Animals can be perverse. You boast to a friend that your cat always does a certain thing: for example, you say its name and it flicks its tail; you say its name twice and it flicks its tail twice; that kind of thing. Of course, the fickle feline never obliges when you try to demonstrate this amazing feat to your friend.
So, perhaps you can guess what happened after I posted about our little cat Sweetie’s eight-day absence…. yes, she turned up last night. Looking rather thin but otherwise apparently fine, she wriggled under our gates and came to greet her siblings, who sniffed around her as if trying to work out where she’d been (which was probably what they were doing … none of them told us). Beamer seemed particularly pleased to see her and immediately began to give her a jolly good wash.
And Sweetie was back, as she always had been before, for her breakfast this morning. She seems pleased to be back again and, thankfully, Pip has chosen to ignore her.
We’ll probably never know where she was, what she was up to, or why she didn’t come to our finca in Mallorca as usual. We’re all just pleased she’s back and unharmed.
The prodigal daughter gets a good clean-up from big brother Beamer
©Jan Edwards 2017
Brilliant news we were very worried,
So were we, Barry! Thanks for getting in touch.
Hooray! We have had cats do the same thing over the years we have lived way out in the country. Two times the kitties have not returned, probably killed by bobcats, which are our most likely predator here in the Rockies. We just never know what mischief or danger cats get up to. They are fantastic and fascinating creatures and I cannot imagine living life without two or three or more of them about.
So glad she turned up. Over the years I’ve had cats who have disappeared and its heartbreaking, I can do nothing but hope that they’ve found a nice new home (as the alternatives are not worth contemplating) and console my self with the fact that I spoilt them rotten when they were with me.
We are the newly adopted parents of a near blind (very dilated pupils) feral tabby. He turns up each day for breakfast, hangs around until tea time then having been fed he tends to head off to who knows where ( although tonight he’s staying close by in the orchard). Unfortunately, although he can smell the food, and always eventually finds it after a somewhat circuitous route, he doesn’t pay any attention to, or cannot smell the water. Do you have any suggestions.
He’s quite a big handsome fella ( we call him ‘Handsome’) with a few battle scars and tattered ears certainly no spring chicken, but it amazes me how an almost blind cat has survived. He moves very slowly,feeling his way, and if he does ever run he bumps into things. At first he was very wary and would run away if he heard my voice, but now I talk to him and gently tap the food bowl with a fork as I approach and continue to talk to him whilst he eats. He no longer runs away but gives a warning snarl if he thinks I might be too close.
Our own domestic black female cat from the uk (Tibbs) leaves him alone and I don’t imagine he’ll ever want to come too close to the house, so the arrangement seems to work for us all. I don’t know how long he’ll stay but I just see it that he thinks our orchard is an okay place to be..until he decides to move on to pastures new.
Can I just say, I really enjoy reading your blog..you are the reason I bought a fork and spent hours moving my debris pile before burning it…I didn’t want a tortoise casualty. I enjoyed your take on the 312 as not only do we live here but my husband was a participant and I really didn’t mind our road being closed, but having read your blog I understand why there may be bad feeling about it.
I look forward to your next instalment.
Thank you
Jo
Firstly, Jo, my apologies for not replying earlier. The past few weeks have been somewhat manic with work and domestic stuff.
I enjoyed reading your comments and hearing that you are ‘looking after’ a near-blind cat. He sounds lovely and I am sure he appreciates the food, as life must be pretty difficult for him. I don’t know quite what to suggest about the water. I think cats have a tendency to find it when they need it. We don’t put water down alongside their food but they use four ‘official’ watering spots for the cats (three are birdbaths (!) and one is a solar-powered ornamental fountain) but even though they use them regularly, they still like to ‘find’ water in the plant pot saucers and even stick their heads into the mouth of the watering can that we tend to keep topped up with water. Perhaps putting a few sources of water around the orchard would help? I don’t know if you’re feeding him wet or dry food but, if it’s wet, then I guess he’s getting some moisture from that. Ours are fed on biscuits, so seem to drink out of instinct.
Thank you for reading my blog – and for checking the bonfire for tortoises! The blog has been a little bit neglected of late, but I hope things have quietened down a bit now and I can get some more posts written.
Have a good week. I imagine the bicycle is put away now in the heat? It’s been unusually hot so far this spring/summer.
Best wishes, Jan