Cassie the lucky cat

This is Cassie the cat. Cassie just hasn't learnt!! Shortly before we moved to Dingley and registered with Springvale Vets, Cassie fell off our neighbours carport, impaling herself on a garden stake in one of his potted plants.

Fortunately, as it went in approx 4 inches, it only damaged muscle (narrowly missing vital parts) and ligaments which repaired well. We only discovered her adventure the following day when she started complaining if we stroked her too hard. Our current vet rang to say she that she probably had yet another abscess but when he examined her, he called us back with the news.

Six years later she still uses very little caution......just screams for help afterwards. We wouldn't change anything about her really - she is Miss Personality Plus and very loving (when she wants to be).

Defne the cat

Visiting a cat hospital with a friend, I saw an advertisement for a beautiful pedigree lilac point Burmese cat that needed a home. She wasn't young, which was one strike against her. More importantly, however, she was congenitally deaf. Her pedigree name was Aurora Tequila Sunrise, but she was called 'Miss Tequila'.

My friend and I visited the woman who was minding her at home, because she was too stressed by the other cats at the cat refuge. She was overweight and dopey - she appeared to do nothing but sleep.

Her minder told us:

• she only drank filtered water
• she had a hot water bottle at bedtime, and
  
• she could not tolerate other cats, so must be an 'only' cat

I agreed to all those conditions with my fingers crossed, and took her home, along with a boot full of her affairs.

Once home, 'Miss Tequila' immediately became 'Defne' - because she's deaf, and anyway she can't hear you so it doesn't matter what you call her! Defne never tasted filtered water again -- in fact, she happily drinks out of a fishtank, and would probably drink out of the sink if she were athletic enough to get up there.

She hasn't had a hot water bottle since she came here, though when bedtime is we don't know, since she seems to sleep 15-20 hours a day. And after we had her for two years, we adopted Indy, an inordinately clever and curious tortie Burmese kitten, whom she treated just like a kitten (she had had two litters before being desexed).

They now behave together just like any two normal cats, grooming each other, fighting regularly and sleeping curled up together, as you can see in the photo.

Defne is not a normal cat. She is a lot more nervous than hearing cats, because she doesn't know what's coming at her. She was a show kitten, so she's used to being groomed, cosseted and treated like a queen.

Being deaf, she has no idea what noises she's making - especially when she runs around yelling in the middle of the night. She's not easy to train. She doesn't hear commands, and you have to get her attention before you can gesture. We don't think she's all that bright, even for a cat. But she has learned to jump up on the couch next to me when I pat it.

It's taken a while, but she has turned into a gentle, affectionate companion - and we don't mind her very loud purrs.

Tinkerbelle

My cat, Tinkerbelle is absolutely fascinated with water...no she's not a Fishing Cat, she's a Devon Rex. Her favourite place to be is balanced on the bathroom sink from where she nudges the tap to extract the last drop of water in the fawcett. It's an enticing game. She also likes to sleep curled up under doonas, cushions and blankets...so always look before you sit! 

Not long ago, I introduced Lucy, an older dog into my cat-dominated household. Lucy hates cats, as any self-respecting dog would, but Tinkerbelle is an indoor cat and having never seen a dog before, wasn't afraid. Initially Lucy was hostile when Tinkerbelle sought out her companionship, but these days, I have even witnessed a lick of welcome.

The unstoppable feline

We once had a VERY bossy cat called Smokey. He never quite forgave us for adding two dogs to the household, rebuffing all friendly overtures from the non-dominant kelpie X, Jordan, and engaging in a never-ending battle of one-upmanship with the definitely dominant shepherd X , De Niro (who admittedly hated him too!). 

Their attempts at scoring points against each other were many but there is a particular one that stands out in my memory. 

Smokey delighted in sitting in the ironing basket on top of our clothes dryer, which was mounted on top of the front loading washing machine. He rejoiced in glaring down triumphantly as De Niro tried in vain to jump high enough to reach him. 

One day both machines were going at once, causing a considerable combined level of vibration. Suddenly, I heard a loud thump from the laundry. I rushed in to find a furious Smokey trapped on the floor inside the upended washing basket with De Niro sniffing all around it for an opening.

The lucky kitten

Late one evening, we found a tiny kitten under our car. It was so skinny and timid. The next day, I did a door knock to find out if anyone was missing a black and white cat but, no one had.

I took the kitten to our veterinary clinic the next day to find out if he was microchipped or desexed, which he wasn't.  We decided to keep him - he is a lovely surprise.
 
We have an 11 year old, a 9 year old and 2 year old twins who were amazed at the sight of the kitten. When they met him for the first time, they both said at the same time ‘ooohhh, a titty!'  We have been encouraging them ever since to say 'Kitty' but, we haven't gotten very far as yet.
 
‘Kitty' is now a very much loved and welcome part of our family. I'm happy he chose our car to hide under.

Edmund's tail

Edmund has a very long, bushy tail. He used to love sitting on the big, old fashioned computer monitor, which offered both warmth and a good view out the window. What else would a bushy-tailed cat do with his tail than dangle it over the screen when his Mum is trying to work?

When I moved his tail to the side, he'd scowl at me, or swat my hand away and put his tail back. Now we have a modern flat panel monitor, which is g-clamped to the desk, because when we first got it, Edmund tried jumping up to sit on it, but only succeeded in falling over the back of the desk with the monitor toppling down after him.

Edmund's keyboard cover

Kitten Edmund, my perpetual shadow, would bring his toys to my desk as I sat writing. He'd step all over the keyboard, and once managed to delete a whole chunk of one chapter by stepping on the backspace key. Lucky I'd backed up, which is a must-do when your Kitties want to help you write.

To solve the problem, I got a piece of Perspex, fitted legs to it, and stood it over my keyboard so I could type while Edmund the Gingerbread Man played, or slept, or groomed himself on top. He's grown into a plus-sized Kitty, who still sits on the Perspex keyboard cover. Although it now sags beneath his weight, I can still type beneath it.

Edmund and the printer

The bubble jet printer fascinated Kitten Edmund. Whenever I queued a document to the printer, he'd come galloping from the other end of the house to see what caused the whirring, clunking sounds.

He'd leap on the printer, watch the paper go through and try to grab it. He adopted the paper tray as a bed, waiting for the bubble jet to begin printing. To his disgust, I now have a laser printer, whose sounds are nowhere near as tantalising as the old bubble jet.

Bosco the cat

Our British Shorthair cat Bosco is hilarious. We have screen doors on both the front and back doors and he tears around like a manic leaping at the doors and climbing to the top. We have got used to it but when friends come over they think it is the funniest thing seeing him taking a flying leap at the door and scurrying up it. It makes a hell of a noise!

He is such a personable cat, extremely affectionate and on his first night with us he snuggled under the throw blanket while we played play station. Not much phases him as long as it is within the realm of his little inside world.

He knows the rubbish truck comes on a Friday so that noise is okay and he knows the washing machine makes a loud noise when it is on spin. If he hears a noise he does not know he is straight under the donna on the bed just like he was on that first night. Lately we bought a new cake mixer and that noise sent him running!  The neighbours are renovating and it is funny as those noises keep him under the donna the whole day!

Cairo and his tricks

I have taught my male ragdoll cat Cairo, to do tricks.

He will sit at my feet while I'm standing and jump up into my arms when I tell him to, just like a dog.

He has also jumped up and onto my back if I lean over, I've seen baby goats do this.

He'll often fetch things and will carry them around the house in his mouth for 10 minutes at a time.

Cairo will walk on lead to go outside into the garden, he's one cool cat!