He doesn't get any better!

Love it phoenix. As always! We've missed your fabulous post.

As always so well described I can picture it all
"I walked into a cooker hood " new twist on a door hope Mr P is ok.

Bought a smile to my face on a cold, dull Essex morning. He sounds a lovely puss.

https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/201610/medium-831074-smaller1.jpg%3C/span%3E https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/201610/medium-535936-smaller2.jpg%3C/span%3E

phoenix How I love reading about your two they certainly keep you on your toes,poor Mr P I hope he is not to bruised.
My little one also Oliver has settled in very well and taken up residence on the sofa totally ignoring the cute bed and fleece we bought him,he has settled in with Poppy and we have a mad hour with the two of them about 6pm before they settle down for the night.

As a fellow cat lover ( Love dogs too!) I can sympathise with all this.
Bosley is a 'special needs' cat -as I have posted before he was found at 5 weeks next to body of dead Mum & brought to us to raise. We suspect the car that hit her gave him a glancing blow causing his problems.10 years later he has caused more chaos than all our other animals put together. He doesn't walk normally & has no 'cat instincts'- like digging holes for his business or washing himself & we adore him!

Following a recent bout of urine infection he is now walking mostly sideways unless his back legs overtake him & he finds he is facing the other way from where he intended to go (always had a tendency to this at times)- doesn't bother him- he just carries on. Life is a series of surprises for him- he never quite knows where he will finish up- unless his food is going down when he seems to have perfect directional abilities. BUT he has discovered washing!! Which he does obsessively for hours at a time- not very effectively to be honest but he is very proud of himself.
Because he is so clumsy he knocks things over all the time- he loves jumping up on things & usually skids to a halt knocking everything in his path flying & then looks rounds as if to say 'WHO did that!
Our other cats look out for him- not that he is a bit grateful & regularly cuffs them. Talulah adores him & follows him round like a mother hen. He ignores her!
I think we are very lucky to have been given the opportunity to have such a 'different' cat. Anyone can have a normal moggy we have a one off!Sounds as if Oliver Sprout is also a different cat.

The nocturnal activities of our cat Molly sound quite familiar. She will often jump up into the window at some silly hour and now autumn is here will ' Chase ' the falling leaves from the trees up and down the sill ! She also jumps from there onto the bed and will stand on you, head close to you as if to say "Come on then - do something " She is also very fastidious about her litter tray and will come and tell you by this certain sound she makes that she has done a poo and it needs getting rid - night or day !

We've got a special needs cat too. We got her in Spain, some kittens found on a building site, Princess Fang was injured with a big hole in her side and covered in black stuff, perhaps pitch. She was given a bandage and her sister was kept in over night as was in worse shape. When we went back next day the sister hadn't made it, but the vet, sneaky so-and-so, said just come and look at all the kittens we've got looking for a home, so we took Harryet Potter to be company for Fang,.

Fang was named Fang after Hagrid's pet as I had to bath her to get the pitch off and put a bandage on the wound as it kept coming off. Fang didn't like being bathed and I needed medical help more than she did by the end, so called her Fang. And of course then the new black and white we got from the vet Became Harry Potter.

Fang walks a bit funny and her eyes don't quite focus, perhaps because of early damage. She doesn't cover her poo either, Harry does it for her. They didn't like each other for a few days but then did and snuggled up. Harry grooms her too.

Fang has a habit of going to the back door to ask to go out but as you approach the door she runs away as if scared. She can do this two or three times before actually going out. She can't jump up very high, just bed height, and sleeps on a bed in the day. If anyone goes in to that room she screams at them to go away.

She is very pretty though. Very loud too. She comes to say she's pooed in the litter tray, or that she needs more cat food put down, or to go out.

Cats don't you just love them (dogs too). I was "persuaded" to adopt my DD's cat as he was always getting into fights with numerous cats in the area - often coming off worst (& they had 3 dogs at the time who adored him & he loved them but he never had any peace!!!!)

I moved last year & now only live 10 miles from DD, she also persuaded DGS that Nanny needed some company & Stevie would look after me (I was widowed 3 years ago)

So Stevie came to me - settled well despite the indignity of being neutered at the age of 6 & micro-chipped. He's a very independent cat but gets distressed if I go out & he can't get back in the house (may have to invest in a cat flap).

Even though he's getting a little older he still has the "kitten streak" & will hear him chasing catnip mouse about in the early hours!! Hates using litter tray unless he absolutely has to, he'd rather go out - I'm "door opener", food provider & granted permission to "fuss" him (on his terms)

Pets are great, aren't they? Huge entertainment value and nowhere near the aggravation factor of some family members.

Much as I love my Burmese cat, 14 years old but looks about 5, I insist that he either spends the night in my office or if that fails, in the garage where he snuggles down into a vintage silver cross carriage built pram, complete with satin throw.

What a long sentence!

And he may protest a little on the way downstairs ..... But my few hours of sleep are very important to me.

What a mean mummy I am

Our new rescue cats spend the night in our futility room as I don't like pets in bedrooms. Yesterday I caught the pair of them snuggled up in the same box. Maybe the cooler days and nights have caused this sudden outbreak of brotherly love.

Very funny, Phoenix, but oh so like my pair! I wish I had the comic delivery that you do.
Bugsie jumps onto my bed after I get in, his back pressed into mine. Saffron then jumps on him because she is jealous, whereupon he becomes an immovable object. I persuade her to come on the other side of me making me feel like a sausage in a hot dog, from where it is extremely difficult for me to move. Come 3am, when I start to surface, Saffy knows it will soon be time for breakfast. Then begins the circuit training! From bed to chair, then window sill, top of wardrobe 1 launch onto bed nearly breaking my legs, then up to wardrobe 2, along top of open door to bedside cabinet treading on buttons of clock radio which blares, also sending everything flying. I eventually give in at around 5 am and feed the cats and have my bath, around which Saffy walks and slips.
By 6am she is fast asleep on the top bunk in the spare room where she stays until about 2pm.
I know if I shut the bedroom door she would scratch up the carpet and shout the house down!

Don't you just love cats?
Toula (12 yrs) still charges about and releasing her "inner kitten" at least twice a day. She will only use a litter tray and mostly refuses to go outdoors. Her favourite trick is for darting into the garden when I get home a little late. She has had all day to go out but refuses to do so. I am then standing at the front door waiting for her to return, at which point she will stroll past me and then dash up the stairs. How can one small tabby take up so much room on the bed? I find myself doing various gymnastic poses to get into a comfy position for sleep because Toula will not move.

Is it possible for cats to get ADHD? We have two kittens, one 8 months old, one 6 months, from different parts of the Country. The younger one is growing and behaving exactly as you would expect, eats anything in front of him, and his housemate's too if he gets a chance. Climbs curtains, enjoys play-fighting, the odd bit of charging round the house, and lots of sleeping in the sun.
His pal, the 8 month old, is hardly ever still. Growled and hissed at me for 48 hours when we first got him, is obsessed with anything furry, which he will endlessly bring to you to throw for him to retrieve, growling loudly and hissing as he does so. Endlessly attacking the other one in play, but sometimes biting too hard. Won't eat his food unless you keep moving the bowl into different places in the kitchen, and sometimes only when a shaving of parmesan is put on the top. Keeps trying to suckle from the other one, he is a complete fruit loop. Managed to contract salmonella soon after we got him, with all that that entails!

Hilarious. Love all these cat tales. Such characters - whoever said cats were boring!

Oliver Sprout reminds me of the children's story 'Mog the Forgetful Cat' , a favourite of our DCs and now DGCs

Oh what lovely posts, thank you for sharing your cat stories, much appreciated and enjoyed!

Craftycat I think your boy sounds lovely, I can feel from you post the pleasure that he brings.

I think it must be something about me that seems to attract "special needs" cats

When I first started posting about my mogs on GN, I had Maurice, Lily and Clucky, all now gone , Maurice was the only one we had from a kitten, the other two were "acquired" from friends as adult cats, one was emigrating, (friend, not cat, ) and the other was offered to me when I had that one extra glass of wine that makes you think, "yes, why not take this gorgeous pure white cat home with us?" rather than thinking "why is N so keen to get rid of this cat?"

Jud, the Mog books were favourites in this family too, although I think Digby is actually a bit more Mog like than Oliver Sprout!

Gus displaying his ultimate superiority over us humans!

DS has called one of our cats One Cell (referring to brain cells) ever since he arrived 5 years ago. At the moment he is having problems with our new French Doors. He was used to sipping out as soon as the old sliding doors started to open, he can't get used to the new ones opening in the middle and sits sadly in the corner waiting for help!

We don't have a cat, Mr C is allergic to them. That doesn't stop two neighbouring cats from sleeping, fighting, prowling and bringing gifts to our conservatory door in the day and our porch at night. In fhe summer they have shared the porch with a very grumpy hedgehog. How was I to know cats like hedgehog food? The porch has a security light. Every movement turns it on, then it goes off, then on. A local lighthouse flashes less. It's a little better now as I think the hedgehog has found autumn quarters and one of the cats is now allowed home at night. So just the one lodger. He would so love to come in. The question is, do I still put out the hedgehog food. Is it good for cats?

Tara is 11 but acts like a 2 year old. She goes out as early as she can persuade me to come downstairs and open a door for her. She has a cat flap but does not have access 24/7. She stays out for at least 12 hours, comes home and immediately goes to her litter tray. I know she has done a poo because she runs around the house, day or night like something possessed, sometimes but not always screaming to tell me.

She has 2 lovely cat beds but no, she has taken over a double bedroom- much more comfortable with a duvet and her quilt on top. This was added because she clawed a hole in a duvet cover which did not impress me.

I bought a chair for my bedroom recently and luckily put a throw on it because she thinks it is another bed bought for her.

She sleeps on my bed when she fancies, walking over my pinned and plated ankle and my knee replacement. She likes to sleep where my feet would normally rest so I frequently end up lying at a jaunty angle to accommodate her.

If I hear a noise during the night, I only have to look at her to see if she was alerted, usually she is fast asleep so I go back to sleep also. I love her to bits.

And so would I, Charleygirl !

My cat when she was alive had great fun waiting until you were sitting in the conservatory, very relaxed with tea in hand, she would then launch herself from the open bedroom window above onto the perspex roof of the conservatory as hard as she could ! how DH and i are still alive i do not know, everytime single time we thought we were going to have a joint heart attack,she would walk through the conservatory door smiling ! but i do miss her (most of the time !)

I am sure dyspraxia is a definite possibility as our Strophy (Cat-as-Strophy, being his full name) He has been clumsy beyond belief all his life. He has sent more objects, both valuable and not, sailing, on many occasions!