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).

Play Time!

It's a shame that the holidays are over. Rachel is working hard in her new job, and Pete is busy too. We have got a temporary housemate in the shape of Rachel's brother, which means there's one extra person to play with, but we still have to entertain ourselves at times.

Here I am trying to choose which of my favourite toys to play with. From left to right... our tunnel, the little bunny, a crocheted mouse, a catnip mouse (both mice were made by Rachel), the rattly feather ball, and another random catnip thing that isn't one of my favourites but somehow made it into the shot... All our other toys are in the blue bucket.

Where should I start?

Now the rattly ball thing is great fun. It makes a great noise as I bat it around (until it rolls under the sofa...) but the best bit is the feathers on the top. I luuurrrrve licking them!

schlurp schlurp...

Although, you do have to be careful, because sometimes I lick the feathers so much that they come out, and Rachel has to chase me around to pull them out of my mouth before I eat them...

nom nom, birdy!

The catnip mouse is great for kicking. Rachel says she sews them twice so I don't immediately destroy them.

grr... why you little...

But I do adore the little bunny. When you pull his tail, he vibrates! Lila's scared of him, but I love giving him a cuddle.

I wuv you Mr Bunny!

Ooh I can't decide!!

Too much choice!

Tell you what, why don't you just give me a tummy tickle instead!!

The Tunnel

Hey look at our new toy!! Rachel went to a big pet show and bought it for us. Pete rolled his eyes and said it would take up the whole room... but who cares what he thinks, we rule the roost around here!

We weren't actually that impressed with it to start with, but then Rachel undid the buttons and it popped out and OMG it was an ENORMOUS TUNNEL and made a FABULOUS CRINKLY SOUND! And it had HOLES in it to jump through and DANGLY things to bite and play with. I got so very over excited about it... my eyes went very big and round and eventually it had to be put away :-( But before it got put away we had so much fun, well I had lots of fun and even Lila had a peek inside. Which surprised me, as you'll see in this video...

My favourite thing

Time for some more photos of ME!  I realised that I hadn't told you about my favourite thing in the world yet, so thought I should put that right.

So what is it? It's a super cool fishing rod toy that Rachel made for us, and on the end of the boingy string is a bunch of blue feathers that looks like, well, it looks a bit like a budgie... It lives in the cupboard under the stairs and whenever Rachel or Pete go to open the cupboard door I can hear it from anywhere in the house (or garden) and RACE as fast as my paws will carry me to the living room.  Sometimes they are just getting the hoover out, or the shopping bags for the supermarket, but sometimes it's the budgie toy which means it's PLAYTIME!

  

I could play with the budgie foreeeever.  It's so fun.  It swoops through the air and I can do humungous jumps to try and catch it.  Sometimes my jumps are SO HUGE that I surprise myself and have to go hide under a chair for a minute to calm down (if I ask Rachel nicely she might show you some videos of me jumping around another day).  Even Lila joins in sometimes, and can do some pretty good leaps herself, when she's in the right mood.
And if I manage to catch the budgie? Well, I sit there and lick it to death.  GRRRRR!