Cat Lookalike Part II

I told you I'd be back with a lookalike for Mia. It took me a while, but when I realised who (or rather what) she looks like, I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before! The big round eyes, the tufty ears, it all points to another member of the animal kingdom...

 
 

Yes, a European eagle owl (or should that be, an European eagle owl?), Latin name Bubo bubo - the world's largest owl, apparently. I think the reason I didn't think of it before was that our little Mia has nothing in common with an owl. Let's look at the facts:

1. An owl flies silently through the night; Mia thumps up and down the stairs like a herd of wildebeest.

2. Eagle owls stalk and hunt their prey (up to the size of a small deer!); Mia can just about successfully pounce on a spider meandering lazily along the skirting board.

3. Owls often swallow their prey whole; Mia struggles if her dinner isn't mashed up enough before it's placed in front of her.

4. An eagle owl has a territory of up to 10km in diameter; some days Mia doesn't set paw outside the catflap.

5. This type of owl nests in a rocky crevice on a cliff edge; sometimes Mia finds the sofa too hard and has to retire upstairs to the 13 tog goose down duvet on Rachel & Pete's bed. It's a tough life...

On the plus side, she doesn't have the razor sharp talons and nasty beak of an owl, nor the aggressive tendencies, and she doesn't do that weird Exorcist thing and spin her head around 360 degrees. So all in all, I think I'd much prefer to snuggle up with her on a cold night than even the fluffiest, most well behaved little Pygmy owl.

(Don't tell her that I said that, though, I like to maintain my aloof exterior where Mia's concerned...)

Cat Lookalike Part I

Hello there, how the devil are you?  We're pretty good here.  It seems like perhaps, just perhaps, the days are starting to get a bit longer.  Our cat flap only opens when it's light, and you know what - it's definitely opening a little earlier, and staying open later, than it used to.  Hopefully it won't be too long until it's open before Rachel and Pete get up in the morning - I like to do a quick reconnaissance around the garden before they wake up, just to make sure everything's shipshape.  Once we're able to go out during the evenings, I'll get Rachel and Pete to take some photos of us in the garden.  In the meantime...
We were looking through some photos from December and found one of me half-asleep on Rachel's lap, and I realised, classic lookalike for a famous Star Wars character I am... What do you think?!

Unfortunately, as I was looking for a decent photo for my photoshop mockup, I discovered that there are actually quite a lot of cats out there that resemble Yoda, and I have to admit, some of them do look more like him than I do.  Who'd have thought it?!  Looks like I need another lookalike.  And I think I should find one for Mia too - hopefully I'll get back to you later in the week on that.  Any ideas?

Mitten Kittens

Looky here!  I've got babies!  This one is Fluffy, and this other one is Bob.  You can tell them apart because Bob is a bit more grey than Fluffy.  They first appeared just before Christmas - I found them on the shoe rack near the front door, right in a cold draught!  Poor things.  I thought that Lila should really have taken charge of them, seeing as she's had at least one litter of her own, but she didn't care about them AT ALL!  So it has fallen to me to look after them *sigh*.

Rachel is very helpful and looks after them during the day, and when she gets home after work she leaves them somewhere for me to take over - sometimes I find them in her handbag, sometimes in her coat pocket, sometimes on the sofa.  Once I've found them I gently pick them up in my mouth and take them one at a time to a safe corner.  Then I guard them and make sure they are happy and warm.  Sometimes I have to move them if Lila comes over and makes fun of me.
It's hard work, but somebody's got to do it.  I dread to think what would happen to little Fluffy and Bob if I wasn't here, they are so small and helpless!  Right must go, I think they need grooming. A mother's work is never done!

Mew Year's Resolutions

Hi all, Lila here. I hope that you've recovered from all the festivities and have settled back into the drudgery of the daily grind...
We are back at home now after our 3 out of 5 star stay at the "luxury cat hotel" (luxury my furry butt - more like Pawlty Towers). We were looked after well enough, I suppose, but we were out in the country somewhat ("rural retreat" it said on TripAdvisor...) and the whole place stank of manure. We were so disgusted with the stench that we eventually resorted to tipping over our waterbowl onto our blankets, so they had to be washed. Mmm - at last we could get some relief by burying our noses in the sweet scent of Lenor!  It was a good tactic, but unfortunately the day we did it turned out to be the day we were picked up, so probably not really worth the wet paws.
Rachel made a fuss of us when we got home, calling us "my little ponies"... by yesterday she declared we were smelling more like rabbits, and today she says we are back to normal again according to her nostrils at least. Phew. They say the coffers are empty now so none of us will be going on holiday again for a while, hurrah!
Anyway, since it's now 2011, we've been thinking about our New Year's Resolutions. Mia's is to cut out dairy completely from her diet, she says it makes her feel bloated (but I know she just ate too much Whiskas at the hotel...).

Mine is to be a bit more helpful to Rachel and Pete around the house. I'm starting off small - getting acquainted with the dustbuster.

Next, maybe I'll figure out how to stack the dishwasher. Have you made any resolutions this year?
PS - apparently our cat video made it onto a Guardian blog!  We're true middle-class liberal kitties now!

Off for some R&R

Yo, Mia here.  Just to let you know, we are off on holiday today!

Well, Rachel and Pete are off skiing, whatever that is, and we are going to the finest cat hotel in all of the county.  I think we have got the better end of the deal, as apparently there's loads of snow where they are going, and I've just about had enough of that cold white stuff.  Why would they want more of it?  We've had enough this winter to last a lifetime!
Our "deluxe" room at the hotel wil be lovely and warm, and we've chosen some of our best toys to take with us and a couple of blankets to remind us of home.  Lila says they're for me really, as I'm only a baby, and will probably cry when we first get there, but I know she'll miss the humans too, even if just for their warm cosy laps.  Rachel says we must behave, and not playfight while we're there, as we'll disturb the other guests.  So that's a bit rubbish.  But, she did say that we would probably get some special food that she won't give us at home, so we had better try and do some exercise, or we'll get all roly poly...
So anyway, we will be back online in about a week or so (really, how deluxe is this hotel, if it doesn't have free wifi?!).  Rachel says the Mog's Togs shops are shut until the 9th January, as she won't be able to post any collars while she's whizzing down the slopes, but there is something to look forward to when she gets back - she's ordered some exciting new ribbons for the 2011 Mog's Togs Ready To Wear Spring Collection - tres chic!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Ho Ho Ho!  Lila here.  I do hope you've all had a lovely time over Christmas and are looking forward to 2011.  Our Christmas was a bit mixed...
First of all we had a Christmas dinner at home with Rachel & Pete's friends, it was loads of fun!  Unfortunately we had to have the smelly allergy stuff rubbed on our fur, but it was worth it, as some of our favourite people were there, including Oli - you can see him in the picture below with Mia.  As you can see, we were a little inconvenienced by the festivities - see the wine rack in the background?  Well it's not actually a rack - it's our scratching post!  How cheeky!  But we did get to eat the turkey giblets which was a fantastic treat. Nom nom.

After all this fun - can you believe it - Rachel & Pete left us in the house to fend for ourselves for a couple of days!  Sure, the Christmas tree lights came on every evening to keep us company, and the funny whirring food dish kept us from starving, but really!  Now obviously I was livid, but even Mia was most unimpressed by this turn of events... see her doing her best cross face:

But eventually they came home!  I knew it wasn't for long though - so although Mia was happy to see them, I gave them the cold shoulder and stalked off whenever they tried to stroke me.  Hmph.  They did bring us some presents though, which smelled fantastic; it took all my strength to resist the catnippy goodness and maintain my aloof behaviour.
Anyway, as expected, after a few hours Rachel and Pete went away again, and once again we were on our own.  They did at least fill the food up again, so we were fine, I guess.  By the time they came back again, I had decided to forgive them for being so mean, and so we had a nice cuddly evening on the sofa.

It's nice having them around all day.  But I do hope they go back to work soon - it's hard to relax completely knowing you could be disturbed by a tickle at any time...
PS - Rachel says to let you know that the Christmas and winter collars are all half price in the Mog's Togs shops - and you can get them posted to you for just 75p!  For such a bargain price, you too could look as good as us!

How (not) to wrap a cat for Christmas

Hmmmm, OK, we don't really know what this was all about, but it was quite fun. Rachel said that we'd be like some kitty on the internet or something, and then she tried to wrap Mia up ...! Personally I think just putting her in a pretty gift box would have been easier, but what do I know?!