the trills of having a cat

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To be clear: there is no h missing in the header.

I am amazed at the noises Henry is capable of.  He has always been quite vocal, much more so than any other cat I have owned, but I find it very intriguing  how he tells me that he has brought a new plaything in the house – be it four or six legged.  He is trilling and chirping, warbling and twittering in a very distinctive way which puts me immediatly in alert mode.

Which reminds me: the mouse is still in the house.  Apparently.  I haven’t seen it and the only indication that it is still there is Henry sitting in front of the kitchen skirting.  It’s a waiting game.

190617

living with a mouse

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Henry has also brought home his first mouse.  Unfortunately, the mouse was cleverer than he expected because it hit successfully in a flower pot.  I don’t remember who lost interest first, Henry or me, but it was 2 am and I went to bed.

When my husband found the mouse cowering behind an orchid in the morning, he tried to take it outside (the whole flower pot) but mousey jumped and ran behind the living room cupboard.  Henry followed – we had no idea that he could even get behind the cupboard – and appeared again in the CD rack.  Mousey stayed hidden.

I bought a live trap but have so far been unable to set it up.  Hence, we had another night of living with a mouse.  I came into the living room this morning to find two pot plants lying on the floor and a cat mesmerized by the kitchen skirting.

On the upside we now know that there is no rotting mouse corpse somewhere in the flat.

190616

 

 

two birds with one cat

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I’ve held back this information but Henry has moved up in the hunters’ world.   Last week he brought home two birds (not at the same time).  I praised him profusely, distracted him with a cat treat, and scooped up the birds.  Each one was unharmed, if badly shaken.  They were both juvenile sparrows.

I placed them outside in a safe place and while Henry was being distracted inside, they recovered their spunk and flew off.  I hope they learned their lesson.

Mhm… coming to think of it, they kinda looked alike.  … I hope it wasn’t the same bird on both days.  Because that would mean: I suck as a teacher.

190615

 

held in high esteem

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I had a very affectionate kitty on my bed last night.  One could even say clingy.

There was this scary thunderstorm with lightning and loud bangs in the afternoon.  And I protected Henry from it.  And then I made it go away.  I am his goddess.

At least for the moment.

190608

stag party

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Henry thinks I need fattening up with shrews (one a day) and stag beetles (they are a bonus).
NB: the stag beetles he brought were so called “hunger males”, probably because of last year’s dry summer season, they feed on plant sap.

Addendum: Another stag beetle within less than five minutes. It couldn’t have been the same one as my husband threw the other one onto the roof garden and Henry was at the back of the house.

Do the beetles have a stag party in our garden?

190603

Tom 1, Jerry 0

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It has happened.  After practicing on bugs since spring had arrived Henry had his first mammal kill.  He called us in the hallway with persistent meows until we came and admired his prey.  A little, greyish brown mouse lay in the hallway.  It was a no-longer-suffering mouse, not a pinin’ mouse, but a dead-as-a-doornail-mouse. The mouse had passed on, he was no more, he had ceased to be – though not stiff yet, rather limp and floppy.

My bed is nearest to the door leading in the garden.  Do I have to worry?

190528

spew, don’t drool

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At night – just before he goes on his last prowl of the night – Henry likes to cuddle.  He snuggles down, often lying half on the keyboard, nestling his head in my or Lothar’s elbow.   No problem.  Until a few days ago. —

He came, he nestled, and ten minutes later my arm was dripping wet. Mhm… I changed my long slee- he caught ved blouse and fifteen minutes later it was Lothars turn to change his shirt.  We found it strange but thought little of it until we found his sleeping chushion completely soaked next morning (of course, a Sunday morning, what else?).  He was off his food and drank a lot and we kept watching.  I researched a bit and learned that he was too old to have teething troubles. I checked his mouth for foreign objects or an ulcer. Nothing.

He was okay the next morning and we were puzzled.

Until we saw him chasing, catching and chomping down on a golden-green beetle, a green rose chafer. I didn’t find any evidence that chafer beetles are poisonous but when he chews them, he  drools.

I keep forgetting that he is little more than a kitten and this is his first spring.  He still needs to learn a lot of things.

190524

resistance is futile

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Henry update: This morning his claw was not sticking out anymore, it was completely pulled back if slightly skew. By this afternoon when i wanted to take him to the vet I couldn’t even tell which toe it was … Is Henry an alien with supernatural healing powers? Or are all cats aliens? Will I be assimilated?

190520 b

no clawing

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Herny rolled over today in his “you may scratch my belly, serf!”-position when I noticed something odd about the front claw of his left foot. It sticks out kind of funny. Maybe he hooked it somewhere and dislocated it. Can cats dislocate a claw? It doesn’t seem sore, he walks without a limp, jumps up and down on counters and tables without showing any sign of discomfort. I will take him to the vet tomorrow as it does look odd. What has he been up to?

190519

there is something in the water …

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… or possibly, the garden.  When Henry comes in from his morning stroll, he searches for my husband’s or my company and vigourously attacks either of our hands and arms.  He doesn’t bite hard, it’s this restrained biting that cat’s can do – showing you: I’ve got teeth but I am not really using them on you (always with the implied “unless you piss me off”).  Either he is getting a high from something growing in the garden or he is just so happy that somebody let him in again that he has to show his appreciation with affection based biting.

190511