Pets

[Boatbuilder]

I bought Suki a new 'cat tree' last month, when it was her birthday. It's about 5-foot in height and when she's on it she thinks she is 'Top Cat'.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I like cat trees - they're a great idea. Suki looks very much at home up there!

[Chrissie777]

I bought Suki a new 'cat tree' last month, when it was her birthday. It's about 5-foot in height and when she's on it she thinks she is 'Top Cat'.

Beautiful, John!

[Courtenay]

Suki is queen of the castle — and she looks rather pleased to be higher up than the white tiger, too!

[Boodi 2]

Judging by her expression she definitely appreciates being top cat!!!

[Boatbuilder]

Thanks for the interesting comments about Suki. It's probably hard to believe, but she is very shy and timid. She only comes to me for a fuss when I'm in bed, then she can't get enough. She used to be the same with Enid. She adores my other cat, despite his tendency to chase her, as he really DOES think he is 'Top Cat'.

[Boatbuilder]

Freddie returning home about 1-am this morning. Cropped from three images from a security camera.

[Boodi 2]

Wow, due to the lighting in the security camera images Freddie reminds me of a professional cat burglar!! I can well imagine that he is the "Top Cat", but not that Suki is timid and shy, so in that case her expression of superiority in the photo of her on her cat tree is misleading (or else she is so happy with her birthday gift that it made her feel braver and more content with life)!

[Boatbuilder]

Hence 'Cats Eyes' on the roads. I can assure you Suki is timid and shy, Monique. I had to take that picture of her from outside the room, zooming in. Had I ventured into the room towards her, she would have been off there in a flash and out through the catflap. Maybe one day when she's old, like me, she might be different.

[Boodi 2]

What age is Suki? Our cat (Mrs. Reilly!!) is still very restless and playful...people told me she would improve when she got older, but she is now 8 years old and still much the same. All our other cats were happy to sit quietly beside us and let us eat/read/watch TV/sleep (and in one case even do calligraphy!!) but not Mrs. Reilly, who sits still for about ten minutes before becoming restless and running around the room, exploring behind the sofa, climbing on to furniture or our shoulders and attempting to play with the curtains, hence for that reason she spends most of her time outdoors and only comes to us for meals or to bring us a present/show what a good hunter she is!!!

[Boatbuilder]

Suki has just turned four, Monique. I think I may have mentioned on here before that she was a rescue cat through the RSPCA, having been picked up by them when she was just a few weeks old, along with her sister, somewhere in Norfolk as they were ferrels as were a number of other cats/kittens they rescued at the same time. Apparently their mother was nowhere around at the time. I love both her and Freddie to bits despite them being so different from each other and hate to think what it would be like without them.

I must say, I do like the sound of a cat doing calligraphy - I used to do that myself, many moons ago and loved doing it. They all have their own personalities in the end which is what makes them such a joy to own. About a week ago whilst looking through some of the videos from my garden camera, I noticed Suki doing something odd. When I looked at it again on my larger computer screen as opposed to the iPad, I could then see that she had noticed a frog on the lawn and she had gone up to it and was touching it with her paw. Suddenly the frog leapt a couple of feet away from her and she went after it. At that point it went out of the camera's view so I don't know what happened after that.

I took this one of Suki earlier today - through the window. If I had gone outside she would have gone away.

[Boodi 2]

While the late Orlovska was a wonderful and most extraordinary cat (we still call him "The King") he never mastered the art of calligraphy but used to sit behind me like a sort of back-warmer while I was doing it and never once disturbed me. That would not be possible with Mrs. Reilly, who is also a rescue cat...both parents were ferrels who used to frequent the stables where I had my horse and Mrs. Reilly was born in the barn there, unfortunately with cat 'flu, so it was quite a struggle to keep her alive, especially as her brother did not survive.

[Boatbuilder]

Thanks for those stories of your past and present cats, Monique. Where does the name 'Mrs. Reilly' originate from. Please don't say 'Old Mother Reilly'. How old is she?

It was a shame about her brother not surviving.

Do you have any pictures you can post?

Tonight I have been re-vamping a webpage I created 4-5 years ago of pictures mostly of one of our previous cats - a Tonkinese called Bramble - and have uploaded it as a stand-alone page. It can be viewed HERE if any of our cat lovers are interested.

[Bertie]

Great photos, Boatbuilder. Bramble looked lovely.

I've never had a Tonkinese or a Siamese cat. But I did have a lovely 3-legged Blue Burmese for a number of years.

It was a gentle stray that always visited the garden with a Tabby cat. One day, the Tabby plucked up courage to come into the house for the first time - and stayed for good! A day or two later I found the Blue Burmese on the floor of the greenhouse with a badly damaged back leg. It was at the vets for a few weeks and they had to amputate its leg but managed to save his life and, of course, he moved in as well - much to the surprise of the Tabby who looked shocked to see him suddenly hopping around on 3 legs!

They both had lovely, gentle temperaments. Especially the Blue Burnese who, like you describe with Suki, remained very jumpy and timid around everyone else but fortunately was very loving and trusting with me.

[Boatbuilder]

Thanks, Bertie.

That’s an interesting story about the Blue Burmese. Such a shame about his leg, although I suppose he quickly became accustomed to just having the three.