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Sunday, October 21, 2007

Millie...


thought she should come with me to Alveva Quilters, but got left behind. I had a really good time meeting the members there, a great group of people who clearly like to have fun! And they seemed to enjoy patting the quilts and handdyes I took with me, so that was good, too. For me, at least!

A number of you seemed to be puzzled about my four and a half cats, so I thought I'd explain.

We seem to have picked up a stray. We don't know a lot about her; we think she's a she because the boys aren't fighting her, and Advo fights anything that has four paws at the drop of a whisker... She's referred to as Girlie. She comes into the house through the catflap, a couple of times a day, usually, then she disappears for a day or so, only to reappear unexpectedly. She eats everything in sight, at a rate of knots, begs for milk pitifully every time she sees me open the fridge door, and generally behaves as if she owns the place. She used to be terrified of both of us, but she'll now let me stroke her if I'm quiet and calm. But she makes it clear that she's really only here for the food and the shelter. No Purring Whatsoever. Recently, she's been making herself a bed at the bottom of the stairs when everyone has gone to sleep.

Problem is, my girlie cats are terrified of her; she beats them up whenever possible. She may be frightened of people, but other cats are a different story. This annoys us, of course; as Robin says, I don't mind feeding her, if she'd stop terrorising everyone else (even Merlin hisses at her, and he's scared of his own shadow). Perhaps it's purely a territorial thing, but if it continues, we'll have to try to catch her and take her to cat rescue. If she does have an owner, that person isn't taking care of her at all; she's full of worms, and doubtless has fleas, too. I'd like to sort that out, but can't get at her for long enough, though I could probably give her a tablet in a bit of cheese...she might like that...

Okay, normal service will be resumed tomorrow, I promise...but I thought that given I'd trailed the story, I'd maybe better tell it here!

3 comments:

Julie said...

We came by a cat years ago that had invited himself to stay with a family of cats and dogs and proceeded to terrorize all of them. Fortunately we heard he was needing a home and he came to us. His name was Albert and he ate spiders! Useful cat to have around if you don't like spiders. Trouble was he ran round like a loony afterwards. Spider poison!

verobirdie said...

From what you say of Girlie, especially the facts that she does not purr and that she is bossy, I'd say she is really a stray cat. And clearly, she knows that she must be the boss to survive. I hope things will calm down, going to a rescue shelter is certainly not what she has in mind, and who would adopt a wild cat from a shelter? She would be happier if she could "stay" with you.

Pat said...

Some years ago I had a similar situation, I borrowed a trapping cage from the local cat rescue and was able to take him to the vets, this became his formal adoption.