RIP Cedric

Rachel and Pete were on holiday earlier this month, so Lila and I got to spend 12 days at the cat hotel! It got a bit boring after a while. When we at last heard Rachel's voice calling "Mia, Lila..." we were so happy we ran round and round our room in excitement!

However, during this stay at the hotel, a sad event occurred. I don't think we introduced you to our friend Cedric, but here's a photo of him in happier times. He's the little grey mouse. The brown thing is Kiwi; Lila will tell you about him another day.

Lila: I'm so happy to be alive.

A close up of lovely Cedric.

Cedric was my special friend. He didn't have catnip in or anything, but from the moment he arrived I couldn't resist him! Every time I passed him I stopped to bat him about or have a chew on his tail. I'd chase him all around the lounge until we collapsed in a laughing heap on the floor, like an advert for life insurance or something. Sometimes I would snooze resting my chin on his furry back. We had such great times together!

So when we went off for our long cattery stay, Rachel thoughtfully packed some toys and beds for us, including Cedric. It was so nice having him there. But partway through our stay, a tragic event occurred. I don't want to go into details, it hurts too much, but have you seen Slumdog Millionaire? Yes? Well, you know that scene right at the start, when the boy gets locked in the toilet and has to escape in an unspeakably disgusting way? Well, that is kind of what happened to Cedric. It isn't our fault the litter they use at the cat hotel isn't absorbent like the stuff we have at home!

Anyway, I was devastated. When Rachel came to pick us up, she asked where Cedric was, and the lady proprietor said there'd been a "mishap" with the litter tray and they'd had to get rid of Cedric. A MISHAP? How can you describe what happened to my dear friend, my darling Ceddy, as a mishap!

So, we came home and life got back to normal; I tried to put Cedric out of my mind, but there was always something missing, a hollow feeling in my fluffy tummy. The house was too quiet without him.

Then, a few days later, a miracle occurred. I had been out in the garden and came inside to find that our latest delivery of food had arrived. And who should be sitting on the top of the cans, shackled to some kind of board...

On the third day, Cedric rose again.

CEDRIC!! He had been resurrected from his rodenty poo-death! Yay!! I was so excited. Once Rachel had freed him from his bonds, we carried on as if nothing had ever come between us. Of course, I didn't ask him about what had happened to him since I'd last seen him, or what he'd gone to to try and return to me, as it was obviously painful. Before long we were chasing each other around the house as though he had never been away. Although he doesn't go outside, I did take him to the back door to see how much the garden had grown while he'd been away. Look how happy we both are!!

See the grass Cedric? Yes, it's about a foot long. Awesome.

Hopefully now we're reunited, I'll be able to bring you some more stories about the fantastic adventures Ced and I get up too. But I'll be keeping him well clear of the litter tray from now on... (shudder).

Feline Invader!

Goodness me, we're both all a flutter at the moment, due to the UNWANTED INCURSION of another feline into OUR TERRITORY!

First thing we knew about it was one morning a couple of weeks ago, when through the catflap we saw a flash of black and white fur at the end of the garden. We thought it was the big scary longhaired cat from up the road, and Mia ran upstairs to the farthest point of the house... but later on that day, we were outside, and saw more clearly that it was a BRAND NEW cat! And she was playing in OUR playground at the end of the next door neighbours' garden!

A closeup of the cheeky monkey...

She's quite small, so even Mia wasn't scared of her. We went over to let her know that we were the bosses around this garden, but she could play, if she showed suitable respect. However, she just IGNORED US!! How rude!!

Look, she's not even scared!

We thought we'd better put her in her place. As she got busy exploring the playground, we instigated a pincer attack. Mia distracted her on this side by making her chattery bird noise, while I sneaked around the back....

Ninja Lila

But... by the time I went to jump at her, she'd disappeared!!

Where'd she go?

Hmph. We've seen her around a few more times - still showing ZERO respect for her elders and she doesn't really want to play with us either. She's been lounging about on OUR shed roof, where we like to relax, and even went into the garden on the other side of us and chased OUR butterflies! Those are our favourite neighbours  - they let Mia come and sit on their sofa, and don't even mind when I sneak into their upstairs windows from the flat roof. What if they decide they like her better than us?

Rachel said she talked to the cheeky cat's human, who lives just 2 doors down, and the feisty new kitty is called Bella. She did say that Bella isn't allowed outside at night either, so that's one good thing I suppose... but we're off to the cattery for a little while tomorrow, and I'm very worried that she might think that our garden is there for the taking!! I'll keep you updated...

In the meantime, we have been letting Rachel take lots of photos of us, just so she wouldn't forget that WE are the cutest cats around here. Once again, hmph.

Mog's Togs at the Dandy Lion!

Yesterday, instead of staying at home and bugging us all day (like a normal Saturday), Rachel and Pete went all the way up to North London and took all the Mog's Togs collars! Insanity!

Apparently they took them to sell at a fair called The Dandy Lion near Highgate. It was in a pub called the Boogaloo (funny name, if you ask me...). It nearly all went wrong though right at the start just after they'd spent ages making their little table look nice.

Can you see the little mice down at the front? They've got catnip inside them, mmm, a whole teaspoon in each, which makes them pretty pungent! They smelled so delicious, that one of the the pub's resident cats, Hutch, came to investigate. Before long she had decided that in fact, all the mice should belong to her.

This one is mine, and this one is mine, and this one..

The catnip started to send her a little loopy, so Rachel decided to donate one of the mice to her in the name of peace and quiet and to save her stall!

Looks like she loved it!

I shall hug you and kiss you and call you Mousey...

And phew, the stall was saved!

Do you like the collar model there at the back?! He's GRRREAT!

P.S. In case you were wondering, yes there was apparently a Starsky at the pub too, to go with Hutch, but she was a bit shy, so Rach and Pete didn't get to meet her :-)

Mog's Togs' Friend: Tilly

It's time for another post from a Mog's Togs Friend! This week our friend is little Tilly, who got her slave Elaine of Ellie's Treasures to jot down her answers and take a few pics...

What's your name, how old are you, and where do you live?

Tilly, although I'm more often known as Minx (and used to be called Kitty Eden).  I've no idea how I got the nickname Minx, I'm only doing what I was born to do - play, chase, trip folk up and climb up legs! Oh, I think I'm about 5 months old, could be a little older though.  I was born somewhere and then dropped off with my brother, George, in a hay barn. I live in a playden (sorry, a house) with a large garden that I'm just beginning to explore.
 

Tilly exploring a mixing bowl!

  

Who do you live with? What's the best and worst thing about living with them? 

I live with my lovely mummy who feeds me and tells me off when I climb up her legs.  A daddy who feeds me as well (I usually say I haven't been fed yet by mummy, but, shush, that's not always true!) [Ahh, you'll go far, already using tricks like that!] and whom I adore. He has the best lap in the world, a lovely comfy cushion lap for me to sleep on and paw at in the evenings [Mia and Lila have one of those cushions too, thanks to Pete!!]. There's two young humans too, a boy and a girl. They can get a bit loud at times but do have snuggly beds to sleep on and friends that like to stroke and adore me.

I have 3 brother cats, 1 best pal dog called Poppy (I like to follow her around the garden when she's let out to do a wee), 2 hens who are a little scary actually, especially when they chase me and finally, 2 goldfish (poor things are all caged up in some tank thing - I'll help them escape one day). My 3 brother cats are alright.  The old one, Allie, can get really nasty when I ask to play and he leaves smelly wet mouth stuff on my fur.  Kanda, well Kanda just hisses at me and runs past - he's a bit weird that one. Pepper's good fun for a tumble around with, especially at bed time - I like him the best. All 3 of them are brilliant at feeding time. They seem perfectly happy to let me push them out of the way so I can reach all of the feeding bowls at once, leaving them to wait until I've hoovered every morsel up [Hm, who does that remind us of? MIA!].

What are you looking at, Tilly?

What has been your greatest adventure / scariest moment?

My greatest adventure must have been when my actual mum decided it was moving day and carried me and my real brother, George, to the hay barn. It was cold and we needed somewhere warm as we were really tiny. The scariest moment was probably when the lady at the hay barn took us and my mum to the V.E.T. [O.M.G!] and then I had to go back to the hay barn with George without mum for a whole day. We wondered where she was and were really, really happy to see her come back when it was feeding time in the evening. Another scary moment was going out into the big garden for the first time.  I thought it would be really cool to explore all the other gardens as well as my own. Mummy was a little over the top with happiness when I eventually came home. I didn't realise I'd been out for 2 hours, and haven't really ventured out for that long since. Going out at night is far better - no pecking hens to chase me! 

What would be your perfect day?

Food, play, food, play, food, food, food, daddy's lap and then a tumble with Pepper (probably followed by more food during the night). 

Which is your favourite Mog's Togs collar?

I don't wear a collar yet, mummy says my neck is far too skinny and I'd look all collar and no kitten.  If mummy let me choose one to buy though I think I'd pick "Groovy Teal Cat Collar" - it's very dainty, just like me. [Unfortunately you'll have a LOT of growing to do to wear that one - we've only got the large size left! Ah well, I'm sure you'll find something cute enough for even you when the time's right!]

Thanks Tilly - and sorry it took us a little while to put your interview up here - you're probably nearly fitting that Large collar by now, it's been so long, oops!

No Need To Panic Buy Cat Collars...

OK, now we don't wish to incite any panic buying, but we've heard that there could potentially be a country-wide cat collar shortage over the coming weeks. This is due to the risk of strike by, um, the people who put the jingly bit inside the bells...

We do NOT want you to queue around the block to buy a collar, but recommend you replenish your supply gradually over the coming days, perhaps from a convenient website? It may also be prudent to consider stockpiling some collars SAFELY in your house, garage or other outbuilding...

Mr J Bloggs from, erm, London, told us "I'm already worried. I have three cats that need to be looking smart ready for the Diamond Jubilee, what on earth am I meant to do now? I'm going to get up at 6am tomorrow and drive around in a panic and possibly get in a fight with the Siamese breeder across the road over the last designer collars in the city..."

Oh dear...

Best. Game. EVER.

Rachel and Pete were changing the bedsheets the other day (which, by the way, was more than overdue) and accidentally discovered the most fun game IN THE WORLD. Unfortunately the video quality is a bit rubbish, but time waits for no man! (and no woman and her fancy video camera either).

One bit of advice though, don't do this the day before you get sick and have to spend the whole day in bed, because your cats will spend the said day skidding around you as you attempt to get some sleep...

Mog's Togs' Friend: Doug

This week's Mog's Togs' Friend is Doug. He got his servant - talented seamstress Naomi of Lady Lemur's Awesome Emporium - to act as scribe for him...

Doug having his breakfast... is that a milk moustache?!

What's your name, how old are you, and where do you live?

Doug, 18 months, South London. 

Who do you live with? What's the best and worst thing about living with them?

I live with one ginger human and one black and white human. The ginger one lets me sit by his desk while he makes stupid clicky noises with the thing he calls a 'mouse'. It is not a mouse. I humour him - he probably couldn't catch a real one.

The black and white human spends a lot of her time swearing at a noisy machine that she pushes bits of fabric through. If I shout loudly enough and for long enough at either of them they might stop what they are doing and give me a hug, or better still, food. 

Doug illustrating the swipe-and-run

Mmm. Food. That's the best thing about living with them, the food. Especially bacon. And pizza. And sweetcorn. And, recently, beansprouts. They like to challenge me by leaving it right in the middle of the table or way up high where I can't reach it, the scamps. Luckily I'm very good at the swipe and run technique and they almost never catch me. They seem to enjoy this game. 

The worst thing....well, that's probably having to live with my sister, Embley. She is a total idiot. I mean, seriously, she's an embarrassment. Waste of food, if you ask me. 




What has been your greatest adventure / scariest moment?

There are so many to choose from, they've all gone down in legend. There's The Day I Killed The Squirrel, the Day I Got Stuck In The Bin, and The Day I Ate An Entire Bag Of Chocolate Covered Honeycomb. My humans weren't so proud of the last one as I was. Admittedly it did have..ahem....explosive results in the litter tray the next day, but I regret nothing. Occasionally I still find a bit of honeycomb ground into the carpet under the sofa and allow myself a nostalgic smile. 

What would be your perfect day?

Being left, unsupervised, in the kitchen for a whole day. Oh, the things I'd eat. 

Which is your favourite Mog's Togs collar?

Collars? Ugh. Hate the things, ever since the humans decided it would be 'amusing' to put me one that said 'Do Not Feed'. Hilarious, I don't think. If they absolutely insisted I suppose I could put up with the skull and crossbones one. I might deign to keep that on for more than my record 48 hours. Embley wore her Mogs Togs tiger print collar for a whole month, but that was just because she's too thick to work out how to take it off. [Ed. - We recommend some psychotherapy to help you get over your fear of collars...]

Doug and sis Embley... aw he must love her really!

Thanks Doug!! Keep up the good work!!