SAS cat strikes again

Seriously I do despair of Red! He is genuinely the sweetest natured cat I have ever known but he is nonetheless still insane. You recall how I was really pleased that his new house apart for washing...? Well, it seems that the bold boy has already tested this out. He no longer chooses to come and go by the huge space at the front. Oh, no that is far too easy. what he prefers is to shove his face into the small gap where the zip meets under the roof then force the rest of his body through the gap he opens up. Neat, eh!!!

I came through to the living room to find his head poking out from under the roof, seemingly jammed, but when I got closer he did some major wriggling to escape and show me his latest trick. I thought I'd perhaps left the zip open a little when I had been looking at the house so I put it all back together securely. However, later on I found him doing the same thing, so I filmed him using the alternative exit.

I am One Year Old and have a new house

Well, after all of his mad antics, daredevil stunts and uncoordinated growing little Red has made it to his first birthday. I had intended this blog to be a record of his first year and it is nice to look back of some of the little events that have happened that I've forgotten about. I have not managed to write it up as often as I'd have liked but such is life that sometimes other bigger things get priority.

We were supposed to be away on holiday over his birthday but due to it only being a week's break the whole hassle of holiday packing, cat storage, booking, driving, shutting up the house etc just didn't seem worth it. So we holidayed at home, or should we call it by its trendy title and say that we 'staycationed'. This meant we were able to sing happy birthday to him on the day much to his bewilderment as neither of us are ever going to win singer of the year!

It probably overstates the case to say there was a party. There was cake and there were juicy prawns but that rather sums it up. The humans did step up to the mark and assist with the cake devouring and some of the prawns found their way between two slices of bread with some seafood sauce and lettuce. Of course we could have bought him a cake made from Felix and other cat friendly ingredients but as Marks dont sell them we went with the more standard option! For him the prawns, sans bread, sauce and greenery, went down a treat. The only spectre at the feast was poor Magic. She doesnt eat cake, she doesn't like prawns or human food, rarely plays with toys and she is definitely not keen on Red.

There was a present too which you can see him sleeping in, in the picture at the top of the entry. You will also note the white bag handle which he doesn't go anywhere without and what looks like a bit of shredded hankie which is another obsession we are trying to wean him from.

In fact when I saw the little house a couple of weeks ago I spent ages in the shop trying to think up a good reason for buying it. Then the birthday came to mind-ideal! So with total purpose in my step I dragged it off to the till. It is a lovely little Magic Roundabout House. It all totally unzips so it can be bunged in the washing machine and seems pretty well made. The only down side is that Dougal is a different colour to what I recall and Florence has been totally revamped. In fact I'd go so far as to say she has been replaced without a word to any of us oldies who remember what she really looked like. Now she is all coy, thin and trendy. Can you believe it, a botoxed Florence who's had a makeover after a spell at fit camp. I really am getting old as I am sounding like a Grumpy Old Woman.

Although the little house has Magic in the title little Red adores it. He has done a full structural survey by tipping it on its side and having a decent chew of the walls. He also rather likes sleeping in it sideways as it is longer that way and he can stretch out his big long legs. Although he is hanging out of it in the picture he does actually fit in it when he chooses to curl up when the house is up the right way. Magic has slept in it a couple of times too and when Red finds her in it an almightly hissy battle ensues.

I am hoping that come the winter this will prove to be a lovely little nook in addition to the radiator bed and the little pop up tent so that hopefully both of them can find their own nice wee place for a cozy dozy. However, would anyone like to put a bet on the odds of them both wanting to sleep in the same place...?

The Legend of Hairy Paws

Many years ago we lived in an area not known for its gentility or exemplary teenage parenting. One day whilst out shopping my Mother saw a young woman roaring at her dozy toddler to "move!" and follow her out of the shop. When her increasing demands to the child were ignored she brought out the ultimate inducement. She turned to the toddler and told him that "If you don't move, HAIRY PAWS will get you". At this, the young boy squealed in terror and rushed to his mother.

Needless to say my mother was horrified at this and I suppose in retrospect she should have intervened. However, the locals had an interesting attitude to parenting and were less than receptive to advice or shared wisdom!

The tale of HAIRY PAWS became a family legend and joke. We often used it in jest e.g.

Mum -"If you dont get up for school now I'm sending Hairy Paws in..."

My Sis and I - "Great, we're getting a pet...!"

Anyway, back to the point of this blog story. As Red gets ever bigger, so too have his paws grown, or more worryingly, the hair between his toes. Men with hairy feet are an absolute turn off but in the bold boy's case they are very cute except they do remind us of the legendary Hairy Paws. See what you think...

So the moral of the story is, be careful of referring to the legend of Hairy Paws because you might eventually find he comes to live with you...