A helpful cat – you decide

Poppy has become my new assistant – cute eh?  Maybe not.  She has decided that my desk chair is for her, and her alone.  If I am incredibly lucky she will allow me to “share” my chair.   I am trying to persuade her that it is much nicer and more comfortable for her to sit on the desk whilst I am working.  She is gradually coming around to this idea but for me, maybe this was a bad idea as she has taken to swiping my pen whilst I am designing or sitting in front of the the screen to get my attention.

Not only is Poppy “kind enough” to help me in the office but she is also very kind in helping me with the housework too!  Litter box cleaning is best done when Poppy is asleep as stray cat litter seems to be a toy to her and before you know it you have a trail of cat litter over the floor.  She also likes to help with the ironing by trying to pass me the clothes!! 

I wonder if I could train her to use the iron?

Mango – the twitcher

Mango has just discovered the window and has spent the morning bird watching.

Totally absorbed in watching the bird on the feeder . . . . .

As it flies over, she cannot resist following it . . . . . .

 

Did it come in here? . . . . . .

 

Never mind, another one will be along soon!

Poppy’s adventure

Cats, as we all know, are curious by nature.  Poppy has been dying to know what was behind the hall door for ages.  So on Friday we allowed her to go upstairs (under supervision of course!).  She had a great time looking in the bathroom and our bedroom.  As she entered our room, she stopped, arched her back and gave an almighty hiss.  We tried to work out what had spooked her, but nothing was immediately obvious – then it clicked – she’d seen herself in the mirrored door of the wardrobe!  We tried to reassure her that it wasn’t another cat in her house but she wasn’t buying that one.  So we took her back downstairs, hoping she would forget about it.

Saturday saw Poppy worrying to go upstairs and take on the other cat.  She just wouldn’t leave it, so much so that it became a sport trying to get through the door without her coming too.

We spent Sunday working in the (much neglected) garden, with the cats watching us through the window.  We came in and were quite pleased that Poppy had seemed to forgotten about the “cat upstairs”.

Not long after we discovered that Poppy was missing.  The door to the garden was closed so we knew she wasn’t outside.  A frantic search of the downstairs followed and still no Poppy could be found. We checked upstairs, still no Poppy.  Where could she be?  Now, Poppy loves her food (I mean, really loves her food) and normally a quick shake of the cat biscuit box will bring her running. So we shook the biscuit box – still no Poppy.  By this time I was convinced that she had got outside and was lost.  DS, however continued his search upstairs and finally found her on the top floor landing, just sitting there without a care in the world whilst we’re dashing about frantically looking for her – I wonder if cats can laugh as the joke was certainly on us!

Poppy  is not concerned about going upstairs today – I bet she’s seen that other cat off!!

Doormat cat

It never ceases to amaze me where cats sleep and the things that they find comfortable.  Mango has a “thing” about sleeping on top of my needlework box.  Why?  It’s a hard topped wooden box with handles on the top – how is this comfy?

Poppy on the other hand, likes sleeping on the floor or underneath my desk chair.  She also for some very strange reason likes sleeping on the doormat!

Mango

As yet, we don’t have so many pictures of Mango.  She has been with us for 4 weeks and is gradually (read that as extremely slowly) getting used to us and her new home.

Over the weekend, Mango had a “brave” moment and I was able to get a picture (or two).

 

Doesn’t she look comfy?

A breath of fresh air

During the week I had been getting the girls used to their leads and harnesses .  Neither were particularly fazed about it, although Poppy had taken to laying down and refusing to move.

Yesterday we took our two girls out for a walk in the garden for the first time.   At first, neither wanted to venture outside but Poppy (with a bit of persuasion) took the lead (no pun intended!!) and was soon strolling round the garden like she owned the joint!
Mango, being Mango, had a panic attack and managed to tie DH up in knots – requiring assistance from DS to get untangled!  However, she soon became brave enough to have a sniff of the grass and a fuss from the neighbours.  Poppy couldn’t resist showing off, walking up and down the garden like she’d always been walked on a lead!
The excitement proved too much for Mango and Poppy as they both spent the afternoon asleep.

What a face!

Why do cats . . . . .

Pick the strangest places to sleep?

Both of the girls have been provided with lovely comfy beds; can sit on any available lap or even sit on the sofa but our two girls find it better to sleep on top of the scratching post and in the wood basket!

 

Contentment?

The girls are slowly settling into their new lives but we are still having problems with them fighting.  Poppy is very much a cat where everything is on her terms and Mango takes the line of least resistance and hides!  Both are finding it hard to accept that I am Boss Cat.
Therefore I was quite surprised by Poppy the other evening.  I had settled into my armchair, feet up, to watch a film when Poppy decided to join me.  Having plonked all over my lap and decided she couldn’t make it comfortable, she decided to settle on the foot stool next to my feet.

Not content with simply laying on the foot stool she carefully positioned herself so that her feet were on mine – lovely eh?
I think she’s starting to like me, don’t you?


Anonymous said...

They are looking good Lesley loved the tale of collar fitting as for sleeping habits, apart from night time when it's on the bed between us or under it laying on her back clawing the underside of the mattress ...lol but our Lucky is addicted to any carboard box that come into the house large or small it has to be tested. keep the stories and photos coming.
Hazel and Paul xxx

14 April 2010 23:48

Collared!

A few days ago I decided to try Poppy with her collar.  I waited until she was in a quiet mood and armed with a cat treat, I put her collar on.  She wasn’t impressed!  She tore up and down the room, then tried her best to get the collar off.  I decided to take it off and leave it for another day. 

I tried again on Wednesday and surprisingly enough Poppy didn’t protest.  Once again I put the collar on, rewarded her with a cat treat and the job was done – no mad dashing about or trying to get the collar off.

And the best bit about it is the collar has a bell – known as the Poppy Advanced Warning System (PAWS!!)

Having been successful in getting Poppy to wear her collar I decided to try Mango with hers and I was in for a big surprise.  As with Poppy, I chose a quiet time and had a cat treat at the ready.  Talking to Mango all the time, I started to put her collar on, ready for the expected protest – but there wasn’t one!  With her collar on she just sat there, no trying to get it off, no dashing around the room – result!  It then dawned on me that she must have had a collar on in her original home and so it was no surprise to Mango at all.

Doesn’t she look good??

Poppy at play

Anonymous said...

Love the idea for the new blog we will watch with a lot of interest as only cat / pussy lovers can. Just wish we could get the impossible photo of Lucky's new trick, as mum and dad go of to sleep listening to their ipods she finds it great fun to grab the headphone wire and pull it out of our ears ... Bless. Hazel & Paul


8 April 2010 11:20

2 weeks on . . . . . .

The girls have been with us just over two weeks and boy, what a time we’ve had.

It has been a shock to go from caring for an elderly moggie to having these two fur covered terror monsters dominating our lives!Who would have thought that learning the words “NO!”and “OFF!” could be so very complicated.

The girls have varying degrees of tolerance for each other – ranging from sitting in close proximity, to hissy, spitty fits and out and out warfare (fur flying, screaming – you get the picture!)

On the whole, they get along, with just the occasional spat, which isn’t a bad situation given the short time that they have been with us.

 

Here they are enjoying one of their favourite pastimes – fish TV.

Don’t they look adorable?  If only they were like this all the time.

Our first post

As our readers from my other blog know, we have just had two new additions to our family – 10 month old kittens!
Let me introduce you to the girls . . . . .
  This is Mango.  She is apparently 10 months old but we believe that she is much younger – between 6-7 months.  She is quite timid at the moment and is keen to hide.  Left to her own devices she does put in an appearance!  With time & patience she will become a confident, affectionate moggie.   Mango has taken a big liking to DS much to his delight.  By just talking to her she flops on her back and loudly purrs.
And this is Poppy – the hooligan in heels!!  Poppy is about 10 months old and a right bruiser.  Keen to be the boss about the house, she has already had a rude awakening.  She is a tough cookie probably as she has had to fend for herself - she is believed to have been roaming on a farm for 2 months during the winter.  She loves to be brushed and has the weirdest purr – well, it’s not a purr it’s more like a growl.
Needless to say we are over the moon with our new additions to the family and in just 24 hours they have made their presence felt.  They have started to settle in and once we have ironed out Poppy’s want of hissing at Mango peace and harmony will reign.  Nothing that time and patience won’t fix.