ADVENTURES OF A NEIGHBOURHOOD CAT (Part 1)

Guest blog by Elizabeth and Janet

When my sister Janet and I adopted our two cats Ghost and Isis from Dundee Cats Protection we little realised just how much our lives were going to change. They have completely taken over the house and are much loved in the area where we live. Because we got them near the end of September 2017 keeping them in for six weeks meant we ran into Bonfire night so we had to keep them for another week. Unbeknown to us Ghost had been sitting on the window ledge looking out like he was a prisoner so on release day everyone in the street knew who he was and where he lived. After we let him out and he was exploring his new territory we had visits from the resident cats checking out the new cat in their midst. This had never happened before and on a couple of occasions we found one in the house when we returned home from work.

Some of things they get up to can be embarrassing such as Isis making up to any tradesmen that come to the house and Ghost completely ignores them. She has followed gas engineers around the house and pestered plumbers but they all enjoy her attentions. Ghost on the other hand only goes to people if we are there. We have lost count the number of mice he has caught over the almost six years he has been with us. It is not too bad if he brings them in dead but if they are still alive it can be an operation and a half to catch them in order to put them out. On a couple of occasions, he has caught birds which he shared with Isis and all that was left was a few feathers. Fortunately, he hadn't taught Isis how to hunt as that would be two of them bringing in mice or birds.

The two cats came into their own during lockdown helping us to cope just by being there and they were a source of comfort when my sister was made redundant by Stagecoach. Last year both my sister and I were diagnosed with breast cancer and the cats helped us through that as well. However, Ghost jumping onto my knee after the operation was a bit sore but I think he was just trying to help. The advert for Cats Protection with the white cat looking in through the window was a source of great amusement to us because that is exactly what Ghost does. Isis lives up to her name in that she can be a bit of a diva and thinks she is indeed a Goddess but we love her all the same. Being a tortoiseshell, she has the tortie temperament but she doesn’t mean anything by it. She has one orange paw which people find fascinating. Recently we had a gas engineer round who although he liked cats was allergic to them so that meant Isis in particular had to be kept out of the way. Even Ghost who normally disappeared when there were tradesmen in trying to be friendly to him. He recently got locked in a garage overnight and we had to rescue him. We spent most of the day looking for him. He was a very curious cat and liked to know everything that is going on around him.

A tragic footnote Ghost was knocked down and killed on Friday, 24th February 2023 so hopefully Isis will cope with the loss. Fortunately, we have lots of photographs of him either on his own or with Isis and some with us. Bizarrely my sister and I still feel his presence in that he is on our beds, making scratching noises, snoring in his sleep, meowing and possibly his smell. We really miss him in that everything we do in the house he involved himself in while he was alive. He was more human to us than just a cat.

As far as Isis is concerned she has changed some of her behaviour in that she is more playful than she was before. She wakes us up in the morning and is generally friendlier than she used to be. It was strange on the night Ghost was killed she went into a cupboard that he used to check it out. Once she did that she hasn’t shown any sign of wanting to go back into the cupboard. This was something she had never done before so we think she knows he is never coming back to us. On a happier note she doesn’t sneeze as much as she did before but although they told us Ghost was a British shorthair cat he did shed his fur all over the house and this may have been part of the reason she sneezed. Unfortunately, we have had to close the cat flap as we are worried Isis might go out to look for Ghost. Also, we don’t want another cat trying to muscle their way in and bullying Isis out of her home and food. I have now seen another cat in the area but fortunately it is not a white one rather more tabby or tortie like. We think Isis is aware of the presence of the other cat and is showing signs of anxiety as a result. She is hissing and running around like a mad thing but every time we check outside we can’t see anything.

We have sort of introduced Isis to Bella the dog in the house next door to us but all they did was look at each other. They didn’t react at all. At least they didn’t try to attack each other which was a good thing. One thing that hasn’t changed is that she still tries to make friends with any tradesmen or men that come to the house. It can be really embarrassing when she is all over them and due to her excitement, she accidentally scratches them.

Isis has taken over some of the things Ghost did in that she sometimes opens the bathroom door when I am having a shower and following us around the house. These are things that she never did while Ghost was with us. It has been nearly eleven weeks since we lost our beloved Ghost and we can’t believe how difficult it is to get over the loss. Every day we remember the things he did when we were trying to do normal household activities. He could be a perfect nuisance but it was better than what we have been left with – broken hearts. In between hello and goodbye there was love…so much love. ‘Some angels have paws’.

~ Elizabeth

Ghosts' Story....

Hi everyone, my name is Ghost and I live in Dundee, Scotland with my two humans Elizabeth and Janet and my fellow cat Isis. I love my family and the area that I consider to be my territory. Woe betide any other cat who dares to venture into my domain.

I have lived with my humans and Isis in our house for almost five years now. I am around eight years old and Isis is around seven. We draw a veil over our previous life before my humans rescued us from Cats Protection, Dundee where we felt like we were in a form of prison. We heard our fellow cats and then they were gone. Now we know where they went it was to their new homes. What took our humans so long to rescue us I will never know.

Now that we live in a proper house with a garden and access to the outside we are really happy. My humans often wonder what I do all day well without giving too much away I tour my territory keeping other cats at bay, teasing the local dog population and catching the odd mouse. Very tiring work, I can assure you so I have to sleep a lot with some eating thrown in. It’s a hard life being a cat. I have got myself locked in a garage overnight and my humans were beside themselves looking for me. However, they with a little help from the garage owner (He had the key to the offending garage) rescued me. No more exploring open garages for me well until the next time when something in one takes my interest.

Often at night I see some strange creatures on my nightly patrol in my territory. According to my humans they are foxes who look rather like dogs to me but they are possibly wanting to catch and eat me. Fat chance they have of that as I run at the first sight of them. Dogs themselves are source of amusement to me in that I can tease them from a height and generally annoy them. However, they can chase you but of course they never catch you and have to give up exhausted. Its good to know that Casey one of the neighbourhood dogs is scared of me but I never hurt him. Honestly what a wimp. Bella the dog in the house next door to mine is made of sterner stuff so I need to watch how I deal with her. I of course still win as she is no match for cunning and speed when I am running away from her. Mind you Bella barks a lot when she is left alone for any length of time. Honestly, I don’t know why she doesn’t just catch up on her sleep. Us cats need our sleep so that we recharge our batteries.

From time to time my humans’ brother comes to visit and I like his visits as he is very fond of Isis and myself. I just wish we could see him more often but he lives in a place called Edinburgh and can only visit occasionally.

My humans don’t understand us cats as the need to catch birds and mice is part of our makeup. Honestly, we put a lot of hard work into catching the mice and all they do is release the live ones and bin the dead ones. They don’t understand that mice are made for us cats to chase, sometimes kill or just to play with. I just love coming back into my house through the living room window and I have my humans trained to open the window for me. If my humans tell you that I or Isis broke the cat flap it is all nonsense as they never saw who did it. So how can they blame us I don’t know.

I hate it when my humans give me my flea treatment or any other kind of medication. They claim it is for my own good but I think they get some kind of a kick out of it. I can live without visits to the vet for check ups and so can Isis. Being put into our cat boxes and driven down to the surgery is an indignity we can live without but again they say it is for our own good. Honestly humans always think they know best even when us cats know they don’t.

Have you seen these adverts for ‘Dreamies’? What ever gave them the idea us cats love them? I don’t know about Isis but I positively hate them. Give me Felix treats every time. I have to say both Isis and I are Felix cats but we don’t eat Felix in the soup form as looks disgusting and smells just as bad. Wonder which cats they get to taste the food as they have sold out in the taste department. Sampling my humans’ food is another trick that I try and believe it or not I like curry. Isis also tries to help the humans eat their food and can be a right nuisance for them at meal times.

What is about humans that they have to try do things in my presence. I teach them a lesson by tearing up their newspapers and trying to tear up their magazines. What fun I have and of course they have to pay attention to me – the object of the exercise. Also sleeping on my humans’ clothes gives me the opportunity to place my scent all over them and deter any other cats for having a look in. Since I have free access all over my house I don’t see why my humans should shut me out. So, they want to have a shower I don’t see why they need to shut the bathroom door to keep us out. Ha ha I can get the door open and all I see is my humans naked and getting wet so what is the big secret.

Isis is a problem in that she forgets to keep her claws in when trying to join the humans in bed. This results in them throwing her out. If she kept her claws in they would let her stay in bed with them until she wanted to leave herself. I think she just gets over excited about living with people again and not in a cage at Cats Protection where we were before. You should see it when Isis goes to the toilet she gets in a right state. Running around like a mad thing and scratching the floor. She knows she has to bury her poo but hasn’t got it quite right still the humans bin it for her. I sometimes help by covering her poo in the litter tray.

When my humans have tradespeople in it can be so embarrassing in that Isis tries to make friends with them especially if they are men. She follows them to try to see what they are doing and generally makes a nuisance of herself. Not to point a finer point on it she likes men and it is unfortunate our humans are female instead.

I talk to my humans but they don’t understand what I want. They seem to employ a system of trial and error but usually get there in the end. Why my humans don’t speak like a cat I don’t know. Also, visual communication is a problem for them as they don’t have proper tails and can’t make themselves appear bigger as us cats can. Almost forgot to say that I don’t like children as they are excitable and want to touch me. However, they still seem to like me even when I run away from them. It’s a hard life being a cat.

Another favourite tactic of mine is scratching the bottom of my humans’ beds and opening their underwear drawers and taking items out. It annoys them and they shout at me, but I pay no attention. Sometimes I get stuck in the drawer, but my humans rescue me and hope that I have learnt my lesson. Fat chance of that as I do it again.

I love to sleep on the windowsill because it is a nice warm spot and I can look out when I wake up. Also, while sleeping on the settee I curl my paws over my ears thus shutting out anything my humans say. When I play fight with Isis my humans think it is hurting her but it just us cats cementing our bond. Okay occasionally Isis looks like she is getting hurt but I can assure you this isn’t so. She gives as good as she gets. I also sit on the neighbours’ cars as this gives me a vantage point to oversee my territory and makes it easier to get up onto the wall across from my house. I walk along that wall into the next street which again is part of my territory. On the subject of cars, I also jump onto my human’s car when she is trying to clear any snow or ice off it. I sit right in the middle of the roof and make it difficult to remove me. I only want to try to make her stay or take me with her. Sad to say she usually manages to get me off. I also have great fun stopping my humans using their computer in that I lie on it and then they can’t ignore me. I got the blame when they had to take the computer in to be fixed as they said that I had chewed the flex. Don’t know how they could say it was me as they have no witnesses to who did it. It could have been Isis or a mouse for all they know. On the subject of Isis, I often go into one of the cupboards or on top of the wardrobe to get away from her. She can be a bit intense and can over do her grooming of me. Of course, I groom her back but then I get fed up and have to stop.

I visit Margaret one of the neighbours who used to have a cat called Jazz who passed away before we came to live in the street. Apparently, he used to visit my humans and now I am returning the favour. I follow all the paths used by the cats in my area letting them know who’s boss. Honestly, it’s a daily vigil but a cat must do what a cat has to do.

I love sleeping and sitting beside my humans so that I can keep them under my paws. I don’t want another cat to get a look in well it is alright if it is Isis as she lives here. I remember the problems I have had with other cats coming in and I want my humans to be kept in their place. After all I need them to keep my food topped up.

I know I have told you about my human’s brother visit well when he came to look after me and Isis the first time, I really had fun with him. I hid and he couldn’t find me. What a laugh? However, I’ve got him under my paws now though he does keep us out of the bedroom when he’s sleeping but I’ll forgive him that. Honestly, he doesn’t know what he is missing.

If the weather is really warm, I try to find the coolest spot and sleeping in the cupboard at the door is certainly one of them. I also sleep on the settee beside one of my humans. One of the things that annoys me about my humans is that on occasion they go out at night leaving us alone. Why can’t we go with them? The last time it happened I brought back a mouse and after I dropped it they helped it escape. Honestly what a nuisance after all my hard work catching it in the first place. I try to help them make their meals with no thanks from them. This usually means trying to help them prepare and then cook their food. I get into trouble when I bully Isis by biting her neck and attacking her rear. This is a sign of my dominance over Isis but my humans don’t understand that.

Just before Christmas 2022 our heating went off and it took the humans a week to get it fixed. They employed two electric fires which they switched off just as it started to get warm in the rooms. It took two men on two different days to fix it. At least they didn’t blame me for it.

They did however think it was me who did something to the toilet button but I deny it. Since they didn’t see me do anything they have no proof. Of course, needless to say Isis was all over the gas engineers and then at the start of this year she was all over the men who came to do the Talk Talk upgrade. Later on, in January she was all over the men who came to fix the toilet. Honestly how undignified was that.

I don’t know what was wrong with my humans as they keep going out and leaving me behind. Don’t they understand I just want to be with them and see what they are doing. If they are out too long it is my job to go out and look for them. As I have said before it’s a hard life being a cat.

I attack their rears but it is just me telling them that I love them and to stop what they are doing and pay attention to me. Of course, that’s the object of the exercise. They keep wondering why I come in hell for leather as it were but I think they think I am running away from a dog. As I told you before I just don’t like dogs – nasty smelly creatures. What a laugh they can’t get through the fence or the cat flap like I can.

The last time I was at the vets she said that I was a little overweight. What a cheek I am a cat in his prime and okay I may scrounge food from the neighbours but that doesn’t mean that I am overweight. I can still catch mice and I get away from the dogs easily. Okay I find birds a bit harder to catch but that’s because they can fly and I can’t. Another thing I do is race my humans to see who can get Isis’s poo first in the litter tray. If I get there first I bury it and then they have to uncover it in order to bin it. Must admit I have great fun doing that but my humans still love me nonetheless. I also bodyguard my favourite human from other cats and Isis. At night I sleep outside her bedroom door and as a result no other cat can get in there.

Now it is winter Isis stays indoors a lot as she doesn’t like the cold weather. Yes, I know it can be a bit cold but there are still things to be explored. My territory still has to be protected from other cats. I have also to keep menacing the local dogs and keep them in line too. The local dog population get as much fun out of my teasing as I do.

Also having my humans under my paws and catering for my every whim what more could any cat want.