It's a Hard Life!

The church bells chime in the distance as I look expectantly up towards the bedroom window of the large house which I call home.

The sun had risen what seemed like hours ago, why don’t humans keep to the same routine? Sometimes they will get up hours before it gets light, yet this morning, when I’d been unable to find my midnight feast, my humans keep me waiting!

Felix, my friend from down the road had already gone in for breakfast and bed. His human was up just after sunrise and had already driven off to wherever he goes to every day.

My ears prick as I hear that all familiar noise above me, looking up in anticipation as relief overcomes me. Yes! I jump down from the tree in my garden, they are finally getting up, as I watch the curtains and windows fly open.

I run to the door and wait, just a few minutes more and the door will open for me to be let in.

That’s the first thing they do, let me in and feed me, before they eat themselves, as I hear movement on the stairs, the clattering of keys and the unlocking of the door as it opens.

Well hello! I chirp as I run in. My human greets me with a pat on the head, a quick pick up and cuddle as I purr to acknowledge my happiness to be let in, as she places me down carefully, so I can run towards the kitchen.

I don’t need to wait long, as my clean plates are placed in front of me and, what do I have today? I sniff, fish flavour! My favourite! It was chicken I had last night, before I set out for the night. So a welcome change from yesterday’s meals, as I wolf it down within moments, before sleepiness sets in.

Running up the stairs, I jump, as I nearly collide into the little human in the house, who stomps past me, clearly in a strop, as he lethargically crawls his way across the landing towards the stairs. He doesn’t do mornings...

I make my way into the warmest room of the house, the one where the sun shines in, jump onto the now empty but warm bed, and settle down for the day to sleep, not forgetting my quick body wash, well not literally a body wash like my humans will have, trust me, I’m not keen on getting wet! But a quick clean in the areas I didn’t clean yesterday, before curling up and hopefully a well needed and deserved peaceful sleep.

Last night was spent mostly staking out our street, with Felix keeping watch. Hearing rustling noises from the bins in my neighbours back yard, the urges to chase, catch and eat whatever it was, overpowered me, as I raced over, as silently as I could, to try to glimpse my prospective midnight snack.

A hedgehog, well I tried that once, they seem to be very prickly and when you get pricked, it does kind of hurt amongst my masses of fur. Felix doesn’t bother with hedgehogs, his fur isn’t as fluffy as mine, so he just let’s them walk by.

What else happened? A few foxes strolled up our road, so we both dived under a couple of cars as we tend to try and hide from them, they don’t really give us any bother, they usually just ignore us however, it’s better to be safe than sorry, so we ensure that we don’t take any chances.

Oh, then there were the strays looking for the girls. There are no girls in this street. The last one suddenly disappeared, no one has seen her for months, not sure if she moved, as new humans seem to be living in her house.

I do miss her, Flossie she was called, yes Flossie! She was named by the little humans she lived with who said she looked like candy floss, well, she was very, very fluffy, and had the most beautiful big blue eyes!

Then there was Trixie, a tortoiseshell, she was older than me, very wise and a good hunter, like Felix.

We miss her too. Not sure where she went? Her humans are still here, but she’s not.

Anyway, this male cat turned up last night, never seen him before, stalking around he was. Felix spotted him first, and darted over to chase him off. Took several stand offs, squealing, and a threat to attack before he finally ran off!

Last time that happened, I got bitten, it did hurt, I didn’t seem to feel well after 8a day or so, I was in pain and I couldn’t walk very well and whenever my humans tried to touch me, it felt so sore! So my humans trussed me up into the small claustrophobic, smelly box, carted me off in their car, I nearly threw up on the way, as I screamed to be let out.

Unfortunately, when I was allowed out, it was the awful man in green overalls who pulled me out of the box, poked and prodded me, stuck a thing up my bum, shoved stuff down my throat and injected me with a sharp needle which hurt. Then my humans forced this awful tasting stuff which they made me swallow for nearly a week! Mind you, I did seem to feel much better afterwards...

Now it’s time to relax, sleep for a bit, get up for a bit, see if anyone is home and if they have left me any food, let me out into the sunshine for a bit of leg stretching, butterfly or better still, bird hunting; they are far more fulfilling than butterflies, when I catch one!

Keep an eye on whose about and what other exciting things are going on.

I’ll also look out for Flossie or Trixie, they may still come back and visit. I do still wonder where they went?

Then later, it will be more sleep. Maybe under the bush in the shade if its too hot, get some more food at home, probably lamb flavour, usually is, until it’s time to find Felix again, see what he has planned. He may suggest venturing off to the other side of the estate, the only trouble is, we become the strays who get chased off from other streets!

I might just stay in ours tonight, see how many who don’t belong in our street need chasing away - I do try not to fight, but sometimes you just can’t avoid it...

It’s a hard life being a cat!

The End