girl as I also got lots of lovely birthday wishes from my friends that I have made all around the world through my blog and Instagram, who knew that a little ex street cat would have so many lovely friends who care and want to be my friend.

We had an extra long walkies as a special and I put on my party bandana to celebrate. I stalked some pigeons, played apple football with mummy (I won of course) and sat with mummy under the tree chilling out together. Then I heard the patter of paws and mummy started talking to someone. I recognised the smell of the paws, it was the dog that mummy and I sometimes see when we’re out walking, he sometimes woofs at us from his doorway. This time though he came over to say hello and we had a good sniff of each other for a little while before I decided that I needed to carry on with my walkies. I can tell he’s a little dog by the sound of his feet and he’s definately smaller than my other doggie friend Boris. Now we’ve met properly there’s no need for us to avoid him if we meet when we’re out walking, we can stop and say hello now. How fun to have made a new friend and on my birthday too.

Who would have thought that after the start in life I had that I now have everything I could ever have wished for (and more). I get a whole day just for me, I get birthday presents, fancy food, fun and games with mummy and daddy and we even had a little party just to celebrate my special day.

Once upon a time in a land far, far away a mumma cat gave birth to a litter of kittens. This sounds like the start of any fairy tale but alas not every story is a happy one. This mumma cat was not living in a loving cosy home with warmth and shelter to help her through what should be a marvellous natural and wonderful thing, this mumma cat was on the streets with no proper shelter, no comfy bed to nest in and create a nursery, no humans to offer help and kindness should it be needed. The other cats in the clowder helped where they could but it was all down to mumma cat. The little kittens were born onto the street, a difficult place to survive and grow but this was not their choice and they learnt how to survive with mumas help.

The kittens grew and played as best as little street kittens can, their mumma told them that they had to be careful of predators and they must keep up with the rest of the clowder and they should behave and do as they were told. The kittens grew and ate and played and ate and played some more, all except one. One little kitten started to struggle to keep up and wasn’t eating properly, the mumma cat tried to help the kitten but it became poorly. The little kitten did it’s best but as time went on it couldn’t see as well as it had before, it relied more and more on its hearing and smell to cope with life on the street and follow the other cats and keep up with its family. The mumma cat still helped as best she could but she had other kittens to look after too.

The little kitten learnt how to cope living on the streets, it learnt how to sleep lightly, it never slept deeply as it always had to sleep with one ear open to check for danger. The little kitten thought that it wouldn’t grow as big and strong as the other kittens as the mumma cat was always telling them that they needed to sleep to grow into big, strong cats to be able to survive on the streets.

The little kitten learnt how to make the best of its other senses as it’s sight gradually got worse and worse as the infection it had took hold. It learnt how to hold its head upwards to pick up the most accurate sounds, the kitten learnt what were good sounds and what were bad sounds. Bad sounds included any noises that sounded like they came from animals bigger than the kitten was. Any sounds that came from humans weren’t good as humans were mean to the clowder and the kittens. The humans didn’t seem to like the kittens being near them and always made them go away and didn’t help the clowder or kittens or give them any food, shelter or kindness. The other cats told the kittens to be careful of humans as they can be mean to cats, sometimes even hurting them. These were the scary stories that mumma cats told their kittens to make them behave better, I think that humans tell similar scary stories to their babies too.

You learn to be tough if you’re a street cat but if you’re a street kitten who can’t see you need to be smart too, you need to be able to learn quickly and act on your instincts.

The little kitten didn’t play as much as the other kittens, it had to grow up quicker than the others just to be able to keep up. Even when it did play it was never as carefree as the others, it always knew that if something happened or danger came along it was the kitten that was most vulnerable and least able to get away. Sometimes, very rarely the kitten would let go and have a few minutes playing with it’s siblings and it would briefly forget that it was different to the others.

Then one day the mumma cat said to all the kittens that they were going on a journey, she said she didn’t know how long the journey would take but it might be a very long and hard journey. The kittens were all curious and asked where they were going. The mumma cat told them that there were stories that the clowder had heard about two kind humans who were actually nice to street cats and put food out for them. The Queen of the clowder had decided to try to find these humans as the clowder were all so hungry and food was very hard to find. The kittens followed along with the clowder but they got more and more tired as they travelled further and further around the streets day after day. Their little legs were soon worn out and their paws sore from so much walking, the little blind kitten was exhausted from trying to keep up and keep safe as well, it wasn’t used to travelling so far and for such long times. It took so much concentration not to get lost or left behind, there were so many new noises and smells to distract it from the familiar scent of the clowder. All the kittens were scared but the little blind cat was extra scared. Sometimes when they went to sleep their tummy’s grumbled to them as there wasn’t always enough food to satisfy their growing appetites. Then one day they smelt food and humans, had they had actually found the place that the stories had described? As they got closer the kittens were scared but the mumma cat, the Queen and the rest of the clowder went to investigate first, the kittens waited in the distance as they were scared of humans. The mumma cat came back and explained that this place was ok, the humans were kind humans after all and that there was food and lots of it.

The kittens joined the rest of the group and could smell the food the humans put out, their hunger overcame fear and carefully the kittens inched closer. The little blind kitten was much more wary and took longer to feel safe enough to join the others and eat the food that the other cats were eating. Head down to grab a mouthful of food and then head up to listen for danger, always ready to run off if necessary. The crunchy food and cool water that the kind humans put out tasted good and when the clowder settled down for the night the little blind kitten slept extra well for a change with a full tummy.

Over time the clowder kept going back to the place with the kind humans and the kitten learnt to trust them, they were nice to the clowder and talked to them whilst they ate the food that they left. Then one day something different happened and the blind kitten went to eat the food, there was something different about that day and the food was in a different place but the blind kitten trusted the humans and so went and ate the food, then there was a loud noise and it was trapped in what felt like a small cage. The blind kitten was scared, it had trusted the humans and they had betrayed it. What were they going to do to it? Where were they going to take it? The little blind kitten was scared, where was mumma? Where was the rest of the clowder? It meowed loudly for its mumma and the clowder but they didn’t come. The blind kitten felt movement and so it crouched down and made itself as small as possible, the way it’s mumma had taught it if a predator was coming. The blind kitten was put into a noisy machine, it sounded like the human machines that the clowder had tried to avoid when wandering the streets, big machines that went very fast and wizzed past them when they were on their long journey. These machines were dangerous to the cats and so the blind kitten became even more scared, maybe the big noisy machine was going to hurt it. The blind kitten could hear the kind humans in the machine with it and this was confusing, occasionally they would talk to the blind kitten, the sound of their voices was reassuring and made the kitten feel just a little less scared.

After what seemed like a very long time the machine stopped and again the blind kitten felt movement, it could hear the humans footsteps and then a little bump and the movement stopped. The blind kitten could smell some strange and unfamiliar smells, but could also smell the familiar scent of other cats. It could hear their meows, they weren’t meows of scared cats, they were the sounds of happy cats and young cats. The blind kitten relaxed slightly but then there was a clicking noise and then the blind kitten felt something touch it – it was one of the humans, this was something strange to the blind kitten and so it froze and played dead. Maybe then the human would leave it alone but the human did something that the blind kitten didn’t expect, it stroked the blind kitten very gently on the head. The blind kitten was surprised, the touch was gentle and caring and after a short while the blind kitten started to think this was ok.

Over the next few weeks, the blind kitten met some of the other kittens that were staying with the humans and made some new friends, the humans looked after them all but for the little blind kitten they gave it food, water and some horrible medicine which made the kittens sore eyes feel a bit better. Then one day, the blind kitten went for another ride in the noisy machine again, it felt something sharp bite it’s leg – “ow” it meowed but before it could attack the biting thing it felt very sleepy.

The next thing it knew it was waking up but felt different, it couldn’t open it’s eyes, it tried and tried but it’s eye lids didn’t work. The kitten was confused but then it realised that the pain in its eyes it had grown to accept as being normal had gone. It was a relief for the little blind kitten and that relief was so much greater than the fear of the lack of movement of its eyelids. It had been painful for the blind kitten to blink and even though it couldn’t see before it’s eyes still moved when it was looking round and that too was painful. Now though nothing, no pain at all. The kitten washed its face and there was something else different – where had it’s whiskers gone? How could it feel around and not bump into things? The kitten had grown to rely on its whiskers to stop it from bumping into things, then as it moved – bump! The kittens nose found the edge of the cage it found itself in. “It’s ok my sweet baby” said the familiar voice of one of the humans. “You’ll feel better in no time, we’ve had to remove your eyes as they were so badly infected. I’m so sorry we couldn’t save them” she said, “but it’s ok, lots of kittens have this done and they’re fine and once you’re better we’ll find you a nice family and a home to live in.” With this, the kitten was exhausted and drifted back off to sleep.

After a while the blind kitten felt better and the kind humans said to it “well, if were going to find you a home we need to give you a name – what about Jenny?”

That is the story of my birth and the rest as they say is history. As you can see, not all fairy tales start with a happy beginning but they do all have happy endings.

Some people would think that one blind cat was enough to cope with but not my mummy and daddy, they went for double trouble when they adopted my blind little sister Angelin.

According to mummy and daddy watching two blind cats play fighting and running around can be very entertaining. Normally I’m pretty good at knowing where things are, as you all know my other senses are finely homed and I can hear any little noise no matter how quiet. I can smell any living creature no matter how small and pinpoint exactly where it is. Sometimes though I just wanna have fun and when that happens I let myself relax a bit. Play is all about having fun not being serious and hunting for something to eat – you play because you can and because you want to. When I’m playing I don’t have to worry about something attacking me to harm me, just one of my siblings attacking me because they want to play. Gone are the days when I had to worry about being attacked, that instinct takes a while for me to let go of though so for me playing with others isn’t something that comes naturally, I’m normally still on edge wondering what is going to happen. Sometimes though when I fully relax and start to play we actually have fun and although cats playing can sometimes look like fighting there’s no hate or anger behind the paws and teeth.

Angelin and I are both ex street cats and so we are quite rough players, I started off being gentle with her and taking it a bit easy on her as she was very little but over time she’s become a strong, determined little fighter and she’s getting more accurate with her pounces and punches. She’s also a dirty fighter and you often end up with a bum in your face or having your head sat on. She gets so excited she gets a big fuzzy tail and all the hairs on her back stand up, we call this her fighting ridge. When her fighting ridge is up she’s turned into a big fearsome fighting cat rather than a slightly out of control punk kitten according to mummy and daddy.

As my instincts relax and we play my aim gets a little less accurate and sometimes even I lose track of where Angelin is and take a swipe only to find thin air! This is quite embarrassing for a seasoned hunting cat like me so of course I pretend that’s what I meant to do just to take it easy on Angelin and give her a chance.

Blind cats are generally very quiet cats as our hearing rather than sight is the first detection of predators so we make very little noise when walking around just so we can hear the background noises. Quite often mummy or daddy will turn around and then I am sitting behind them waiting to play and they are surprised that I’m there “oh how did you get there Jenny!” They say “ I think you must be a secret stealth ninja!” We make very little noise when we’re fighting too and this seems to be what mummy and daddy find funny about watching us. There isn’t a lot of running around or chasing, like I do with Peppar but it’s more on the spot rolling around and wrestling and pouncing. Daddy and mummy say it’s like watching a silent movie or shadow boxers. The only noise you really hear is the gentle thud of a paw hitting a body or me hissing at Angelin coz shes fighting dirty and we’re family and should fight a fair fight!

Before Angelin came along I used to fight with Peppar and you would think that he had an advantage over me because he can see but mummy explained something to me one day. Peppar came from a pet shop, he was a very, very scared kitten, he had been living in a cage there, there were about 6 cages all with either two or three kittens in and when mummy went into the shop she looked around and all the kittens were coming to say hello to her with their tiny paws and little meows, except one. Peppar was in a cage with his sister at the top of the cage pile, he was so scared he couldn’t bring himself to come and say hello to mummy and sat cowering at the back. Mummy immediately spotted him and thought he needed to be taken home and away from he pet shop, she bought him then and there. The people who owned the pet shop said that he had an eye infection and gave mummy some cream to continue the treatment, which she did. Luckily for Peppar the infection cleared up and he was fine but ever since then whenever he fought or played with his big sisters he would close his eyes to fight. This means that when I came along we were an excellent fighting partnership as he closes his eyes when he is play fighting with me! Isn’t it funny how I managed to find a home with probably the only sighted cat who fights blind like me 😺

Sometimes, I get my own back on Angelin’s dirty street fighting by ‘accidentally’ sitting on her head when I’m getting down off somewhere like the cat perch and Angelin is below me. Mummy says there’s a human saying ‘what comes around goes around’ and this seems very appropriate for Angelin’s naughty fighting technique. I remain top cat, Angelin gets put back in her place and I get the last meow 😸.

This week I dedicate my blog to my daddy or pawpa 🐾 as I like to call him. I don’t normally talk much about him as he just lets me and mummy get on with things but without him my life and our family would be incomplete.

Whenever mummy and I go out for walkies, daddy is the one who chooses which bandana I’m going to wear which strange as mummy says he has no fashion sense at all as all he wears is black! I love daddy choosing what I wear as it means that he’s part of my whole walkies experience, he always tells me how pretty I look in them before I go out. When we come in, he’s always so pleased to see me “did you have a good walkies Jenny, where did you go, what did you see? Did you chase anything or climb any trees? Have you been rolling again?” I rush up to him and and meow to him about everything we did whilst on walkies. He always makes sure that dinner is ready for me when I get in as I’m usually hungry after my adventures. Sometimes he even brings me dinner up onto the ledge of the scratching post so the others can’t interrupt me and try to steal my food we call it ‘dinner in bed’. I feel so spoilt and so lucky when I get this special treatment, it’s something that only daddy and I do.

If I’ve been out for walkies and it’s been raining then daddy’s there ready and waiting for me with a towel so I can get dried off and don’t catch a cold. Even mummy doesn’t get the same treatment!

Daddy thought me how to play the ‘ready, ready game.’ Just in case you don’t know what this is, daddy gets a toy or rolled up ball of paper or foil and stands in the kitchen doorway. I go to the other end of the kitchen, he gently rubs his foot on the floor so I know where to run towards then, when he says “ready, ready Jenny” that’s my cue to run forwards to catch the toys (or daddy’s feet), as I’m running forwards he kicks the toy and I then either have to catch it as I’m running or if he kicks it past me then I have to do a quick turn around with my lightning reflexes and run back to catch it. If he’s too slow then watch out feet here I come! Once I’ve caught it we go again and again, over and over until I’ve worn daddy out! Sometimes I’ll pick it up and take it back to him and sometimes he has to come and get it. It’s funny though as I play this game with both mummy and daddy and they both play slightly differently but I like playing it with daddy best as he invented the game with me. Sometimes we also play kitten in a basket, this was a game daddy invented with my big sister Mia before I was even born and occasionally we play it too, the idea is I jump in the box and daddy gives me a tour of the flat, we say hello to mummy on the way round as well as Peppar, Millie and Angelin. The tour ends back wherever we started and then I in can jump out and pay daddy his tour guide fee of a hand rub, kisses and quick wash

If I have to go to the nasty animal doctor with mummy then when we get home daddy is always there waiting to see me, comfort me and tell me what a brave girl I’ve been. It’s always daddy who says we should have treats and it’s always him who treats us with the special tuna food which is just delicious. We don’t get it very often but it’s always daddy’s special treat for us. He also always saves me some of his human dinner to try, specially something they call bolognaise which I love, he even lets me lick it out of his bowl (only once he’s finished though).

When it’s really hot he puts ice cubes in our water so it stays cold but it makes such fun noises that I can’t help but stick my paws in and play with it, once I’ve finished daddy says “mummy there’s water all over the floor, I don’t know how on earth that happened” “shh Jenny don’t tell mummy, it’s our secret”. Then mummy comes along and cleans it all up for us muttering “I don’t know who could have made all this mess, it couldn’t possibly have been that Jenny”. Phew, our secrets safe daddy.

Just recently I’ve been teaching daddy the damp hands game, I used to just play this with mummy but now they’re both home I can play twice as often so whenever daddy is in the bathroom I run in shouting. He got the hint and said “do you want to play damp hands with me Jenny? You don’t normally want to play this game with me. Ok then let’s give it a go.” Well, daddy plays it very well, differently to mummy but he has bigger hands so there’s a bit less rubbing and a bit more damp! “Aww this is so much fun daddy, we’ll play this much more from now on” I told him.

Daddy always makes sure that we have lots of toys to play with, he even buys lots of things that get sent to our home so we can have lots of our favourite box forts to play in. I love playing in the boxes, no matter what size they are, if I fits I sits, as us cats say. I know that he leaves them around for an extra few days before he gets rid of them, just so we can play in them for longer.

Daddy always says that mummy is my best friend which is true but what he doesn’t realise is that I know all the things he does for me. All these little things just show me he loves me. He never sees me go without anything and always makes sure I have everything I want and need. He puts covers on his speakers even though it doesn’t look as nice and doesn’t use them very often anymore because I like to explore things. As I can’t see I reach up with my paws instead, daddy says paws and speakers don’t mix but instead of getting mad at me when he wants to listen to music he uses something called headphones which he can hear but I can’t explore as they’re on his head! This means we can still be together whilst mummy is making food or doing stuff around the flat. I know this is a big sacrifice for daddy as he loves filling the room with music 🎶 and listening to it for hours to relax on a Friday or Caturday night. I just always wonder where the music comes from and as a cat curiosity always gets the better of me.

I’m sorry daddy if I’m naughty sometimes, I’m just not very good at showing what I want, specially when I’m tired. I know I’m highly strung and get anxious sometimes and thank you for understanding this. I don’t sit on your lap or come for a cuddle (unless there’s a towel) but I do rub your feet with my head whenever I can, give you a loving lick and play with you, these are my ways of showing you that I love you. I know you tell me off when I’m naughty but I know that you’re really just a big softie who spoils us whenever he can.

I love 💕 you daddy

Mummy and daddy are still spending all day at home, mummy has moved into the spare room to do her work and daddy stays in the living room. This means I need to make sure that we are all organised so they are supervised and kept company by one of us at all times. I need to make sure that mummy and daddy get up on time to start their working and that they finish on time to spend time with us and of course each other. They also need to be reminded to take regular breaks so they don’t get all stiff and fat sitting all day. I’m really not sure what mummy and daddy would do without us helping them. How did they ever get any work done when they went somewhere else to work? How did they remember to take their breaks without us reminding them? How did they not get into trouble when we weren’t there to check their work and remind them about their meetings? I really have no idea how they coped without us but this is how the day generally goes now.

Peppar is in charge of getting mummy up, the most important thing is to make sure we get breakfast on time. Then that the door is opened so we can go out and get so fresh air and listen to all the birds singing. Peppar is very food oriented so this is the perfect task for him, he normally sleeps on mummy’s pillow anyway so a quick nudge from him and mummy is awake, a few more nudges and pats and she is up. Then once breakfast is served us girls head with mummy into the bathroom where she does her blushions. The nasty virus is still around so I must make sure mummy washes properly and to my exacting standards. Then mummy goes back to the kitchen to make her morning tea before she starts work. Whilst she’s doing that I do my morning patrol of the balcony and the front door to make sure everything is ok and we haven’t had any intruders overnight, then when mummy is ready we’ll have a play together, this is my way of motivating her and making sure she is fully awake and ready to start work. Then she goes through to the other bedroom to turn on her work machine.

As soon as this is done Millie has got the job of getting daddy up. Millie has this job because she has the unique ability to engage what mummy and daddy call the ‘mental Millie brain’. This means she just goes completely mental around the flat, her eyes go all big and wide and she runs everywhere at top speed making crazy meowing noises. She goes over and above our normal zoomies and is at a whole different level. . This normally happens in the evenings and you’d better watch out coz if you get in her way she’ll take your legs out from under you! Shes up and over all the furniture, then down the corridor and back again crashing through the blinds and out onto the balcony – she’s a crazy, crazy girl. In the mornings though she only engages mental Millie a bit, just enough to to run through to the bedroom, run all over the bed and up and down daddy from head to toe and back again. Sometimes just to make sure she’ll pounce on daddy’s feet just for good measure. “Ok, ok Millie I’m up” he says – job done 😺

Angelin gets the job of motivating daddy once he’s up, she normally gets the morning zoomies whilst daddy is making his coffee, then it’s her job through the day to keep daddy company. When he’s not on his work machine, she plays with him to make sure his brain doesn’t go to sleep and this keeps him motivated through the day.

Once we’ve got them up and working it’s time for a nap after all that hard work so we all settle down, knowing that we’ve done a good job so far. We don’t go far though and we always make sure that we’re nearby in case we’re needed. We all swap about where we nap but normally Millie is through with mummy sitting in the hammock bed next to her, with Peppar on the snuggle bed. Then I can be with daddy keeping an eye on him from my bed behind the sofa and Angelin nearby as backup.

From time to time though we know they need to have a bit of help with their work and closer supervision is in order so this means getting on their lap to make sure what they are doing on the typing machines is up to standard. I’m not really a lap cat and neither is Peppar (except for in the evenings) so this job falls to the two youngsters, Millie and Angelin, they might be young but this is an area where they excel. Sitting, making sure what they’re doing is correct and joining in with mummy’s meetings on the screen to make sure the other people realise how hard mummy is working.

Half way through the day as we’re starting to get hungry I get up and remind mummy that she needs to make some food, unfortunately we don’t get extra food even though they’re home but we do get some little treats of whatever they have. Then another bit of playtime to make sure that they don’t feel sleepy after their lunch. Normally at this time mummy and I have a quick game of football down the corridor with my new favourite softball ⚾️ toy which we found outside whilst on walkies one day. Then it’s back to work for them and supervising for us. More playtime for Angelin and daddy and then we all swap about with who were supervising and keeping company. I might go through with mummy and Peppar off to look after daddy, sometimes we get it a bit wrong and all end up in one room but that’s ok as if mummy or daddy get stuck all they have to do is ask and we’ll come and help them. Then we all settle back down for the afternoon.

It can be very stressful all living together 24 hours a day and has taken some time for us to find a new routine but if it starts to get too much and stress levels are rising we’re there to offer up our stress relief service. This service ranges from a cuddle and a light stroke to a full on roll around, play with me, chase me and rub my belly package. Millie specially is great at giving cuddles, mummy or daddy pick her up and she just flops, legs stretched out, she looks so silly that they can’t help but laugh at her and any stress just melts away. Angelin too just sits next to them and stares silently smiling all the time, she looks so cute you can’t help but relax and smile back at her. As the Queen it’s impawtant for me to make sure the stress levels stay low without them realising that I’m helping them. So, whenever mummy or daddy go to the toilet or run the water in the kitchen I run in and ask to play the damp hands game, my hoomans love playing this game and so I make a big deal of it for them, “do it again” I shout, “again, again, more water, more rubbing please”. They laugh at me and say that I look like a punk cat as my fur goes all spiky, I make them run round the flat after me to play the game and by the time we’ve finished they have laughed, exercised and rubbed me until all the stress has gone away. They don’t even realise what I’m doing! The best thing of all is they think I’m just doing it to help them but as you all know I LOVE 💖 playing the damp hands game and so being able to play it lots of times everyday is just the best thing ever.

That is until it’s around 4pm when my inner cat clock ⏰ wakes me up as we’re getting close to walkies time. Walkies time is the most impawtant time of the day for me so I need to make sure that mummy is ready to go. I need to remind her that she needs to finish doing her work, turn off her typing machine and get ready for some exercise and one on one time with me. I start by just gently reminding her “ mummy it’s nearly time for walkies, you’d better stop working now”. Then as the time goes on and she doesn’t stop I remind her louder and louder, I even go and shout at the front door so she knows where it is we should be going. “Mummy it’s time for walkies now” and if that doesn’t work I go and see daddy “daddy make mummy stop working and take me out”. “She’ll be finished soon Jenny” he says, “ just be patient for a little while longer”. Then finally she slides away her typing pad, stands up, tucks her chair away and says “come on then Jen I’m all done, it’s time to go, we’ll just ask daddy to choose which bandana and we’ll be off”. “Reowra” I shout in glee and run off down the corridor to see daddy to choose the bandana.

The rest of the day is all about us and family time together. We eat, play, fight, run and chase through the evening until we’re all tired out and mummy and daddy go to bed.

It started off very hard to have them both home all the time and at first I wished they would both go back to work so I could have my regular routine back. Now though I like having them both home, we’ve become closer as a family and have learnt so many new things about ourselves and each other, I’ve certainly learnt that change can be a good thing.

I’m such a lucky girl, a few days ago when mummy and I were coming back from walkies, we stopped by our post box. This isn’t very unusual as since we’ve only been allowed out once a day mummy often collects it on the way back, it just means we go along the corridor first, then up the stairs rather than the other way around. I don’t like this route as much as we sometimes meet strange people this way and the other way is quieter which I prefer. Mummy says it’s the main way into and out of the flats and I can tell because I can smell lots of people smells.

One thing was different though as when we got indoors mummy said that there was something for me that had arrived. Well, I don’t think anyone has ever sent me anything before so I got very excited, what could it be I wondered? I was so excited I started doing circles round and round at mummy’s feet. “Open it, open it” I said to mummy, she was crinkling the packet and I could hardly contain myself, “what is it, what is it mummy” I meowed. It seemed like it took her ages to open it, I just couldn’t help myself and let out a huge loud meow – “hurry up mummy” I shouted. “Calm down Jenny!” she said, “I’m going as fast as I can.” Then she said “Oh Jenny you’re such a lucky girl, look what you’ve got, some beautiful new bandanas. You’re going to look so pretty when we go for walkies.” Oh Wow I got a present 🎁 “Mummy tell me what they look like.” As she took each one out she described it to me and I could picture how each one looked in my mind, they all sounded so lovely. Everyday when we go for walkies we ask daddy to choose which one I should wear and today was no different other than daddy had some new choices to make. Over the next few days I got to wear each of my new bandanas and I love them all. I’ll let you all decide which is your favourite. I feel like such a lucky kitty for getting such beautiful things.

Who did they come from though? I wondered but whilst we were out walking mummy explained that I’d been such a good girl adapting to us being home that they bought them for me as a present. I was so happy, I don’t think I’ve ever got a present just for being good before, normally it’s my birthday, christmas or my adoptaversary. Maybe there is a reason for not being quite so naughty! Maybe I’ll try to be less naughty and a bit better behaved but that’s difficult for me to do because I just get so excited that I want to explore, climb things, run around and shout to the world how wonderful life is when you’ve got a family and furrever home.

My being good streak didn’t last very long, whilst trying out one of my new bandanas I really thought I had better make sure I try them in every situation, I snuck through the fence into the park and headed for one of the big trees. Mummy sometimes lets me explore the land just beyond the railings so I know there’s trees there but this time I headed straight for one, there was a good smell and a noise I could hear up the tree that was just too tempting today. The trees in the park are bigger than the ones in our gardens so I can really practice my climbing skills. I climbed higher and higher and higher, paw by paw I was higher than I had ever been before and I could feel where the tree branches out but then the lead tugged at my harness, I was as high as I could possibly go. Look mummy, look at me and how high I’ve climbed I shouted from the top. Good girl Jenny she said now come back down carefully, just follow the tug of the lead and you’ll be fine. It’s ok mummy I’ll be fine I’m a master tree climber which includes getting down too!

Ok, so I can climb a tree but people ask mummy how blind cats manage stairs. Well, we don’t have stairs in our home but we do when we go out for walkies. Well, climbing stairs is very different to climbing a tree but when you have got senses as honed as mine it doesn’t take long for me to figure out what to do. The hardest bit was going down, when we first went for walkies mummy would put the lead on as soon as we left the flat so when we got close to the stairs mummy just watched me carefully and when I put my paw out to take another step she just tugged the lead gently so that I knew that there was something to be aware of. I put my paw out and mummy walked in front of me so I could hear by her footsteps that the floor was at different levels. She also tapped on the floor with her hand if I got confused. As I trust mummy I knew I could follow her safely so down I went, one drop at a time until I got to the bottom. On the way up I used my whiskers to feel where the steps were and climb up. Now I’m so good at it and know the way to the outside so well that mummy doesn’t put my lead on straight away, she waits till we get to the big outside door to do that. I go out of the front door, along a bit past our neighbour then turn right, down the corridor and wait at the door for mummy to open it then a sharp left, wait at the next door then through that, down the stairs and then wait for mummy to clip the lead on and open the big outside door and out into the fresh air and freedom!

You might wonder if there is anything a blind cat can’t do? Well I keep thinking the same thing but I haven’t found anything yet. Sure there’s things I can do better than others but if I find something I can’t do I’ll be sure to let you know. Until then I’m just going to keep exploring, trying new things, living my life to the full and being the adventure cat I was born to be.

Hey everybody, I’ve heard from the big talking screen that mummy and daddy watch that this week has been a difficult week for many people. Mummy says that there is a lot of fear and hatred in the world at the moment. Fear of the nasty virus that is still being spread and hatred of those who are different.

I understand fear, I experienced it a lot when I was on the streets, fear of something attacking me, fear of being left behind, fear of losing my sight, fear of strange noises, fear of humans who might hurt me. There were so many things to be afraid of, it’s a feeling that I have been glad to have never felt again since I arrived at my furrever home here with mummy and daddy. I have been scared since then but never afraid. The word hate I didn’t understand and I had to ask mummy to explain what hate was. She explained to me that it was when you really, really don’t like something. She said that some people hate other people just because they are different and they can hate so much that they sometimes hurt or even kill the other person. I’ve heard of humans treating animals badly, I heard about this when I was on the streets and my clowder was always wary of humans in case they hurt us. I don’t know why they might hurt us just because we were born into life on the streets rather than born into a home. I guess I was lucky that the humans I met were there to help us, they fed and cared for us and as you know when they found me and knew I was poorly they took me and made me better. They then found me a home where I could live out the rest of my life surrounded by love (and food and toys).

I had never before heard that human people would hurt other people just because they may look, act or behave differently. I was shocked by this as it isn’t something that us cats do.

Even with everything that has gone on in my life so far I haven’t ever hated anything or anyone, it’s just not in my nature . I take everyone at face value, I don’t judge, I don’t hold grudges, I just live in the now. Yes cats argue and fight from time to time but it would never be to the death, it’s only to resolve our issues at the time, once it’s done, it’s done. I often fight with my siblings but it’s nothing serious, even when we bite each other’s legs or paw one another round the head. With Millie and Angelin it’s more about teaching them the skills to hunt and defend themselves just in case they ever need to but we all know not to take it too far. I would never hurt them.

Sure cats kill things but not each other and only for food. Yes, I confess, we might play with our food before we eat it but that’s just us showing off our hunting prowess. Hey everybody look what I’ve got for dinner, look what an amazing hunter I am. Even when hunting we only catch what we can eat, we don’t catch extra. Firstly it’s very tiring hunting so why would we (being lazy creatures) hunt for extra and secondly, we’ve got nowhere to store it till we’re hungry again. I might try to fight something that is attacking me and I might hurt it in the process but that’s just in self defence and even then only if I can’t run away. I can’t think of any other reason for killing or hurting another animal.

How different would my life have been if mummy and daddy had said no Jenny you’re blind, you can’t go for walkies outside, you can’t climb trees, you can’t climb up onto the window sill, chase the birds or hunt the insects. They didn’t treat me differently, just because I can’t see and they don’t treat Millie differently just because she only has three legs, they let her run and jump and be the completely crazy, mad cat she wants to be. I think I’m very lucky to have found a family who are all about spreading the love and celebrating how we are, not everyone is so kind and tolerant.

In cat society it’s the same, when I was on the streets I wasn’t seen as any different to any of the other cats. Sure, sometimes they cats might take advantage and steal my food when I wasn’t looking but they would do that wether you were blind or not! Cats are just opportunistic and that’s just normal behaviour to us. If I’m better at something than another cat I’m not beaten up for that, I’m not picked on, I’m just expected to help the others who aren’t so good. My hearing is better than others so I have the advantage of hearing any sounds of danger earlier or finding prey quicker. This benefits everyone as the whole clowder act on the instincts of each other. Cats just accept each other for what we are, long fur or short fur, black, white or multicoloured, male or female, fluffy tail or skinny noodle tail, sighted or blind, four legs or three we’re all cats.

I don’t get any special treatment and I don’t get allowances made for me, when Peppar plays with me he doesn’t take it easy on me because I’m blind, he doesn’t play with me differently to how he used to play with Mia, he just plays with me the same way he would with any other sister.

I’m a love cat, I’m all about spreading love, peace, understanding, tolerance and compassion. I love that I have friends and family who are all different. All lives matter if we spread love and respect instead of hate and fear and the world will be a better place for all creatures great and small. Maybe people need to be a bit more cat.