This is my entry for Tara’s Gallery at Sticky Fingers. Why not head over there and have a look at the other entries?
It was only in June last year that my sweet little baby looked like this…
He was all big grey eyes and long whiskers and soft honey-coloured fur, with a squeak that melted your heart. He snuggled me nonstop. He was a lovely-mannered kitten, Snowball and Wily kept him well under control, and he was an absolute joy.
And now?
One hulking great teenager, who could eat ten times his bodyweight, who will do anything for food, who brings dead birds and mice inside and leaves them in the bedroom as presents for us. Admittedly, he’s still a heartbreaker, still a lovely snuggly affectionate cat who likes nothing better than to plonk himself down on my laptop keyboard and present his tummy for a rub while I work. Snowball still has control over the food bowls and keeps him well in line, and he and Wily have developed the kind of cameraderie that comes from months of being bossed around by, shock horror, a GIRL!
I do miss that sweet little kitten, but I love my stroppy teenage cat even more. Maybe it’s good preparation for twelve years’ time, when this little monster decides to do the same thing!
I’d love to be a cat. What a life it must be… And isn’t my baby a fantastic model?
This is my entry for Tara’s Gallery. Head over there and have a look at the other entries!
A year ago on Sunday, Eric came home.
In that year, he’s morphed from a tiny ginger scrap to a rather large, leggy ginger tomcat. He has an appetite to rival David’s during a growth spurt, and will eat us out of house and home if we’re not careful. (THREE fish fillets. Yes, three. One for each cat, or so I thought…) He and our other cats, Snowball and Wily, are now on speaking terms: Snowball and Wily are brother and sister, and still dislike each other, so it’s nothing short of a miracle.
He’s the fluffiest, fuzziest, most affectionate cat you could ever meet. He loves David. If they’re both playing in the garden Eric will bound over to David, roll over, and purr whilst David strokes him. He makes friends with every visitor, if only because they might have a treat hidden somewhere about their person, and treats are an opportunity not to be missed!
When he was tiny, he slept in a pouch sling near my chest, before he graduated onto sleeping wrapped around my shoulders. When the weather’s cooler, he’ll still quite happily come and snuggle in the sling.
He’s a proficient mouser. We find presents from him regularly. He is, however, terrible at catching birds: he runs up to them miaowing at the top of his voice with excitement.
He’s added so much to our family. He brings such joy to all of us, especially David. I can’t imagine being without him.
If you love Eric almost as much as I do, he now has an appreciation society all of his own! Come and join in…