Thursday 7 April 2011

A different visitor


Over the past week or so we’ve been having a visitor, I believe it started when I was away in Rotterdam, then on Sunday when mum and I were wandering the garden looking for blooms to cut and put in an oasis it appeared…

Then today I was sat in the kitchen with the door open, writing an essay and a little nose peeped around the door…

This was the visitor:



No… you can’t eat the Jirds….

Oh no, he's making himself comfortable!

Very comfortable……………………

It’s very strange, because for the past three years this ginger and white cat has never hung around the garden. It just passes through and I’ve never needed to chase it off to stop it catching the birds, and then all of a sudden it’s actively seeking us out for a stroke and is very friendly. Normally this ginger and white cat fights with the mostly white with a little black that lives behind us, and I semi suspect it might be a stray, but he doesn’t have that typical big tom cat look.

Oooh, are you leaving?

Clearly not.

I couldn’t get rid of it and had to close the living room doors as no doubt it fancied eating my little rodent friends. I allowed it to hang around until Pete came home and I could snap some photos and try to entice him (I assume it’s a he, as the face isn’t very feminine) out.

Ok, some more scratches then, if you insist.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think he’s decided we’re his new owners

It’s a shame I’m allergic…

A scratch on my hand that mysteriously appeared yesterday swelled up and began to itch, sorry kitty but you can’t stay.

Yay, managed to get it outside!

Not for long though, Pete had to push him towards the door.

I don’t think he was paying much attention though

Ah, hahahahahaha you’re not coming in anymore! By this time he had began to twitch his tail in annoyance, probably wanting to eat our pets.

It gets even more strange…

I went outside to get the cat to follow me out, and there was one of the black cats sat on the tier staring at me. It ran off but almost straight into the White with a little black cat. A fight almost followed and I stood wondering whether we’d soon have a massive cat fight in the garden since I was entertaining the ginger and white cat… Thankfully nothing happened. We eventually got rid of ginger, and was just saying that we were suddenly in the middle of a cat motorway and that we hadn’t seen the mostly black and white cat… I look out and guess what’s there?! 4 cats all within minutes of each other, and mostly white with a little black was sat on the fence at the top of the garden.

Very weird, I’d love to know what was going on to bring them all so close together suddenly.


Copyright 2011 Liz.
All rights reserved. Content created by Liz for Gwirrel’s Garden.

10 comments:

Kyna said...

What a pretty kitty! I love the ginger and white ones the most :) I'm so glad I'm not allergic to cats. I love kittehs...

(hehe, the captcha word is 'hagis')

On My Soapbox said...

It's too bad you're allergic - he looks like a sweet little fella, just yearning for love and attention!

Anonymous said...

This kitty looks like my orange and white cat. My cat came the same way, just adopted us. My husband thinks he is allergic too. He itches when the cats get near him.

Cheryl said...

Hi Liz, I am not a cat person, so cannot help you with that one.
Ginger does have the most beautiful face....I had a ginger cat when I was a little girl.


My daughter, and grandson are both allergic to cats. They started with one cat in their garden and now have six. They often foul in her garden. To be honest with you they have become a bit of a nuisance.....sad but true. She has had to buy one of those machines with the high pitched sound to keep them away.

Lovely images.....eyes are gorgeous.

Liz said...

Hi Kyna,

I'm quite mildly allergic to cats, it usually takes a while before I begin to feel the effects of being close and will eventually become wheezy and my nose will feel tingly. Compared to Rabbits, cats are nothing. It usually takes an hour or so before I feel bad near a Cat, but with Rabbits it takes minutes and is far more severe; throat swells, can't breathe, sneeze constantly - not a nice experience.

Haggis!!!

Liz said...

Hi OMS,

Haha, I think he was actually probably more interested in our pets; gerbils and jirds in the house as he was pawing at the living room doors and I had to put something behind them to stop him pushing the door open. We've had a mouse/rat hanging around near the house recently, it used the compost bin as a home during the heavy snow back in December and I think it's still around. So I think the cats are attracted by the scents. And to be honest, I'd rather not have a mouse/rat in the house (at least, not one that's firmly behind cage bars).

Liz said...

Hi GWGT,

My nan always had cats when I was growing up, and she pretty much adopted a cat that lived next door and wasn't being fed properly and was a tiny little thing. I just can't have one because I'd wheeze and sniffle all the time, I don't think I'm allergic to dogs though so hope I'll be able to get a dog someday.

Liz said...

Hi Cheryl,

I don't mind cats, but I do mind them coming into the garden, mainly because as you said; they like to use it as a toilet. And it really angers me because I don't see why I have to clean up after other people's pets, nor do I see why I have to take precautionary measures to keep them out of the garden.
What really gets me is when people turn around and say, 'get your own cat then it'll keep the others away'. Right, that's a brilliant reason to go out and buy an animal, how about this: I don't want a cat, I'm allergic and even if I did have one I'd keep it indoors because of the sheer number of other cats in the area. Last summer you could guarantee a cat fight nearby almost every single day, I wouldn't want a pet of mine getting into fights all the time like that!
It doesn't work anyway, I know another blogger who has two cats and two dogs, she has 8 cats visiting their garden and using it as a toilet!

Normally the garden is relatively secured from cats with only a couple of easy ways in/out, but since the fence still isn't finished they can easily move through the garden now (don't even get me ranting about the fence).

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

Well that's obvious. Clearly Ginger cat told everyone else about the nice lady who lives in this house who has a sunny spot on the floor to nap in, and gives lots of attention ;) Such a shame you're allergic, he's a very handsome cat!

Liz said...

Hi CV,

Haha, all the others run away if I so much as open the door. One of them, a mostly black with a little white I remember as a kitten playing with me for around an hour as I was attempting to plant the Spring bulbs - Crocus etc. Every time I dug, it would pounce onto my trowel. I could hear its little bell tinkling along as it stalked me, it then moved onto my neighbour's son who was out in the garden. Very cute, but now it won't come near me.

It takes a while for me to have problems around cats, and I was surprised the scratch swelled up so quickly - but it makes sense since it's an open wound.

It showed up again today as I was sat on the steps, I saw it in the door reflection behind me. Thankfully the kitchen door was closed at the time, so it couldn't get in! :D