lonemagpie

I've buried a few over the years, but losing Bel is by far the worst - she was with me the longest, constant as the northern star. I always imagined she should get a Viking funeral, but that didn't happen. I have some slabs left from when the decking was put in- she'll at least get one of those over her.

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1042980.html

Bel just died in my arms about ten minutes ago. She had just jumped up to steal some ham from Lesley's plate, then came over to the side of my chair and collapsed and started coughing (not the ham, but like on Monday). I picked her up and held her against my chest, and she coughed and gasped a bit then passed in a couple of minutes. Now I'm going to bury her under a starlit full moon, in the back garden.

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1042846.html

Bel's still behanving normally, and eating and drinking but not as much as she usually does. Still preferring Temptations above everything else. I do suspect she's in her last weels, (hopefully not days, and certainly not hours like we thought yesterday.)

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1042240.html

Bel just ran through to the kitchen with no hip wobble, and was scarfing Whiskas Temptations and I gave her a whole tin of sardines.I think she maybe doesn't like the Whiskas pouches we've got. Wait, no, she hasn't eaten much of the sardines at all - she's returned to her spot in the living room, But she seems to have had some milk and eaten the Temptations. And at least she was moving normally, though

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1041902.html

Bel has started to stagger at the back and slump a bit today... Well, we all know what that means.

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1041353.html

Cleo has brought in a mousie, and at first the new kittens weren't interested much - just sniffing and patting it sort of listlessly. Then I decided that they need to get the scent of the blood and meat, rather than the garden, so I stuck a couple of holes in it with a dagger (Cleo had already killed it), and Lorenzo di Marmalade wasn't interested (I think he just doesn't like the flavour) but Sforza Caterina got playing with it, sunk her teeth in - and immediately wilded out, and has spent the past half hour playing and nomming and growling at the others.

Cleo and I think she shows promise as an apprentice (for Cleo), but I suspect she'll tire herself out from the excitement rather than actually end up eating it. But she's got the taste for it now.

Seven and I trained Cleo up, so I guess Cleo and I will train Caterina up. Lorenzo may prefer fish or birds - he loves killing toy snakes, actually - but we'll find out in time. He has the long legs to be a good ratter.

Cleo is watching her with great interest and pride

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1010986.html

Dammit, Lorenzo is a fucking pot-plant eater, like Garfield. He's totally demolished a several-years old succulent on the windowledge!

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1009967.html

Oh, yeah, I had another gender-colour-marketing-bullshit rant to make. So, we went to get a play tunnel for the new kittens... Would you fucking believe they now come in blue for male kittens and pink for female kittens? Seriously... Fuck that cunting shit. Who the fuck do I have to kill to put an end to this fucking gender stereotyping by colours?

And in any case we were looking for one to be shared by one of each...

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1008358.html

Well, at the end of the week, two FNGs join the Cat Collective's mouse police unit with us, under El Presidente Bel and Captain General Cleo... Here they are. Four-month old brother and sister litter mates.

Actually we're thinking the ginger boy is Lorenzo (il Magnfico) and the girl is Caterina (Sforza) - which also pays tribute to the late Her Mogjesty Katiya, who I often referred to as Katerina Kanonenkugel... So they'll both have renaissance names.

If the female had been the ginger one, then they'd have been either Mulder and Scully or Amy and Rory, obviously.

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1007694.html

Since there is no current Mogjesty here, senior cat B'Elanna prefers the title of El Presidente - and she is 16 today!

So I took these pictures a few hours ago... She's just had some prawns - her particular favourite (apart from curry.... and pork...) to celebrate.

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1005590.html

Meant to say that as of Tuesday morning, Bel and Cleo were behaving with obvious radjustment to the hierarchy, so they obviously know Her Mogjesty isn't coming back. Cleo, being the longer-range wanderer and hunter, probably know where she is, actually...

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1003154.html

Her Mogjesty is still missing. I doubt "lost cat" posters would be of any use- given our geographical location and her age the most logical conclusion would be that she's collapsed somewhere, or found a place to make a den for her last hours. She's not young enough to have gone exploring, the kids round here don't harm animals, she probably wouldn't be capable of climbing into a delivery van, and if she'd been run over we'd have seen a body.

I've gone round her daily patrol route searching under bushes etc, but not seen a body. If she's wandered off into the cornfield we'd never find her till after the harvest, and I doubt there'd be anything left to find by then.

She was acting perfectly normally yesterday - climbed down off the couch and went to the door around lunchtime, I let her out, she wandered round the corner as always... I mean, yeah they have shorter lifespans, and I always kind of expected to come downstairs one day and find her on the couch just not waking up, but not to pull a disappearance about nine weeks ahead of turning 20...

But I don't... *feel* her around. And logic says she's taken the Long Walk and died out there in the field. And I just want her to come back in, for all that she shouts all time, and craps on the carpet in the corner. She's always been in this house, since before I was in it.

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/1002231.html

What's that smell? Yep, Cleo has done it again- another stiff (and in this case slightly flattened - one of us must have stepped on it in the morning) birdie excavated from where she'd stashed it under a sheet in the pre-dawn hours...

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/997738.html

Aren't all cats like this, deep down?

"BaneCat" (Watch on YouTube)

Crossposts: http://lonemagpie.livejournal.com/976534.html

Just saw the RSPB's Big Bird Watch ad.

Wait, WTF are the RSPB thinking? That cat is identical to our Cleo, and let's just say she's not very bird-friendly. (In her first summer with us, she offed at least a dozen a month)

"Big Garden Birdwatch 2013 Advert" (Watch on YouTube)

Yeah, that has the 2013 dates, but they have re-used the same ad this year - I saw it on GOLD during a Blackadder repeat today, which is why I went looking for the online version to post.