Monday 30 June 2008

Mistress Mog


Ms Mog has lodged a complaint. As Most Senior Addition to ChickPea’s life (pre-dating TH even), Ms Mog reckons she should have had a blog to herself by now. ……. So here we have it.

Ms Mog was a tiny black 6-week old kitten when she joined ChickPea’s life. Like most (all ?) kittens she spent any time awake dashing about or eating….. or using her litter tray. Just 6 weeks old – and never an ‘accident’. When she wasn’t awake she was usually crashed out on ChickPea’s lap. She was gorgeous.

Then she turned into a wee monster – or was it a teenager ? No longer would she allow ‘cuddles’ – or even being picked up. ‘Red in teeth and claw’ would be accurate. ChickPea was Having Difficulty With Life – Ms Mog, nonetheless, was a good reason to come home. In the middle of the night, when she got lonely, or cold, she would sneak up onto the bed, and just Be There.

Various vivid memories from those early years – including the time she jumped out of the kitchen window and landed on a seagull ! She stopped catching birds after that one – they don’t come much bigger than that round these parts.

When she was 6 years old we moved out of the one-bedroomed flat into the current abode – and she chased squirrels for a while until the delights of spending all day lounging in the sun took over.

At about seven years old she decided that a cuddle might be ok. It took her over 2 years to learn how to make herself ‘lap-shaped’ – night-time snuggling up being her speciality. Starting with just enough inches on the edge of the bed and progressively stretching and pushing to make the folks give her more room…….. and over the years she has perfected this trick - we now wake up in the morning to find she has commandeered at least 1/3 of the total available space…..(lucky we got ourselves a big bed, eh !)

She had a fine life then, waited on for breakfast and supper, central heating, out for 10-20mins constitutional (out the back door, into the neighbour’s garden, up the side of the house, across the front, up our drive and in thru the back door). What more could a cat want ?

About May 2006 she decided she was Now The Upstairs Cat. When carried downstairs she would kick and complain. If taken out to get a breath of fresh air and sunshine she would stomp off and disappear for 4 hours. Upstairs is her domain, Thank You Very Much. (Unless there’s prawns……)

She’s now a wee wisp of a thing, but feisty yet, and still demanding her share of the bed. We may be into her last chapter, but we’ve not yet got to the Last Word. ChickPea will miss her.