January – February 2016

Murray and Bonnie

Murray and Bonnie were 5 month old kittens that had been adopted after being found, together with their siblings, abandoned outside a neighbour’s door. The neighbour had kept the siblings and Bonnie and Murray came to live with here. Like all kittens, they were curious about anything and everything, and bursting at the seams with energy; it was as much fun to be and play with them as it was hard to tire them out!

Bonnie was a tiny little thing with the most beautiful little face and soft long fur. She enjoyed chasing moving objects on the TV, it was quite a challenge to watch a movie with her in the room, but so entertaining to watch! When things disappeared off the edge, she would go looking for them behind the screen – so, so cute.

She enjoyed getting her long hair brushed, and if she saw we were brushing one of the ragdolls she would come over and patiently wait her turn.

She was light as a feather but she was quick! She loved chasing the mouse toy in particular and was very accurate when she launched herself at it to make the catch, be it on the ground or jumping high in the air. And boy, could she jump or what!

Murray was a boisterous boy who was starting to show, let’s say, “teenager traits”. Getting into a scramble with his sister and Angus in particular for no apparent reason, annoying them so he would get what he wanted – be it food, a particular toy, or a bed. We think he was just trying to assert his position as the boss and the dominant cat in the household.

And then, he had moments of tenderness where he would cuddle up with them and be a total softie.

He was particularly curious about new things and would be the first one on the scene if he got a whiff of anything remotely interesting happening, whether we were changing the bed sheets, cleaning the litter tray, or simply brushing our teeth!

He favoured the feather toy and would chase it until he was totally out of breath. He loved exploring the big outdoors too; he was more of a climber than a jumper and the two trees in the garden offering a perfect opportunity to perfect his skills.

Angus, Fergus and Merida

These 3 siblings had the most gorgeous, soft fur you can imagine. Incredible placid by nature, they had a certain bewildered look whenever the little ones were around – we think they found their boisterousness was a bit too much to handle, but they were so patient with them!

Angus was the biggest of them all, a big softie with a friendly, laid back and loving nature.  He loved sleeping on the sofa whilst leaning on us (and occasionally would jump on any available lap) and was perfectly happy to let you stroke him anywhere you liked, including his belly which he would happily present if you went anywhere near it.

He was so placid you could work on the knots in his fur (and it got matted pretty quickly!) whilst he slept away, without a complaint or even a flinch.

He was a lovely companion and very sweet with the little ones, and his confident demeanour around us would prove very useful, as we used him as a “bridge” to bring us closer to his more reserved siblings. He suffered from asthma and had to be monitored and take regular medication in the form of tablets, which he took without any trouble.

If we had to describe Merida in human terms, you’d say she resembled a classic, glamorous Hollywood film star. She always looked so pretty and well groomed, with a beautiful poise and elegance. It was difficult to look away from her delicate face and her piercing blue eyes.

She approached us with caution at first, and mostly kept her distance for a few days. We made sure she was looking when we interacted with Angus or the kittens, and she soon learnt we were safe and it didn’t take long for her to take pride of place on the desk where I was working, or come looking for us in the lounge in the evenings.

She wouldn’t say no to neck scratches either, and before we knew it she started to give the kittens a run for their money when it came to playing!

Fergus was our biggest challenge to date. When they brought him in to meet us, he took one look at us and ran away as if his life depended on it. Our hosts were quite visibly worried about him and we could see why, although at the time we didn’t realise just how big the challenge would be.

Fergus’s fear of strangers really was off the charts and far more severe than anything we had ever experienced before, not even during the 14 months we volunteered at the SPCA. Thankfully, we had a few weeks with them and we were confident we could get him to come out of his shell.

It would take every ounce of patience and more than a few tricks, but when he finally started to show progress, it was magical. I am writing a separate entry for him and will share the link here when it’s ready!