The cat has got really protective since I hurt myself. For the last two nights I’ve slept on my old armchair and our big tomcat keeps coming and sleeping next to me on the arms of the two chairs next to each other. It may be that my body is adding warmth to the room as its been cold for a few nights, so I’m a temporary heater? But I like to think it’s more like love or companionship. When he’s awake he puts his paws on my hand and gently kneads it. I feel like I’m being protected by him. It’s lovely.
Old oil painting of my cat leaping between gate posts. She was really clever and if I tapped the gatepost opposite where she was sitting she would leap across the gap. She would also come to me when I whistled for her. This was taken from a photo using a 35mm olympus camera. It took a few shots to get the image to paint from.
I used to paint in oils when I was in college and just afterwards but eventually started using acrylics when I found how quick and easy they were to paint with.
Sorry for the blurry photo but it’s high up on a wall and I would have to stand on a, step ladder to get close enough for a good photo.
Sorry, I’ve always loved cats, I’ve had cats since I was a child. We never had room for a dog, I don’t think my parents had the time to walk one while they were looking after all of us children.
Cats always seem aloof, but once you get one, and start to understand it they can be very loving. I used to whistle a little tune to get our cats to come home. I’d do it when they were due to be fed, or at bed time, and I suppose they understood the reason behind the whistle so they would come. So cats can be trained. I had one which would jump from one gate post to another when I tapped the post and whistled. She was very special and liked climbing up on my shoulder and having a little ride around the house or garden.
Don’t get me wrong though, I do like dogs, it’s just that when you go out to work all day it seems cruel to leave them shut in the house or tied up in a garden. At least cats can use cat flaps and enjoy independence. And I know you can get dogflaps but they look like a burglar could get in through them…
Also, thinking about cats, I think they are not as expensive to look after, although when you have multiple cats it’s not cheap. Maybe one day if we suddenly have lots of money I might get a dog.
Belly rub? Yes please, I tickle his tum. He purrs. Friends with each other, he is content to lie on his back. No sharp claws, quiet paws. Ten minutes, twenty… Then up he gets and toddles off to his food bowl. Next out into the night, the wind is blowing and the stars aren’t bright, in fact it’s blowing a hooley out there… But he’s happy and replete, out on his nightly patrol, come rain or shine….
He’s still an outdoor cat really. He comes in and snoozes for an hour, but then he goes back out again, on patrol, dozing by the shed, or under the neighbours car. His abscess has gone down now and his eye had opened up again, but he gets into scrapes with other local cats (not our other two). He will always be an outdoor cat really, especially in the summer. He finds places to sleep but they change depending on his mood, on the stairs sometimes, or on our sofa, under the hedge, in the summer house. I love him but wish he was a bit more settled.
His eye and face are much better now. We are still giving him antibiotics, difficult as he won’t eat them mixed in for, so we wrap him in a towel and try and open his mouth. It’s a tricky situation, but I think he knows he needs the stuff. The only thing is he won’t stay in, so it’s a case of pouncing on him and grabbing him. Does anyone have a good way of giving medicine? I might crush a bit of tablet and use his other medication syringe (to put liquid medication on his food) to give him the tablets mixed with water. We will have to see.
Facing a long wait. The vets are busy and only have on clinician on duty. The people who were here for 2.30 are still waiting at 3.15.
Our cat must have been in a fight, he’s got a big lump on his face which is below his eye. Cats are prone to abscesses and they can burst on their own, but it’s important to get it checked out especially since its so close to his eye.
Anyway I hope he will be alright soon. Wish him luck. X
Peeping out, watching the traffic, avoiding dog walkers, he sits and waits for us to get out of the car. Then he’s on the doorstep waiting to come in for his tea.
My other cats have their habits too, my little queen stretches up and claws my knee every time she says hello. I always say ouch, but she’s not bothered. She won’t stop. Just a friendly miew…
The other Tom likes me to Stoke his head, all the way down his back to his tail, as I reach the end his head comes back up again for the next sweep of my hand, over and over, 20 or 30 times…
The three of them are so loving. I enjoy their company. X
Mallaband-Brown 