RIP Biff

We got in from the dentist to a phone call from lovely Kate at the nearest vet, Ryder Davis, to tell us that a lady had found a cat and his chip said he was our Biff.
We went and collected him, they couldn't have been nicer.  He hadn't a mark on him so whether he was struck by a car, had a heart attack or stroke, or was frightened into a heart attack by a near miss we have no idea.  But Biff is gone, no more loud M'RAAAAK to demand attention.  I still have photos of him with the others to post that I haven't got sorted out...

Jogging along...and some real news

Pebbles having been told she can eat what she likes is taking this fairly literally and insisted for several days on eating nothing but Gourmet Gold salmon [I think it's marketed as Fancy Feast in America].  She has deigned to eat other strongly fishy things too, and has developed expensive tastes.  She likes what expensive tastes like.
She's lost some weight and her fur isn't in such good condition but she's enjoying pottering about from window to window to swear at the birds, then climb onto her daddy's chest for a sleep, and spend the night in his dressing gown. 

She has taken over some of my bales of fabric which she has emptied to sleep on for the early morning excitements of the view out of the side window.

Pixie meanwhile is still going from strength to strength and likes to perch on the mantelpiece over the range like an ornament.

Isn't she pretty next to the vase of  kniphofia and senecio! 

Biff has a new toy; I made the cats a nip mouse as a prototype before making more to sell in Anya's auction for various Romanian cats. Biff has been stoned ever since and has been ridiculously kittenish.

Worrals got very excited too, and I had to take the other mice out of the house to sew at the Knit and Natter club I go to so I didn't have any 'help'!

Well now the real news...
You may recall I featured 3 Romanian kittens in an earlier post; Norocel and Sonia have homes, and so does Holly.  Holly is coming to us.  We will be - until dear Pebbles throws in the towel - a 7 cat family. This is the latest picture we have been sent of her...

As Pixie runs Worrals and Rebel ragged, wanting to play with them, it is to be hoped that she and Holly will enjoy playing together...
Pixie is in the habit of pouncing on dangling tails, and Biff was most disconcerted to be 'pommed' from below when he was on the wood box; and getting up to make a dignified exit to have her arms around his neck to give him a big kiss!  Biff checked that nobody was looking, licked her nose, and stalked off, pretending indifference. 
What Biff, Jasper and Pebbles will make of a kitten is anyone's guess!  But Jasper likes kitties, and Biff is a lot more laid back these days, and Pebbles doesn't like any cats very much anyway!
Rebel has become very much a lap cat in the colder weather and I get a cuddle from my girlies on the sofa in the evenings.  Worrals likes to help in the garden on fine days, and she and Rebel enjoy being outside where they can be kittenish without having to entertain Pixie, who is only allowed out on the best days on the harness while her paw is still bear.  However great news on that front - she was 'making puddings' on me a couple of days ago and I noticed that one of the claws on her bad foot was able to move and make puddings on that foot!

Some bad news

Just been to the vet today, and Pebbles is not doing as well as we hoped; in fact she's dying.  We don't know how long she has, but then with kidney disease I guess you never do.
This is a pic of her 2 days ago, perching on her daddy's shoulder like a parrot.  What a sweetheart she is! all we can do is love her to bits for as long as she has.  Today she has been acting OLD.

Pixie on the other hand is lively and playful and loves all the world.  Here she is with her big black brother and her little black sister all sharing a chair, Pixie is on the back of the chair, Biff is asleep trying to pretend that he isn't noticing Rebel lying partly on top of him

April Update

So, what's been happening this month?  quite a lot.  Biff has had a dental which has made him a lot less bad tempered though his rheumatism is still paining him.  I sent for some Glucosamine with chondoitrin from my previously favourite health food company and when the big 1500 mg size pills arrive [ones I'D have trouble swallowing] I realised when I read the instructions the morons had only put an extra label on saying it was for pets as they dose they suggested was a human dose and they talked about consulting your doctor.  Simply Supplements are not my flavour of the month.  The vet however has reassured me that if he will take it crushed in food there's no overdose, he'll pass any excess through. 
As you can see he's tolerant enough to let Rebel sprawl on him....

Rebel has decided to take on the role of her departed sister Fenella; she has appointed herself mouse catcher in chief [she can now manage to kill them and proceeds, like Fenella, to sing over them] and to plant herself in the big tub of grass.  The grass is becoming the worse for wear underneath her after having recovered somewhat from Fenella...

Jasper meanwhile loves all his kitties and is happy to cuddle them

It may be noted that Merlin likes to keep a possessive paw on anyone he loves, but he's a big boy now.  He has killed and eaten his first wood pigeon!  It was a bit of a struggle - they are big birds - but he ran around to show it off to everyone growling and purring through a mouthful of feathers before taking it into the bushes where they wouldn't be disturbed.  He left the wings and Worrals brought them upstairs to me later: Look! she said He Has Left Some On The Side Of His Plate!  Once assured that this was permissible she supervised me in disposing of the grisly trophies with her usual fussy manner.
She then gave him a thorough washing.

It's' usually Merlin and one of the girls in a cuddle so I had to share one of Rebel with Worrals and in the most ridiculous position.

And I have to finish with an upside-down one of Worrals being sillyputty.

The cats have mostly declared April to be inoperative however; the outside room has a roof that almost always leaks.  It's very remiss.  And the skyheater doesn't work either. 

The cats and their pets

Barty the hedgehog is now an outside hog now there seems to be no more serious risk of frost.  He has shown very little inclination to explore far from his food bowl.  Here he is with Worrals supervising, by standing on the front of his feeding station.

The tortoises, who used to overwinter outside before we had all those wet winters, are canny and went out a while ago.  Stones that move are considered a bit weird by kitties who don't really remember them from last year... Merlin's look says it all!

Rebel sleeps on top of the hedgehog feeding station; it's her place. Rebel doesn't really believe in being photogenic but she couldn't be bothered to move.

Hedgehogs and tortoises are old news to Jasper, he's off checking on the smells in his garden.

Biff has his sun spot on his shelves of course.

...when he isn't off out of the garden checking, checking.... down the side steps.

Worrals sees the side steps as a place to writhe in the sun:

She goes out of the garden but mostly over the fence to next door and pops back from time to time, checking up!

[there's a slightly different one posted as I Can Haz Cheezburger http://cheezburger.com/6038987264]
She likes to help with the garden

And when she comes in she's ready to suggest a picnic by occupying the picnic hamper

Finally, in the evening, kitties are still playing with the box my anniversary roses came in - it's helped them to teethe and that makes a lovely hole to peer over.

Inside and outside

So having not emptied the camera all month I thought you might like to see some pictures of kitties enjoying warmth as well as the outside ones...
They all like the fire but Biff is of the opinion it belongs to him.  He watches me clean out and light it and his 'fluence gets it going.  He has learned however that kitties are useful as draught excluders.

The kitties mostly sit on the woodbox.
Merlin prefers my laptop as a source of heat, besides he can headbonk me there...

And Fenella likes the warmth of laps, and to help herself to someone else's drink...

OUTSIDE!!!!

 Merlin just loves to have his sisters outside to play! he kept bringing leaves to Worrals and showing her how you can toss them up and pounce on them! Rebel is a bit nervous of outside, the ceiling is rather too high and it's all a bit scary. The first time she thought about going right back in, and then followed Jasper about the garden until he'd had enough and went in and she went with him... the second time Merlin bounced at her and firmly showed her about before returning to games with Worrals.
Can you see the tip of an ear in the one below?  Worrals loves being a jungly wallah.

Worrals loves trees.  The problem is, she can get up - but has trouble getting down.  She complains that she needs an elevator for down-ness and Trees Is Badly Designed Not To Have Elevators! she's figured out the cherry trees now, but we have a Camellia tree [that's a bush that made it] some 120 years old and it's very smooth trunked and a bit scary.  So I have to take my bad knees up ladders to rescue her...Because she sits up there wailing like a banshee until someone fetches her - or can reach high enough to pat branches to show her the way down, which she's quite quick at catching on to.

I Is Cute Up Here, But I Needs To Wee

Rebel meantime has gone back to her usual hobby of finding water to fall in.  The edge of the pond was closer than she realised and there was much wailing and a wet paw.

Jasper surveyed the proceedings from the safety of the shelves I used to harden off plants on until they were taken over by cats, being in sunshine most of the day...

No Biff pics in the garden.  He made himself scarce....


Just to add, Trooper came out of surgery successfully
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/
Trooper the cat came out of surgery late Friday all patched up and settling in for recovery. "He's resting comfortably and everything went well during surgery," said Gwen Samms of the animal... 

The Great Outdoors

When it started to snow I held fire on posting this as I thought I could add pics of Merlin in the snow - but alas! Merlin didn't stay in the snow long enough to be photographed.  He disapproves of all that cold white stuff. 
Biff and Jasper, being used to snow, take it with resignation, Biff less so as it sets of his rheumatics.  I think he must have had a run-in with traffic before we had him that's left him a bit stiff when it's wet.  However the up side is that relations between Biff and kitties continue to improve since there's a need for negotiations over the warm spots.  No cuddling yet, but reserved tolerance.
Meantime here's Merlin up a tree.

Look! I'm up a tree!

Look everyone, I'm STILL up a tree!

I'm trying to figure out how to get out of a tree

Merlin's usual way of getting down from on high is to shut his eyes and fall, or hurl himself at one of us and assume we'll catch him.  He has learned however to run down trees which is almost a controlled fall. I'm not sure if he has his eyes shut when doing this, but I shouldn't be surprised if he does.

Biff said that if I was putting up snaps of That Kitten the least I could do would be to show HIS best side too, being more decorous than a daft critter like Merlin.

#occupythesofa

With the current political climate of occupying for protests I'm afraid my non politically minded cats are more interested in occupation for making a point that it's comfortable.....
Biff can #occupythelaptop as well as #occupy the sofa
One cat....

Two cats:

Three cats:

Four cats [note Rebel under Merlin]:

Five cats:

I haven't yet had all 6 on the sofa; Fenella prefers to #occupyheads

And while I'm at it, Kittygirls would like to show you their stitches and ask for adulation because they've been good.