We Hang Out and Chill Out

Will and Mishka get on like a house on fire, and this is a relief to all of us.
Here are more pictures.

furry friends forever

Will and Mishka are getting on really well. Occasionally Will finds her a bit too much, but most of the time he chirrups with excitement and they chase after each other in turns. INTIMATE MOMENTS

Mishka has a new home!

Today we went to pick up the most beautiful kitten ever! We are calling her Mishka, and we already adore her. She's very affectionate and playful. This is the only picture I managed to take as she won't stop moving! More to follow. Perhaps I can take some when she's finally sleeping.

Will is as happy as Larry

Yesterday I got a radiator cat bed for Will. It was given to me through Freecycle. I wanted one now that we'll be using Will's old cat bed for the new kitten. I was about to order it on-line when I remembered Freecycle, so I tried my luck. Within minutes I got a reply from someone who lives 5 min from home who was clearing the loft today and found an unused radiator cat bed. Her cat hated it she tells me, and refused to use it point blank.

But Will took to it immediately. And now it's his favourite spot in the house.

Success!

:-)

P.S. Tomorrow we are picking up the new kitten. We've got a name for her, but we need to see her to know for sure it's right for her.

Tom's ashes

I just went to pick up Tom's ashes. We'll be planting a bush with red berries in the garden and will be adding his ashes to the soil.

We arranged to go to Battersea and pick up a friend for Will. We'd met him, named him Alfie and were ready to go to collect him this Saturday, after he'd had his cat flu' jab. But they called me last Saturday to tell me poor little Alfie (and 2 siblings) had mysteriously died. They still don't know what the cause was, but they fumigated the place in case it was contagious.

Now we are due to pick up another kitten. She, like Alfie, is a tabby. Let's hope all goes well and Will and her (name to be decided very soon) become inseparable friends.

Fran

SAD NEWS

Dear all,

On the 11th of September in the evening I got back from my holiday (Barcelona and Valencia) only to get a phonecall first thing in the morning of the 12th that shocked and saddened me.

The nurse of the local vet's was going to work and found Tom lying dead between two parked cars -he'd been run over that morning. Tom was a wanderer, and he was enjoying going out for longer and longer adventures, but unfortunately he never got a chance to get streetwise enough to avoid cars...
Interestingly -and spookily- that very morning Will was miaowing in the most unusual way (distress calls, rather than his usual "feed me" miaows) and Kevin and I wondered and asked "What's this about, what's wrong?". There clearly was something wrong with his brother, only we still didn't know. Did WILL know?

Kevin and me are missing him lots, and Kevin and I felt that Will, who clearly misses his brother, could do with a friend to keep him company. So we went to Batterse D&C home and we are soon getting a beautiful little tabby-ball-of-fluff kitten.

I will be a few interesting weeks with the process of keeping them separate until they get used to each others smells (I'm sure there will be a few sniffs from under the door). The little one will be kept in a room upstairs for a while.

So there you are. We're just hoping the new kitty doesn't turn out to be another wanderer, and if he does, that at least that he becomes streetwise very quickly -for all our sakes!

We are expecting a call very soon to go and pick up Tom's ashes from the vet. At the weekend we got a lovely skimmia (red-berry bush), because Tom always wore a red collar, and we will be planting it in the garden using Tom's ashes.

I hope all this doesn't sound too sentimental to you, but I know that if you've ever had a pet you'll understand how sad it can be to lose one. It's amazing how much they make you love them the little buggers!
Fran

Pawsport picture

Tom's grown a lot and he said it was time he had a passport. He got a Pawsport Picture, but he isn't going anywhere!

Will is deep in thought :-)

Kitties update

a deserved rest after the daily exertions

Basketball kitty style

sporty kittens

free-style wrestling combat

kitties on TV

The kitties become minor celebrities and appear on TV

Will as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Tom as The King of the Jungle

Poo-er Will! (and poor us!)

The uglier side of parenthood.

Yesterday Will messed himself a bit whilst doing his business. Whether it is because he spent so little time with his mum (having been hand-reared and all) or anything else, the fact of the matter is that he had clangers! A crusty lump of poo stuck at his rear. Rubbing with wet tissue did not solve the problem. In the end, Kevin had to hold the poor sod down and I trimmed around the offending lump. He got a bit scared, but we were ALL thoroughly relieved :-)

A Tale of Two Kitties

Will and Tom do many things together. If one eats or drinks, the other suddenly realizes how hungry or thirsty he was after all and, of course, they cuddle up together at night. Tom has proven to be very dominant -not surprising as he is at least one third bigger than his brother, so we realized we have to supervise meal times, otherwise poor little Will hardly gets to eat at all.

One thing we do is to give Will some kitten milk in the kitchen and then, once he's had his fill, Tom gets a chance to hoover up his milk.

This way we have two happy tummies.

This is a picture of Will caught chop lifting at the local butcher's.

"I have nothing in my handbag, honest!"

Go on! Send me your comments.
Are you sick and tired of reading about "those bloody kittens" yet? Or are you happy to keep browsing? Yours truly.

the boys are settling in well

Will posing for the camera

Close-up of Will

Tom resting in his bed


The boys are a lot more relaxed now (even Tom who, although he is constantly looking for things to pounce on, doesn't get so scared any more).

responsible parenthood

Fortunately it WASN'T a food programme, just a Nature Documentary
-and yes, us being responsible parents, we limit telefishon watching to a minimum, we encourage them to play with their organic, free-range, environmentally-friendly toys, to read John Lewis, Waitrose and M&S CATalogs, and to listen to Cat sick FM. We also insist they tell us how their day went at the table whilst we are all having our 3-course home-made meals together. Yeah, right!

Tom loves watching telefishon

Boys R Us

When we were looking for kittens we thought we wanted a girl and a boy. Then we were told about the possibility of two girls and we said FINE -and finally the 2 black boys were offered, and we got them.

Our living room is not a living room any more, but a cattery. We got and made a few toys for the boys, and today Juliet came to vist and brought two more. We were given a cat bed and a cat gym, a brush, a catnip mouse, pink feathers on a stick and 2 rattly balls.

This afternoon Will and I had a snooze on the sofa.

Will and Tom have a new home

The kitties arrived yesterday afternoon.
Will, the tiny little one, flat-faced and very round all over, is the more confident one, as he was hand-reared and is used to people. So he soon was purring away on my lap. As for Tom, he is rather skittish but he wants to play non-stop. So, thanks to a piece of string we could touch him a bit to gradually get him used to hands. When he was asleep on a chair, he allowed a bit of petting and started purring, and this morning, after jumping, pouncing and running like a lunatic, he even settled down on my lap and purred away contentedly. The funniest thing, of course, is when they chase each other. Although Will, being so little gets a bit cat-handled by Tom sometimes. Still, he gives as good as he gets.
They already managed to break a nice Japanese bowl from Habitat! >-O
Yesterday they had a very tiring day - with vaccinations, microchipping, travelling and getting used to a new environment. So they slept like logs and there were no disruptions last night.

Any nice and/or interesting comments welcome. ;-)

heart a cat!

TODAY IS THE DAY!
In an unexpected turn of events, we can go and pick up the kitties this afternoon!!!
We were given only yesterday a cat carrier -very timely indeed.
I'm very excited, don't quite believe it yet.
Kittypics will be posted probably first thing tomorrow.
This is a very happy Cat Alan man :-)
I know... I have to stop these cat-word jokes!
Byyyyeeee!
Fran
xxx

Non me Kitty Pas!

JOY! ELATION! HAPPINESS!

I just got a call from Battersea D&C Home and we can have 2 black "boy" kittens on Saturday afternoon!!!! One is 1/3 smaller than the other despite the fact that they are bros, but they have been vaccinated and the Vet gave them a clean bill of health. Even their little hearts are beating away healthily, I'm told.
Now I need to give the other lady from the Cat Rescue Association the bad news, e.g. that we won't have their kittens after all. I know they had someone else interested in them anyway, so they also will have a home very soon.
A lady from Sheen has offered us an enclosed cat bed ideal for kittens! So we'll be picking that up probably on Saturday as well.
And last (but least, as it is not quite as important) our new bathroom will be completed today.
So, a lot happening in the Canals-Smith home at the mo! :-)
I promise to post some kitty pics as soon as I can take some.
Fran

P.S. For those who don't care about cats or kittens or anything feline... sorry! I know... pass the bucket and so on...

CATASTROPHE - kitty meeting delayed

Last night the lady from the Cat Rescue Association rang to tell us she was exhausted with extra work (a volunteer was away) and trying to juggle family commitments, and asked if we could defer our meeting and bear not to meet the kitties until Thursday. So we have to wait till tomorrow... mañana...
after all :-(

P.S. If you know anyone who has (or yourself happen to have) a spare/old/unused scratching pole/scratching station, water dispenser, cat nip, cat bed or cat toys, offers are welcome.

Keep your eyes peeled for further developments!

Fran

visit re. kitties

The lady from the Cat Rescue Organization turned up yesterday as expected to assess our home and us as potential kitty daddies and...

we passed with flying coulours!

We are going tomorrow to see 2 kittens (one male, one female), and if we all like each other we'll go back 2 weeks later to pick them up and introduce them to their new home (OURS!:-) ). They are only 6 weeks old and the Charity reckons (and I agree) that they shouldn't be separated from their mum until they are 8 weeks old, minimum. Bleeeeessssss!

Keep an eye on this blog for further information on kitty developments.

Meeeow!

kitties expected

Today someone from a cat rescue association is coming to assess both prospective owners and the home for 2 kittens who need love and care.
Soon pictures may appear showing the new feline arrivals.
I cat wait ;-)