Greetings, moggies: it’s Catmother again. Welcome back to the story of Moggyblogs HQ!
As promised, I now come to the chapter in my life that you have been waiting for.
This week: the arrival of Pasha
After the loss of Flora I started volunteering at the local Cats Protection Adoption Centre. This wasn’t purely down to a need for kitty company; I’d been meaning to help out there for some time anyway, as it’s a cause I care strongly about.*
However, it was clearly also going to be of some benefit as I came to terms with my loss and started thinking about looking for a new feline companion. Not that any cat would ever replace little Flump, but I’d got used to having ‘someone’ around the house and didn’t like the idea of being alone for the foreseeable future.
As I mentioned last time, my circumstances had already changed by the time we lost Felix, and at the point of Flora’s premature demise they had changed again. I was now married to Catfather, and I’d also quit my job to go freelance, so I was working mostly from home. As Catfather is out during the day, the loss of Flump created a big gap in my daily life.
And so, as I was cleaning out pens and cuddling cats at the Adoption Centre, I kept my eyes open for a ball of fur that would fill the space.
It took me a while. I couldn’t imagine ever having another cat that I loved as much as Flora; and she still has a special place in my heart. So, although I kept being drawn to the little black cats, I resisted the urge. I knew that a Flumpy lookalike would be just a substitute, and that wouldn’t be healthy or fair to myself or the cat.
And it so it was that I happened upon Pasha.
I was browsing the pictures on the Cats Protection website one day, and there she was: a new arrival since the last time I’d volunteered. Looking absolutely stunning in all her tortie-and-white gorgeousness, she leapt out at me from the screen, and I knew I had to find out more.
I spoke to one of the cat care assistants at the centre, and discovered that she was a bit of a hissy missy! I believe this personality trait is also known as ‘tortietude’… Apparently very unhappy at the centre, she had come in with another cat from a home that had recently gained a new baby; and the cats hadn’t taken too well to this newcomer.
They had had to be separated, as Pasha in particular wasn’t coping well with being in this strange confined space, and certainly not when she had to share it. I went in to her pen to see how she reacted to me, and encountered the split personality of ‘purring one minute, swiping the next’ right from the start. She wanted to be loved, but only on her terms!
So she was unhappy, and behaving like a bit of a madam. But instead of being put off by this, I saw it as a challenge. She was clearly a beautiful cat, who had been loved in her former home but was struggling with her new surroundings. And, because I’d made the decision not to get a Flora doppelganger, a different kitty personality would also fit the bill nicely.
And so I reserved her.
I then had to go and tell Catfather of my decision. He’d assumed we would choose a new cat together, but I had to admit to getting carried away, and fortunately he didn’t mind. He’s very easy going like that, and despite having asthma, didn’t take too long to get used to this new muddle of fluff wandering around the house.
She didn’t take long to settle in. We kept her to one room for a while, as recommended by Cats Protection, but she was champing at the bit to get out and about and explore her new territory. For, of course, from that moment on, it was HER domain, not ours.
In the months that followed, she gradually claimed new stakes throughout the house, and also, when we were ready to let her venture outside, the back yard and garden. Each room has its own special ‘throne’ (chair, bed, cushion etc) where she reclines in state, surveying her kingdom; and she is accompanied by a selection of toys who play the role of her subjects. She is very much the queen of her world (and ours).
It wasn’t long before she started blogging – and this is where you came in. I have no doubt that she portrays us humans in a most unflattering light, but I would ask only this: that you remember the role that Catfather and myself have played in her rescue. She may like to say that she wishes to rule the world; but remember, all of you: until you have opposable thumbs, who is it that provides the food and shelter?
And so we co-exist in an uneasy truce: she, plotting world domination and the downfall of the humans; me, continuing to offer up my loving hands for strokes (or possibly swipes), and venturing out in all weathers to acquire food. It works for now. But who can tell what the future holds?
And with this I must now leave you. Pasha will return in due course with her campaign updates, and I shall return to the sidelines and the shadows. Despite what she may think, I wish you all the best with your campaign. If nothing else, it will stop the world ‘becoming more dog’ (and that in itself is a worthy target).
Farewell, moggies, and may your breath be ever fishy!
*If your own Catparents are interested in volunteering to help cats (and the humans who look after them), check out the Cats Protection website.