THE NEVER-ENDING ADVENTURES OF OUR TWO CATS, MAO AND MITCH.

Author: BLYTHART
Word Count: 2029
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THE NEVER-ENDING ADVENTURES OF OUR TWO CATS, MAO AND MITCH.

The ongoing adventures of our two adorable tomcats.

THE NEVER-ENDING ADVENTURES OF OUR TWO CATS, MAO AND MITCH. belongs to the following groups:

1 on 1: The Fine Art of Portraiture , ! 100% !, "Exceptional Ekphrasis", All Around the Styles, All the Colors of the Rainbow, Birds and Creatures of Flight, Bits and Pieces , Dimensions, Ebony and Ivory, Escher and Perspective Art 5/24, For the Love of Cats , 1 image a day , Freedom to Shine, Iberia , If it doesn't belong, Japanfluence, Living Christianity, Melbourne & Victoria, North East England, Not What It Seems, Painters In Modern Times - TWO PER DAY, Pets Are Us ~ 2 per day, Safe Haven, Shameless Self-Promotion, Surrealism *MAX 4 PER DAY*, This is England, United Kingdom, Universal Innovation, Vibrant and Vivid Color and Who are YOU to Judge?

FIRST OF ALL – A POEM TO INTRODUCE THEM:

Here’s a poem I wrote about them. Mitch is the hairy one who leaves fluff all over the carpets.

MITCH AND MAO

We are two little pussycats,
Our names are Mitch and Mao,
We’re really rather haughty;
In our presence you must bow.

Our humans truly love us,
They cater to our needs.
We humour them with mewings
And purr when we get feeds.

We sleep upon their duvets
And scratch upon their door
And one of us leaves lots of fluff
Upon their nice clean floor.

We sew not, neither do we spin,
We sleep and eat and poo
And once week, if in the mood,
We catch a mouse or two.

Dave Edwards – 2009

Our two cats, but mainly the younger one, get up to adventures that make us laugh. I have often mentioned them in my Journals, but today I have decided to compile the stories into a piece of writing, which I will update as new adventures occur.

One night, I climbed the metal ladder into my attic study to alter an acrylic painting I had been working on.

Rattle rattle … up climbed Mitch, our (then) seven month old lively kitten. First … take a look at the little guy … who couldn’t love him :)

Anyway … There I was, altering the sky in an acrylic painting I was working on.

BOUNCE … a fluffy bundle of joy landed on my bench, inches away from my bowl of water.

I lifted him back to the floor.

BOUNCE …. back he comes. Down he goes again.

BOUNCE … oh, what the heck. I continue my painting.

CRASH … down goes my wooden mannikin.

NIBBLE NIBBLE … Mitch has discovered my jar of pencils.

SPLOOSH … his fluffy white paws are in my water bowl.

SPLASH … he’s shaking his paws dry over my painting … agghhh!

‘NUTHER SPLASH … He’s knocked my bowl of water sideways, spilling a considerable amount in the process.

Let’s call it a day. I clambered down the ladder to clean my brushes in the bathroom. Mitch heard the tap, assumed I was having a bath and clatter clattered … down the ladder … flew through the door into the bathroom and landed in his spectators’ gallery at the corner of the bath where he usually supervises my ablutions.

Anybody want a kitten …. no … only joking … I love the little blighter to bits :)

We adopted our kitten Mitch in July 2008 and he and Mao (our two-year-old) have never got on very well together. The problem lies in the fact that we once fostered a cat that attacked Mao and sadly she resembled Mitch. Mao will eventually realise that Mitch is just a loveable little pest who means him no harm. Today (5th January 2009) we had a rare glimpse of them having a truce between their squabbling :)

26th January 2009 – The other night, our older cat, Mao, was lying on our bed and my bedside table-lamp was casting a shadow of him on the wall. Mitch (our eight-month old kitten-cat) was staring intently at the shadow and every time Mao moved his head Mitch would leap at the shadow. Mao was lazily enjoying the whole spectacle, unaware that it had anything to do with him. It kept Mitch happy for half an hour and gave Mao time to relax, because normally Mitch is jumping on top of him wanting to play funfights.

A SCARY BATH-TIME ADVENTURE …

Yes, who could resist such a title … :)

Every morning, I like a luxurious soak in the bath and our kitten-cat Mitch has developed the habit of sitting on the back of the bath behind my head to watch the water splashing from the taps.

This particular morning was no exception and after a while he decided to walk along the narrow side of the bath nearest the wall. Half-way along, he realised the bottles of shampoo, etc. were blocking his pathway and as he is not great at going into reverse he decided to leap across me to the right side and thus onto the carpet. He achieved a successful jump ... fortunately for me as he has sharp claws.

I congratulated him on his jumping skills, but I must have sounded too enthusiastic because, elated by his own success, he decided to repeat the performance from the right side of the bath. He leaped and … yes you’ve guessed … landed in the bath with me. Apart from a very small scratch I didn’t suffer any damage and I managed to grab our little hero before his head went under.

I dumped him onto the dry floor and he stopped to assess the damage. He normally has a beautiful fluffy tail, but of course, as it had been in the water, it had taken on the likeness of a rat’s tail. This confused Mitch, who must have imagined he’d left his tail behind in the bath. He ran around in circles meaowing pitifully and trying to catch his tail. Eventually he managed and spent the next half-hour giving it lots of t.l.c.

Here is a photo of MItch that shows his big fluffy tail and another photo that shows his shrunken rat’s tail:

11th February 2009 – *My wife took this photo today of our mischievous little cat Mitch. He leaped onto one of our kitchen wall-cupboards, which as you can see is close to ceiling height. Apart from the fact that he had to use our glassware and plates shelf as a stepping stone, we have the top of the unit filled with soup mugs. Trish (my wife) said he walked around by putting a paw at a time into the mugs.

Sunday, 15th February 2009 – well, after all those months of shielding Mitch from danger, he’s finally managed to break free and achieve a life-long ambition …. some naughty birds tempted him up a tree … here’s the resulting photo:

23rd February 2009 -* ... yesterday, from our window, I spotted this event … Mitch was chasing Mao across the lawn. On reaching a plant trough, Mao leaped gracefully over it and Mitch (typically) went splat into it. Like the gentleman he is, Mao waited for Mitch to compose himself and the chase resumed :)

24th February 2009 - My scanner isn’t working too great … turns out young master Mitch has been chewing the 15 volt cable. What’s more scary though is that he’s been chewing the mains cable into my computer. It may be that he is teething and will grow out of the habit. He could have been trying to pull the plug out … a pastime of his. We had a rabbit once who chewed a cable and bit through the neutral wire, knocking himself out. Another millimetre and he would have bitten through the live wire and fried himself.

27th February 2009 – Bored withchewing my computer cables, Mitch has discovered a hiding-place in the tiny triangular section formed by my drawing-board at a 45 degree angle to the bench. Every now and then a cheeky little paw will stretch out from under my drawing surface to grab at a brush or pencil. I just caught him in time as a paw was reaching into a palette full of wet acrylic paint.

Here is a photo of him chewing a pencil.

1st March 2009 – Today I was sitting at the computer desk doing some painting from an image on the screen. Mitch was trying to chew the cable of my mouse and I shooed him away. Seconds later, he was at the other end of the room, at my painting bench, pulling a brush out of the water bowl where it was soaking and carrying it to my drawing board (thankfully minus a painting). He dropped it there, so I walked over to sort things out, sat down and realised I was sitting on something soft and warm that was starting to move. Yes, you’ve guessed, it was a sleeping Mao (our older cat).

Saturday, 28th March 2009 – We’d left some savoury rice on the kitchen work top and Mitch ate a large hole in the packet and was tucking into dried savoury rice with peppers.

1st April 2009 – Today, Mitch appeared over the fence dragging behind him eight feet of tinsel. Goodness knows where he got it from! Here he is with it:

28th April 2009 – Mitch is the first talkative cat we’ve had. Mao speaks when he wants feeding or to go outside, but Mitch says hello when he passes us and often runs in from outside with a tale to tell. Mao says Meaow, but Mitch says Meahrow. Mao sneaks around; Mitch struts with is large fluffy tail erect like a flag. I was saying today that he is probably the cat equivalent of “camp.”

Mitch follows us around the house like a puppy and is very funny. He doesn’t like being cuddled but I tend to pick him up and cuddle him sometimes. To make me stop it, he shouts for Trish. He nearly deafened me last night. His mouth was right beside my ear and he let out a really loud, “Meahrow!!!”

Usually Mao sleeps on our bed (Mitch doesn’t, because he sneaks under the duvet and bites Trish’s toes) and in the early hours of the morning he likes to go downstairs and outside. As I am half-asleep, I like to get back to bed to finish my sleep, but Mao dithers on the stairs in front of me and takes an age. I usually tap (certainly not kick) his bum with my slippered foot and then he speeds up a little. Yesterday, Mitch was sauntering downstairs in front of me, also dithering. Without thinking, I tapped his bum with my toe and he ran down two steps, stopped, turned and glowered at me and then leaped at my foot and bit it … feisty little fellow. After that he was quite happy to be friends and follow me around again, but he does tend to like his revenge for any imagined wrongs.

16th May 2009 – Mao has settled down now he is three years old, but Mitch is only a year old and life is still a big adventure for him. He is no respecter of crockery and we have already lost a few pieces of china as a result of his mountaineering practice. He resembles a feather duster with two lovely big eyes in the centre, staring lovingly up at us from amidst a pile of broken china and who can scold him :)

22nd May 2009 – Mitch retched up a massive hairball for us today. He then wandered off. I found traces of him in our bathroom sink and have added a photo below. Bear in mind, it’s a new pristine white bathroom … he sure transformed it by his presence :)

1st August 2009 - Someone left eh crockery cupboard door open and Mitch decided the casserole dish was ideal for a bed :)

6th August 2009 – For a long time now we have suspected that Mitch has a little Maine Coon cat in his ancestry. We like Maine Coon cats and have read up on them. Today, without any prompting from us, the vet said that he obviously has some Maine Coon in his family. Yahoo – it’s not official :)

Catherine Howell

David, there has got to be a book here, somewhere! Very nice write, and I truly enjoyed reading:) The pictures are a huge bonus.
Linda Ridpath

great!!! I thought i was the only person to clean brushes in the bathroom!!! :>]
BLYTHART replied

... ah, but being a woman you probably remember to clean the sink afterwards :) I’m not too bad, but if I am preoccupied I sometimes forget to be as scrupulous as my wife would be.
Lisa Roberts

That’s really sweet David – from one cat lover to another!
Lisa x
andrea verstegen

Cats. I love them. I loathe them. I recently had a similar occurrence as you when I had just finished a drawing of our magpie mate….(we call him Beakee because he has an injured beak)....when my cat decided to sit right on top of him in the drawing – perhaps because she has no success in catching him. My daughter, needless to say, thought this was hilariously amusing and stood and laughed at the sight of it. I wasn’t so amused.
BLYTHART replied

I was playing one of our son’s recordings of him singing the ohter day and Mitch jumped up, examined each speaker,. astood with two paws on top of the monitor to peer behind it, then walked around the monitor … he couldn’t find Rowan though. I told him we lock naughty boys inside the computer and he is next :) Not that Rowan is naughty though :)
Alexandra Felgate

I absolutely love your stories of Mitch, you should compile them into a book!! Have you ever read Dorren Tovey’s books about the adventures of her siames cats? Absolutely hilarious and adorable reading, I think you would enjoy them!
Alexandra Felgate

That was meant to be Doreen* sorry!
PERUGINA

These are darling little cat tales and one very amusing cat tail misadventure – i loved reading these. They do remind me of what my two boys get up too! Buffy and Chocky – same same…
Chocky too has landed in the bath (after i got out thankfully) I’m surprised your injuries weren’t more serious.
Keep sharing your stories.
Patricia
Carol-Anne Kozik

Just superb!!! – CATS!!!! love them to bits….... we had a cat (or should I say a cat had us!!!) – a few years back. We called him “FluffyBum” (he had a fluffy bum!!!) – anyway, we used to leave the toilet window slightly ajar for him when we were at work and the boys were at school…..
long story cut short, my hubbie came home first that day…...... couldn’t find FluffyBum anywhere…... looked in the Toilet – yep, you guessed it…... there was FluffyBum swimming for his life in the toilet bowl!!!!
Lots of cuddles, hair dryers and tinned salmon later…..... he slowly started to talk to us again.
This adorable boy was later adopted by my parents when we had to relocate to Australia (from New Zealand), and he was taken on and loved by them. He stayed with them till he was the ripe old age of 22!!!!!
My Dad used to say that he got sausage while the cat got steak – I think he wasn’t joking!!!
BLYTHART replied

That’s hilarious. Fluffybum is one of the many names I address little Mitch as. Trish (my wife) keeps telling us to close the toilet seats in our house so the kitten couldn’t fall in and I told her it wasn’t likely, but after reading your account I have to admit she was right as usual(she’ll love that).

If ever you wish to exchange cat photos, my email is edwards121@tiscali.co.uk
Firedrake

Haha…your little monsters are so adorable. I think they make a good team (though they probably wouldn’t admit to that)! :)
BLYTHART replied

Mao chases Mitch away, snarling menacingly at him, but Mitch just comes back undaunted. They bite each other and it often looks as though one of them is going to be killed in the process and then they disappear, to be found asleep together on our bed.
AnitaInverarity

Hahaha- Love that pencil chewing pic. My Coco grabs pencils out of my hand and plays “pawball” with them through the house. I never find them, must be a secret stash somehere.
There 2 need a TV show or book or something. You could maybe make a fortune sending vids to that “Animals do the Funniest Things” programme. :))))))))) x
BLYTHART replied

... my current pet names for our two feline gentlemen are Majestic Mao and His Royal Fluffiness :)
Linda Callaghan

great stories and photos Dave ........they do get up to mischief hey but what can you do but love them!! :-D any balls of wool lying around in your house for the royal cats to play with I wonder instead of your creative tools!!.......
BLYTHART replied

Believe it or not, but all they ask out of life is to be thrown a crumpled up shopping receipt to chase. Sometimes they even bring it back, like a dog does. We spent $20 on a laser toy and they play with that sometimes, but much prefer to play with the computer keyboard.
Catherine Howell

I love your updated entry, Dave. I surely hope that your dear kitty does not fry himself!

By the way, I enjoyed seeing a part of your workspace with your drawing in the photo!!
BLYTHART replied

haha … but you didn’t see the bit that needs tidying up :)
Catherine Howell

Oh my, Dave!! You ought to see my mess:)
BLYTHART replied

Ah but you are immune from scoldings … you don’t have a wife telling you to tidy up :) Women are allowed to be untidy; not that my wife is, but she could be if she wanted to I suppose. Fair play, she turns a blind eye to my attic study, so long as the rest of the house is tidy.
Catherine Howell

:)))))))))))))))))))))))))))) Ah, but I have a husband who was in the army:) If he was not so creative himself, I’d probably drive him nuts!!
BLYTHART replied

I am smiling at the thought of you standing to attention while he inspects your art room.
WINTERROSE

Awesome ,,enjoyed that,,,,thank you
Alexandra Felgate

I love reading the updates about Mitch!!! And its nice to know I’m not the only one with cats who have fetishes!! Merlin, my ginger chews pencils (to pieces sometimes, I have to try and keep my expensive coloured ones in their boxes) and Mischief, my torty has a paintbrush obsession! I am forever finding brushes strewn from one end of the house to the other (her favourite place to leave them seems to be the dog’s bed, I think thats a message!)
Thanks for keeping us all updated and entertained Dave!!
BLYTHART replied

Thanks for reading it … I have just this minute added today’s adventures on if you have time to look.
Alexandra Felgate

Yes, just had a look…...I am familiar with that wet paintbrush thing, Missy likes to do that when I DO have a painting there. She is also very fond of walking over wet paintings, she seems to think that pawprints are essential to all art work, whereas Merlin is more inclined to chew and rip any works on paper, much to my horror!!
Sharon Mau

This is wonderful Dave, I very much enjoy the adventures of Mitch the wonder cat. I say wonder because it is truly a wonder he is still living with his preference for electrical cables. He has much to be thankful for, most of all for your endless patience and good humour! :)
BLYTHART replied

We all love him to bits … and his step-brother Mao too.
Katerina Willi...

I just read your Mitch & Mao diaries-how delightful and funny. Cats are my favorite pet-especially the ones who adopted me, not vice versa. I have a similarly marked kitty, named Twinkie, a black & white who was born blind in one eye named Astrobeleki” (about 9 monthes) (that means lightening bolt-named him before realizing his blindness)and then there is Leonardo Di Vinci-my resident 18 month old “bad boy” type grey Tabby adopted Street Fighter. He was adopted at a pet shop, the owner found him abandoned. Leonardo got his name ecause the very first thing he did upon arriving to his new home was TEAR APART MY FAVORITE AND MOST EXPENSIVE PAINTBRUSH! So since obviously he believed he is an artist-I gave him a large name to live up to. Please write some more about Mao and Mitch-it was really wonderful reading…
BLYTHART replied

I have just written a little more for you and added another Mitch photo if you care to look above. Mitch is the youngest and also the funniest.
Katerina Willi...

Hi- just read the new antics-reminds me so much of Leonardo…and Astrobeleki, and of course Twinkie. Twinkie has settled down, but Leo is forever going as high as possible-I lost a florescent painting lamp to his antics just the other day, but you are right-I cannot stay mad at him…just for the fleeting moment, but when he comes and rubs me, I let it go and proceed to give him all the hugging & kissing he wants. Astrobeleki has taken to running and sliding through the apartment, from the window (where I might add, there WAS a screen, until they poked out a hole big enough to allow access when I am not there, if the window is open. Sut if I forget and leave a closet open, I, too, come home to broken items-its like they get mad because I am not there, and punish me…
Katerina Willi...

Astrobeleki just realized that the carpet has been removed for the summer, and there really isn’t any way to put brakes on on a marble floor…its really funny to see… Mitch’s little face is adorable, and Mao is also a wonderful kitty friend to have…
BLYTHART replied

Mitch is gaining a little control now, but when he was younger he would run into the dining room where the laminate flooring is and skid to a halt, or try to. He would slide along the room until his head collided with the wall … we reckon that’s damaged his tiny brain and made him a bit silly :)
Katerina Willi...

I think all are like that-Astrobeleki was trying to get at a lamp wire this morning and nearly knocked over a bottle (a large antique one)-which I have been working on, as consignment for someone…at that moment I was more than a little ticked, because this bottle is irreplaceable, not to mention the customer would kill me if I had to tellthem that it got brokd, instead of rendered as an art piece…
Catherine Howell

Wonderful writing, Dave:))) I love the continuing story of your two sweet cats!
dawndavies

oh i thinkk this is a delight to read, love it when a ct is like this hehe they sure rule the roost hehe well done,dawnx
AnitaInverarity

I love that photo of the mucky paw prints in the sink- My Coco’s fav is playing tail chase in the bath and I try to lock her out now, because I’m fed up with the paw prints and fluff (usually just after I’ve cleaned it lol) xx
Katerina Willi...

AWE!!! Poor Mitch- hope he is OK…my 3 have what seems to be the “sniffles” and so they are taking Vibrymicin(the Dr. suggested this syrup)-and it is a tussle to get it into them…For hairballs, my Dr. recommended a teaspoon of olive oil once about every 2 weeks
BLYTHART replied

He’s very fluffy and is often coughing up hairballs. The other one has smooth fur and rarely gets a hairball. Mitch can’t walk across the room without leaving a trail of hairs in the carpet. The hoover won’t get them up and we have to use a little carpet sweeper to get the hairs – a few times a day.
Katerina Willi...

Twinkie is also like that-and add to that he goes out into the neighboring fields, and comes back with these prickly things, little balls that stick into the fur-I call him “burr cat” now-I must groom h im free of them at least daily…
BLYTHART replied

I know what you mean .. Mao is smooth-haired so doesn’t bring much in, but Mitch sometimes looks like he’s been dragged through a hedge backwards because of his long fur attracting foliage. When we try to take the burrs out of his fur he rewards us by biting … little ingrate that he is :)
conniecrayon

Great to find out about your cats Dave they seem to have bundles of personality…i think Mitch must of been a monkey in a previous life..looking forward to the next installment (O:
Katerina Willi...

Twinkie is the same, bites when I try to “de-burr” him-and yesterday he was ina real “cat-fight” and came in with a “black eye”-now he is really peeved because I put eyedrops in it-he bit then ran away and spent the night fighting again with the neighborhood cats…LOL what am I to do with him…I know, I need to get him fixed, as well as the other two, this will calm them and also cut down on the bumps, bruises etc they come home with…
BLYTHART replied

We always get our cats neutered at five months old. It stops them spraying and seems to make them docile, although Mitch hasn’t realised that yet and seven months after being neutered he is still crazy … but in a nice way. I haven’t really tried to deburr Mitch but he would definitely bite if I did :) We have some special gloves for brushing cats with and use them on Mao, but when my wife tried to brush Mitch he bit her hands … gently though :)

Nice to hear about Twinkie; I love chatting about our cats and also love to hear about other people’s cats too.
Katerina Willi...

My two “bad boys” Twinkie and Leonardo Di Vinci have been gone on “walkabout” from yesterday-haven’t even come home to eat since last evening…I am a little worried, but as I heard no big fights last night, they will probobly be waiting my return from work tonight…
BLYTHART replied

They’ve probably been getting high on catnip and are sleeping it off at someone’s hippy squat :) Our Mitch gets huffy because we let big-boy Mao out at nights but keep little Mitch in because he is still wet behind the ears and may go off with some thuggish cats and be led astray.
Katerina Willi...

My nerves were thankfully just from my imagination…Leo was waiting my arrival on the windowsill, and Twinkie was sitting on a patio chair, also waiting for me. I really worry when Astrobeleki goes out overnight, because of his being blind in one eye. Anyway, Leo and Twinkie were as if nothing had happened, neither one cut or anything, but both tired…LOL…they must’ve been “down on the docks with the sailors” so to speak…boozing and galivanting all night…I tried scolding them, but found I can not really…so I just hugged them and told them how much I miss them when they stay out all night…what can a mommy do?
BLYTHART replied

In answer to “what can a mommy do?” – precious little I’d say. When I scold Mitch he just looks up at me saucer-eyed and says, “Mrow” then starts licking his … well, you’re a cat owner … so I don’t have to spell it out :) When I was young I laughed behind my hand at the way middle-aged couples doted on their pets … but now I guess people are laughing at us. I reckon it’s ‘cos our kids are adults now and we have no-one to pick up and cuddle. There are four of us in our house and with ages ranging from 22 to 59 we are all equally besotted by our little darlings.

I have to ask – do you actually call “Astrobeleki!” from the door each night, or has he a shortened name, like Astro? I Googled Astrobeleki and got nothing, so please enlighten us – where did you get that name from?
Katerina Willi...

For short I call him “Astrobe”- Astrobeleki means Thunder Bolt or Lightening Bolt, in the Greek language. I named him before I realized he was born blind in one eye, so there was no irony intended inthe name-when he getshis “crazies” he is faster than a lightening bolt-even at 2 monthes old-thats hiow I got the name. So- I have an Italian Painter, An American Sweet, and a Greek Lightening Bolt! Yeah- I remember laughing too, until I actually owned my first feline, and got divorced around the same time (not in that exact order, the divorce came first)-then I understood the true friendship of a feline-her name was Arapitza (small black cat in Greek again)-and we lived together for quite a few years. ..then I just continued with kitties, for about the last 20 years or so.
My neighbors laugh in front of me-when I am calling the kitties in…they can’t believe they actually come to their names (well, most of the time, anyway)-I know they think I am nuts, but honestly-I would take my kitty friends over some humans without question!
BLYTHART replied

Yes, we loveour kitties. I consider my family to be my wife, our two children, my brother and our two cats :)
Katerina Willi...

LOL-My kitties are waiting (I hope) for food, so I am out the door to home!
BLYTHART replied

When Mitch is hungry he makes a noise about it. When Mao is hungry he calmly walks over to me and sticks his sharp claws in my leg! I don’t think he realises it hurts :(
Katerina Willi...

Mine seem to have a thing about blue jeans-they think the pants, and Mommy’s legs are Scratching Posts! LOL-at least its Not the furniture or doorways!
BLYTHART replied

We have a fabric-covered headboard on our bed and Mitch got bored one day and hacked a big hole in my side of the board. He’s chewed a cushion in the lounge and a section of carpet in our son’s room. He also has a thing about Rowan’s legs and chews them :)
Katerina Willi...

Come to think of it- last Winter I saved a Rabbit-whom I found a home for, because I saw that he was chewing the floorboard/trim of my apartment-perhaps it wasn’t poor Bugs after all…hmmm…I have to pay closer attention to the kitties, now that I know they can also have sharp enough teeth to destroy cushions and wood….I also have just noticed some “new” teeth marks in the woodwork/trim-however, I just thought I missed it back when I thought it was poor Bugs doing the chewing!!
BLYTHART replied

Don’t encourage me to talk about rabbits or I’ll go on for ages :) We had an un-neutered rabbit who took a shine to two of our cats. They were both neutered toms and couldn’t understand why this excitable long-eared “cat” kept chasing them passionately around the garden and trying to mount them. They were scared of him and he loved chasing them. So much for cats always killing rabbits :)
BLYTHART replied

Mitch chews my paintbrushes by the way. He also chews us. He obviously doesn’t feel he is doing anything wrong, because after he has bitten us, he curls up at our feet and snoozes, which he wouldn’t do if he felt he was in danger of us retaliating. Today, Mao was asleep in a large plantpot in the garden (the plant has miraculously survived its transformation into a cat’s bed) and Mitch crept up and dived on him. Poor Mao was so startled that he fell out of the pot and Mitch calmly went and took over his place. Maybe that is where the expression, “Oh you sly little cat” came from :) Later, Mao was asleep on the lawn, in a shady patch. Once again, Mitch dived on him and they had a little fight and then Mao wandered off for some peace and quiet and Mitch took over his place in the shade. Yet to look at him he is a harmless ball of fluff. He is so fluffy that when they fight (not vicious fighting) they both have to keep wiping their mouths with their paws because of the flying fluff.
Katerina Willi...

This is so funny, about the pot! I can imagine Astrobeleki doing this to either Leonardo or Twinkie. Twinkie came in “beat up” last week-to the point that one eye was shut, I was fearing another cat had taken it out (he wouldn’t let me near it for a few days)but by yesterday, well, the eye is still there, and he has it open again, can see too, thankfully! Since mine are 3 boys-well you know the older ones “experiment” with the younger ones (perhaps they are gay, but I don’t think so)-and so it has been over the winter, they have both on ocassion “tackled” Astrobeleki. Astrobeleki has pretty much put up with it, but recently has decided he has had enough, and stands his ground! This is quite funny to see-because Astrobeleki is smaller (beinng younger)-and he “ctunches his back” into a “c” form (sideways)-and just hisses, and gives them a “fistfight”-with the paws. Sometimes I am not sure if they are seriously fighting, or just playing boxing…and then quite often Astrobeleki sneaks up on one of them and attacks, jumping etc. I have my camera handy at all times, but have not been able to catch any of them in midair as yet…You know, the biting I have been told by the Vet is also a sign of love on the part of the cat-however I am talking about “nipping” as opposed to drawing blood! My Lucky used to think my legs were chicken parts, and would swish his tail and attack me from behind, whenever I would be standing at the sink doing the dishes-but he was a bit unusual, he used to “knock” on the door to come into the house, and “jiggle the keys” to tell me he wanted to go out of the house. Imiss him so much, he passed away almost 2 years ago…he was a very special kitty, the one I moved from NYC to Greece with me. Like there are no cats in Greece but I simply refused to leave the US if Lucky couldn’t come too…He is the one on the seat of the motorcycle in my album entitled “Ok…YOU drive, I’ll sleep”-which he used to ride with me, not far, and certainly not fast, but he was totally trusting of me…
AnitaInverarity

Oh hee hee- toooooo precious, he even obligingly tucked his tail in :)))) x
BLYTHART replied

I put the oven on at 220 for one hour, but he was stringy and I ended up with a hairball. knew I should have shaved him first :)

In case the RSPCA is watching – relax – I only set the oven for 190 :)
Lynnette Shelley

Very cute. Is mitch a maine coone? I ask because he looks a bit like one and I used to have one and she liked to “talk” as well – making little chirping noises instead of proper “meows”
BLYTHART replied

Oh Lynnette, you have made my day! Trish and i have always felt he was part Maine Coon, but when I sent photos of him to the Maine Coon organisation they were very defensive and wanted to know why I was asking. I know he isn’t a pedigree, but we just wondered, as he has many of the characteristics of one.

Here is a Maine Coon cat and here is Mitch Look at the nose. Wait till I tell Trish we aren’t the only ones who think he’s got Maine Coon ancestry … even if it is “wrong side of the blanket” :)
AnitaInverarity

Hahahahaha- As a mad cat lover I should not be laughing so much :))))))) x LOL
BLYTHART replied

Cats keep us young :)
Lynnette Shelley

He looks like one to me (and the “talking” description really is spot on as they don’t meow like normal cats – though who knows if he is pure bred or not. Also Maine Coons get very big too usually. So when he gets full grown you can see if he is big or not. Although our Maine Coon was the runt of her litter. She was beautiful (a tortie) but sadly had to be put down after she developed diabetes and eventually had liver failure several years ago. Anyway, I’ve got a big fat tabbie now, not anything “fancy”, but I love him.
BLYTHART replied

Our other cat Mao is a ginger tabby. He is two years old and Mitch is one year old. Mitch is bigger, but a lot of that is fluff. Mitch’s tail is massive. He loves water and as a kitten he twice jumped into the bath with me. I was scratched a bit as he struggled to get out. His tail looked like a rat’s tail and he thought he’d lost it and ran in circles until he could get it in his mouth and believe it was still there. He’s an awful tease and drives Mao demented at times. He also has a habit of biting our son’s trousers, for no known reason. He is vengeful too (Mitch, not our son) and recently, when I brought him indoors (he wanted to stay out all night) he walked “lovingly” up to me, scent-marked my leg and then bit me :) We love him to bits :)
helene ruiz

how precious!
Karin Taylor

...so much fun to read, so many fun and dangerous adventures!!! Lol
gorgeous cats :)
andrea verstegen

Cats are running amuck in the australian bush
Alexandra Felgate

Hahaha, this reminds me of one day a few weeks ago, a friend of mine came to tea with her dog. She was kind enough to bring with her a delicious lemon slice still warm from the oven. We sat down, had our cups of tea and lemon slice, covered the leftovers with a tea towel and decided to take the dogs for a short walk.
We got back and I decided to move the rest of the lemon slice to one of my plates so she could take hers home.
I pulled off the tea towel, only to discover that the slice was suqashed flat and oozing all over the plate…...the culprit? Merlin, my ginger cat had bits of slice stuck to his tail, he had decided we had arranged a nice warm soft place for him to sit, conveniently left on the kitchen table for him!!!
BLYTHART replied

Hahaha.

I have visions of Merlin, complete with lemon slice tail looking at you with that innocent look of “well it certainly wasn’t me” that they seem to adopt so easily.

In our house, if anyone leaves the computer chair for a moment or two, they return to find one of the cats on it.
Alexandra Felgate

Oh yes, the innocence of cats does not resemble our idea of innocence at all.