Nora the piano playing cat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0zgQAp7EYw&feature=related

Well worth a watch to put a smile on your face.

The great cat litter test

The Boy and I are testing various cat litters.

We are currently using a litter which is called: The World's Best Cat Litter (yes, really!). It claims to be earth friendly and biodegradable and is made from whole kernal corn. It certainly smells like corn. And the texture is lovely. It's soft and velvety unlike the Sainsbury's one we've been using which looks and feels like rubble from a building site. It also claims to last a month, even with two cats. Which is a good thing since it costs in the region of £20 a bag.

So far so good. It's doing a fab job. The cats have been using it for almost a week and it still smells as fresh as it did on day one. And The Boy and I are in awe of it's amazing clumpability. The only thing we're not sure about is its claim to be flushable. We are under the impression that flushing animal waste down the toilet is a no-no, since it introduces toxins to the water system that can't be killed by water treatments.

In any case, we like the litter so far ... let's see if it's still doing such a good job in 3 weeks time.

Watch this space!

Sammy's freckles ...

Here's a better picture of Sammy's freckles :-)

Kissed by the sun ...

Does anyone else have a cat with freckles?

Sam is malting quite a bit on his temples, revealing some of the cutest fair-weather freckles I have ever seen on any living creature (on the picture you can see them about an inch above his eye). They're just too cute; I LOVE IT :-))))))

The Boy thinks we should get some sun cream for him in the summer. Not so sure about that myself ...

Lord of the Flies ...

Chez mentioned that Frodo and Gandalf have started hunting small mammals; shrews and mice and rabbits. Thankfully we don't have to worry about that with Sam and Merry. The only thing Sam hunts is flies, which he always ends up eating. He's amazingly quick at catching them too. The other week I watched him stalk a large blue bottle which I could still hear buzzing when it was inside his mouth. Bleurghh!

Dinner time.

This is on a good day. Sometimes you'd think we hadn't fed them for a week the way they cry and carry on.

Making a donation to the RSPCA is easy. Simply make your cheque out to the RSPCA and send it to: RSPCA Ashford Garden Cattery, 34 Station Road, Ashford, Kent, TN23 1PH

Merry looks for Freya ...

This was Merry's response to the video of Freya meowing. He looked everywhere. I wonder if he remembers her.

A clumsy lummux

Sam, bless his cotton socks, is as clumsy as they come. If he's not crashing into things, he's falling off things. For the most part he seems none the worse for his misadventures ... but this evening we noticed a pea sized lump on his head. It's a mystery where it came from but I can only imaging it made his eyes water, whatever it was.

We had to remove the ball-on-a-string from the cat tower last weekend for health and safety reasons. Sam and Merry were fighting (as usual) on the platform, 7 feet up, when Sam fell off. He managed to cling on for a second or two before he plunged, grabbing for the string en route. Unfortunately he got tangled up and sort of hung upside down for a second before doing a back flip and landing on the ground with an almighty thud.

After some TLC and of course some chicken treats, Sam was a-okay. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for me and The Boy.

Sammy with his head in the clouds.

Merry does Yoda ...

Latest Mug Shots: Samwise (top) and Merry.

Merry's unusual profile

Does anyone else think our lovely Merry has an unusual and/or unique profile? We think he has a real 'big cat' sort of look, with his loooong face and protruding jaw. When the vet looked in his mouth, I noticed his bottom teeth are unusually crooked. It made me love him all the more.

A kiss for mommy?

Sam isn't quite sure what to make of his mommy's request for a kiss.

Sam in a Box

At last, spring has sprung, which means I'm finally able to hang my washing out in the sun to dry; something I had the pleasure of doing yesterday morning.

Not long after I'd finished pegging out the laundry, The Boy and I heard a loud clatter from the conservatory. Merry came flying out, frightened half to death. However, Sam was no where to be seen.

We soon discovered why.

Sam (being his usual inquisitive self) had jumped inside the basket, but because it was wider than the blanket box I'd put it on, it had flipped over (with Sam inside it) and fallen to the floor, trapping poor Sam beneath it.

I have to confess, I laughed my socks off.

Merry Update

Hallo, just a quick update on Merry.

We decided to take Chez' advice and wean him off the prescription food slowly. So this week we have been feeding him a half and half mix of prescription food and Hi Life fish. And guess what?! His poos have been perfect.

The only hiccup was a bit of blood that I noticed on one of the poos whilst emptying the litter tray. I'm almost sure it was Merry's and this is something The Boy and I are monitoring closely before we panic and rush him off to the vets. I'm hoping it was just a little bit of straining that caused an anal fissure.

In the meantime we'll carry on with the half and half mix.

Over all, The Boy and I are happy with the way things are looking. No more runny poos. No more smelly poos. (The poos used to be so smelly we had to put tea towels across our faces to stop us from gagging when we emptied the litter tray not to mention the tonne of scented candles we were getting through each week). No more pooey paw prints on the furniture. No more emptying the litter tray three and four times a day. No more replacing the litter two or three times a week. No more hungry cats.

And best of all Merry seems happy too.