Things that go thump in the night

We don’t know where she came from.  We’d neither seen nor heard of her before her entrance.  Was she one of “er upstairs” cast offs?  Might have been.  At the time “er upstairs” was sporting a full tum as was her wont, and inclined to abandoning the previous litter to their fate, so she may have been discarded but I honestly have no idea.   A neighbour found her (knowing her, probably heard her first, she’s not backwards in coming forward where complaints are concerned) by the side of the road outside his house.  My neighbours are far too polite to say anything but I get the feeling they probably think of me as “that crazy English woman and her animals” so I suspect I was his first port of call when he found her.  He simply called my name and when I went out to greet him handed this little ball of fur over the gate.  

I took her and put her on my arm and to my amazement, she immediately leant back with her full weight, and began to purr.  Like she belonged. Not even slightly scared as you’d expect a wild kitten to be, but this one it turned out, isn’t a scaredy cat.  Vito who had followed me to the gate, sighed, raised his eyes to Heaven and walked back into the house.  Another sign she belonged, or maybe of Vito saving time by giving up before he had to give in.   She’s been with us ever since.

If you are wondering why I call her Thumper, that’s because you have never heard her make her way downstairs.  Delicate this one is not.  Where Chili and “er upstairs” could gyrate on a pinhead, or dance on a moon beam, this one  … thumps, and when she arrives there’s no mistaking she’s arrived. 

Sometimes at night, she jumps on the bed and throws herself (with real abandon) on my legs as though they belong to her and I’m just keeping them as a favour for her.  There’s nothing subtle about Thumper.  If she wants me to get up to feed her at 4 a.m., she just head bangs me, and I mean head bangs me!  A real full frontal attack guaranteed to make you start the day with a headache.  But she’s also an affectionate creature, and purrs like a steam engine as she nestles up to you for a cuddle.  She’s also tough.  Chili gave her hell for at least six months before she allowed her any peace at all (now they go everywhere together),

and she is a fierce defender of her territory.  Ask “er upstairs” who lives in terror of her and Chili.

No matter how nasty a passing stray is, she’s ready to see them off at a moment’s notice. 

She also, as you can see, grew up to be as beautiful as my other girls. 

Variety is the spice of life

I was talking to my neighbour (the one who always helped out with "er upstairs" endless conveyor belt of kittens) and she told me she'd seen another female with a full tum parading on her back wall this week. We agreed we hoped it stayed on the other side, however it put me in mind of other kittens which had passed through our doors over the years.  Most of the kittens "er upstairs" produced were sweet but pretty ordinary looking, but there was one litter where she excelled herself.  They were all absolutely beautiful.

They all went to very good homes but this time I told Vito I wanted to keep one.  Up till then we'd never chosen any of our animals - they sort of chose us.  This one was different.  I said to Vito I felt outnumbered living with three male cats, two male dogs and a husband. I wanted another woman in the house.  He didn't argue as he was probably more besotted than I was and it's not hard to see why.

She is a true female puss tat.  Incredibly independent, she can be just as demanding as her mother who she takes after in vocal terms at mealtimes.  Unlike our male cats she's very delicate and light.  We watch entranced as she gracefully chases after something whether it be a toy ball, or on one horrific occasion, a garden snake!   Definitely spicy (hence her name Chili) she is always (sometimes too much so) thrilling to watch, but the thing about her that amuses me most is the variety of places she finds to sit and sleep.   Sometimes she looks sooooo uncomfortable I don't know how she does it.

She's the only one of our cats that does this

and she sleeps in the strangest positions

and places.

 She hides in places you would expect to find a puss tat hiding  

and not such obvious places!

As I write she's curled up on the desk behind my computer.  We've taken in another female cat since her arrival (as well as her mother who she hates with a passion and attacks whenever she sees her) but every time I speak to her I find myself repeating the same thing over and over - and I mean it.

You are just soooooo pretty!!!!!!!