|
Pets' Corner
This is a space where residents can provide us with anecdotes about their favourite pets. Here are
two stories about cats.
Yum Yum's Tale
Hello Everyone!
My name is YumYum and I live at No. 25 with my twin sister, Peach
Blossom, our mother, Fifi, the grande dame of the family, Muffin; and
our housekeeper, Rita.We are all Siamese. Fifi, Peach Blossom and
I are blue point Siamese – so we have blue/grey masks (aka faces),
ears, tails and paws. Muffin is a seal point – so her mask, ears, paws
and tail are a rich, dark brown. The colour points are confined to the
parts of our bodies that get cold – the rest of our fur is much paler.
There are two other traditional colours – lilac (a pinky grey) and
chocolate – but in recent years breeders have developed a wide range
of other colour combinations, including tabby points and reds points.
Siamese cats were first introduced into the UK in 1884, when a pair of
Siamese, Pho and Mia, was given to the British Consul-General in Bangkok
by the King of Siam, Chulalongkorn - the king portrayed in the musical
“The King and I”.A second pair was imported in 1886. Those very early
cats had dark colour points, like Muffin’s. Queen Alexandra was an early
admirer of Siamese. She was also a keen photographer – and there is a Yum Yum and family
photograph in "Queen Alexandra and the Art of Photography” entitled
“Lieutenant Watson and my cat”, showing her Siamese perched on the on the Royal Yacht in 1905.
There are many legends about Siamese - we are said to be descended from the cats that guarded Buddhist
temples; and the kinks in the tails of some Siamese are said to hark back to the days when we curled our
tails around treasures to protect them from thieves. Peach Blossom is still a guard cat at heart and spends
many hours making sure that no other cats venture into her garden – and we all keep watch on the sitting
room window sill from time to time...
When we are not on guard duty, we are real party animals. We like people – particularly people who play
with us – and love helping with jobs about the house. We gladly turn a paw to helping with the painting and
decorating, climbing up ladders behind the housekeeper - and are always ready to check out cupboards,
wardrobes and the tops of bookcases.
A Morning in the Life of Panda Pop
5am
Big Yawn, big yoga stretch...mmm I'm hungry...what will I have for
breakfast? I fancy the chicken steaklets in gravy sauce...I wonder
if my mum will let me have them? She calls that particular dish
McDonald's and only lets me have them once a week. Perhaps if I
let her sleep in she will give me a treat... I often wake her
early... I will have another kip for 15 mins.
5.15am
Tummy rumbles...need fresh air. I walk into mum's room. She is
sound asleep. Dad too. But mum is due to wake up soon. The clock
on the bedside table usually rings around this time...I paw at her
head. Nothing. Not even a stir. I jump on the bedside table and ruffle her papers.
Still nothing.... She went shopping yesterday, I will jump on the bags. That usually wakes her....
rustle, rustle, rustle. She stirs. Rustle, rustle, rustle. She strokes my back and pulls at my tail.
I hear her say "Panda! Why so early"? Sigh...doesn't she get it? She needs to let me out 'cause
I need to go to the toilet...and I'm hungry too, but toilet first!
5.30am
She gets up. Yeah!
5.32am
She lets me out. I hope that she doesn't forget to feed me. I would very much like those steaklets please.
6am
Back in the house. oh NO! She has left out the chicken kibbles and not the steaklets. The vet reckons that
the kibbles are the healthiest. It's nice and tasty, but a bit boring to have it day after day. crunch,
crunch, crunch... Here comes Sherpa my twin brother. We were born approx 10 mins apart (I was born first) so
I guess that makes me his older sister...he is bigger than me though and he is a proper tabby a motley ginger
and brown stripes with an M on his forehead, like all tabbys. I am black and white. We both have white socks
and under belly. My mum calls it a skivvy.
6.30am
Wow! The sun is amazing today. Need to venture out into the jungle. I hope that my other brother Henry has
woken up. Mum calls him "Hank". He lives upstairs with Miss Louisa. She looks after us sometimes. Clara
and Marmalade live upstairs too. We all hang out in the jungle.
7.00am
I hear the front door open and shut. Mum's gone to work. Henry sees me basking in the sun on top of the garden
table and comes over to greet me...He runs all the way down to the back of the garden and jumps on me WWF
wrestling style. Hmm, maybe Miss Louisa gave him chicken steaklets because he is full of beans this morning!
We have our Punch and Judy sparring match - he ALWAYS wins. It's soo unfair. Sherpa normally gets me out of
a tiff....I take refuge under the big japonica plant leaf. I'm hidden and camouflaged. I will just sit and
wait for Hank or Sherpa to come by and then I will ambush them...
10am
Bored of waiting. They have probably headed off toward the building project down the road - Lots of mice near
the exposed drain and lots of new smells. Hank and Sherpa are explorers...I like it much better in my own
jungle...it's so nice and comfy. I'm going to kip for a while until dad gets up...he will feed me something
delicious - maybe even prawns... It’s nice and shady here and the sun is just beginning to peek through my
leafy canopy.
11.30am
Dad’s up. I can hear him. I'm awake but resting. Curled up in a ball - mum always says I look like a furry
black cushion. I hear the fridge door open. Perhaps if I get up I will get some prawns...I walk into the
kitchen and dad is pouring out a glass of OJ...I will him to give me prawns - fridge door opens...I can smell
the prawns, but nothing. He looks in the food bowl. Plenty of kibbles...I keep staring at the fridge..."I WANT
BIG FAT JUICY PRAWNS"! I rub my back against his leg - hopefully he gets the hint - PRAWNS!
If you have an anecdote about your favourite pet which you'd like to share, please let us know at
contact@orra.org.uk |
|