Goodbye, my beautiful man

We have such sad and sudden news this evening.
At about 11pm Benjamin came home, then started howling and staggering, before collapsing. He was breathing very fast and trying to give a loud rattly purr when I stroked him. I set off with him for the emergency vet but shortly before we arrived he began to moan, gave some rattly coughs, and he had passed away before we arrived.
The vet - and I - think it must have been his heart. He still looks so beautiful and healthy. He was 12 or 13, my lovely man, my ginger tom, and we'll miss him so badly. I know Boxie's special orange purrs will have been with him on his journey.

Strangers!

I've always been very afraid of strangers. I am a fabulous big, strong, might, beautiful Ginger Tomcat but apart from Mum people just scare me. Once I managed to give a headbump to Mum's sister. Everyone was amazed by it but I felt it was only polite to do it. But that was it. In the eight and a half years since I have lived with Mum she has never seen me make contact voluntarily with another human. Until yesterday. The Rector was here having a cup of tea with Mum, when I got up in the morning (at my usual hour of about midday!), so I went to Mum, headbumped her hand, then I did the same to the Rector (being polite again) then stood for him to stroke me, and I even managed a purr! I knew I was brave, but twice in eight and a half years is really, really brave in my book. And I quite liked it! But I did say a rude word to him when he left, just so that no one would think I was a pushover!

Earthquake!

Well! Well I never! Goodness!
We had an earthquake last night!
I know you have all sorts of Big Events in the USA but they hardly ever happen over here in the UK and last night we - Ferdie, Isobel, Harriet and I - were just a few miles from the epicentre of the biggest earthquake the UK has had since 1984! 5.2 on the Richter scale, whatever that might mean!
It came at 1am. Mum was just going to bed, when a terrible noise happened, and the whole house shook, and a few things rolled off shelves, and Mum's bedtime tea sloshed out of the mug.
Harriet shot off the bed so fast you couldn't see her, Isobel crept round the house on her tummy with her fur on end, and Ferdie bustled around wishing she was capable of making cups of tea. I ran outside and hid under the car in case the house fell down.
But we were very lucky, and there was no real damage here. The damage that did happen was a bit further away from the epicentre than we were. Even there few people were hurt and the damage was mainly chimneys falling off houses.
Mum has had phone calls all day today, and she says that at last people know where she lives; we live in the tiny village of South Kelsey near the little town of Market Rasen, and now the whole country is talking about the Market Rasen earthquake, which is quite good but none of us - including Mum - liked the quake at all!

I AM the greatest! Or at least I should be.

We have a visitor!
He saunters in through our catflap late at night as if he owns the place.
He is a Maine Coon! A huge ginger (pale, not gorgeous red like me) Maine Coon and he is much bigger than I am! And I am fairly huge.
But I am the only Brilliant Orange Cat in this house (since Rufus left us), and it is NOT RIGHT!
His name is Hoscar. He lives next door but one with Sabby's family. Sabby is the nice lady who comes round to feed us when Mum has to be away. He has a perfectly good home with them, but he has started coming round here.
First, Mum found some pale ginger fluff in the kitchen. She thought it might be a gift from Rufus, visiting from the Bridge.....
Then she was working late, and a pale ginger nose pushed the catflap open at 1.30am!!!
Then she was at her desk at 1am and he appeared at the bottom of the stairs!
Then she was asleep in the night and was woken by a Cats Chorus in the bedroom - he had come upstairs and was looking at her!
And this evening he's been in twice, and it's only just midnight; first time he had a look in the cat food cupboard and just now he's been upstairs checking out the spare room in case he needs a nap!
Well! What is a chap to do?
Actually, I let Ferdie and Isobel deal with it while I hid on the windowsill.
I've always said that discretion is the better part of valour, and the girls are so much better at the Cats Chorus than I am!

Feral cats

I wrote this to Brilliant Orange Cats Unite, who were talking about feral cats and just plain scared cats, so I thought I'd put it here, too, in case it helps anyone.

My little sister Isobel was supposedly feral. She was certainly a terrified little spitting and scratching thing when she came to live with us, with her kitten Harriet who was then about 4 months old. They lived behind the bottom drawer of the desk for a few weeks, then at the back of a wardrobe for another couple of weeks, then under a spare bed. Harriet was a nosy kitten, of course, and she came out and played with us all, especially Rufus, with whom both girls were seriously in love!
Next, Isobel dared to sit half way down the stairs in the evening, and after about 4 months she said the tiniest "brr" to Mum one morning. But it was not until she had lived here for 6 months that Mum was allowed to touch her.
She's been here 6 years now, and loves to be stroked and even to join in Mum's singing practice! But if Mum ever tries to pick her up Isobel turns back into a little terrified feral kitty, all stiffness and claws. Mum's forgiven as soon as she puts her down, though, and Isobel comes back for more pats! Mum says that in many ways Isobel's the most rewarding cat she's ever had, and they really do love each other now! (even if Mum does call her a terrible fridge magnet, since she seems to be attached to the fridge door every time it opens!)
So persevere with your ferals, and scaredy cats, and just wait until they tell you they're ready!

Come on out, Ratty

Well! I brought a nice little rat in the other day, and Mum got a bit over-excited and chased it out of the pantry, so it ran behind the washing machine. AND IT'S STILL THERE! Mum has heard it, and so have I, and Harriet keeps sticking her head under the kitchen unit so she knows it's there, too. There is a hole in the wall - there used to be a tumble dryer there - so Mum left chocolate biscuit in the hole to entice Ratty to leave, but she had the biscuit and came back. She's nibbled some bags, and some tealights, and I think she enjoys the bits of biscuit Mum puts out just to see if she's still there (we are all sure she's a lady rat!).

Anyway, this morning Mum bought a Humane Rat Trap, like a cage, and it's all set up in the cupboard with some bacon and a chocolate biscuit, and Miss Ratty has gone all quiet! If she lets herself get caught, Mum will take her to a nice place out in the countryside, for a New Life. What more could a rat want?

I'll keep you posted...
Ben

Champion

Mum was very pleased to receive a nice fresh rat this morning. She's trying to lose weight, so she didn't eat it (her will power is quite something!) but she says I'm the champion ratter of the family. But I am the only Ginger Tom in the family so what does she expect?

There's a cold roast chicken in the fridge, but it's covered in foil. What can I do? Foil is the most terrifying substance known to cat. She goes to get the chicken out to give me a piece, but she has to touch the foil and I have to run out of the catflap, it is so frightening. Mum seems to think this is funny. One day the foil will get her and then she'll be sorry.

Mum's back

She's been away in London; she says she was working but I can smell that she had lots to eat and quite a lot of fun but at least I can't smell other cats on her. She has a bad habit of making friends with every cat she meets, and even dogs too, but I think they're all a bit like that if they're the right sort of person to live with.

Our neighbour came in and fed us while she was away. Before we moved here we used to go to a cattery, and I had to live there for 8 months before I came to live with Mum so I didn't like going back very much, but as long as Ferdie and I were together it was all right. It's better now that we can stay here, and keep the territory patrolled and the hunting up to date while she's away. We didn't leave any rats for our kind catsitting friends to find, but Ferdie did manage to throw up her breakfast on the carpet, which was greatly appreciated. I know they like to feel they have worked hard for us while Mum's away. She says she's going away again this weekend, which I'm really not sure about. I wish she'd discuss things with me before she books her trips, but I suppose she doesn't go very often. She's just turned 50 and is going to meet her friends who are just about to turn 50, and relive their far-off student days. She even managed to get the cat in her hall of residence to sleep on the end of her bed - brilliant orange, of course - but he must be long gone. I hope she doesn't find any this time!

Escaped for now

Mum went out last night and when she got home the Supermouse was still lurking under the bookcase. So she took all the books out, and lifted up the bookcase, and tried to catch the mouse, but she was not on form (recently she caught one in a plastic pot in one hand while speaking on the phone held in the other hand!!!) and it got away, first to sit in the vacuum cleaner, then to hide under her desk - which is built-in so she can't move it. It seems to have been there ever since but it's very quiet and we've given up on it because today is a fabulous autumn day and we are all much more interested in sunning ourselves than staking out mousies. We'll find another one later on, I expect. The humane trap is still out, so if he's like all the others, Supermouse can nip out and steal the chocolate biscuit out of the trap and get back under the desk before Mum can do anything.

Stake Out

The best way to spend a Saturday afternoon, is staking out a mouse under the bookcase in the kitchen. Isobel has found a really feisty one in the garden and she brought it home for Mum, who tried (hopelessly) to catch it before it found its refuge. We're all taking it in turns to stake it out now, and Mum's put the humane trap out with a piece of chocolate biscuit in it. We've all tried to reach in and touch it but it has the loudest voice of any rodent I've any heard and it keeps screaming at us, which is a bit frightening. And Mum has gone all screechy and squeamish because she's wondering if it's a baby rat. We caught one of those the other day, and Freddie our neighbour caught a full grown one and bit its head off (a bit full on, even for us!). Isobel's on duty again now. We might have to have the bookcase moved later.