Introducing Amy Farrah Meowler

It's been three weeks since we took guardianship of our feline friend. As you might recall from the 'Soft kitty, which kitty?' post earlier in the month - which I typed just before we were about to visit the Assisi animal sanctuary (Northern Ireland's largest independent animal welfare charity). In that post I suspected we'd be matched with a cat who was a bit older - but I was wrong. The cat best suitable was a three month old kitten however this wasn't any trouble as we had time to prepare. Assisi were very good by the way, they do a great job and if you live in this neck of the woods and are ever looking for a pet to re-home, I'd recommend checking them out.

It was ever so surreal during the journey to bring her home. All the cats I've known, from family pets to other peoples', have always freaked out in cars. Amy didn't seem to care, I put my hand into her carrier and she nestled up against it and as I stroked her she purred herself to sleep. Given the situation, she was surprisingly calm. More recently we had to take her on the bus to the vet for her second injections and apart from a little scared, she was fine then too. She is certainly a resilient wee animal.

The story of how she came to be in the animal shelter was a sad one, someone getting a cat for all the wrong reasons and mistreating her before finally wanting rid. Thankfully she seems very happy in her new home with us. Our common ancestor, something like - Maelestes gobiensis (a shrew like creature) - would have been proud to see a couple of it's branches of evolution were getting on so well more than 70 million years later.
Well it would if it had a human brain and could use it for more than just evading being eaten by a dinosaur.

Like the reactions to travelling, Amy's initial reaction to the house was out of the blue - but again in a nice way. We had prepared our expectations for the worst but she took to the place like a fish to water. First she wandered around the rooms claiming them all as hers with a quick rub here and there. Within a matter of 20 minutes she was showing us her fancy footwork playing with her toys.

On the form at the animal sanctuary we'd answered the question about length of time willing to allow for the animal to settle in as 'As long as it takes', it turns out 'As long as it takes' in this kitten’s case was shorter than the time it took us to drink a cup of tea whilst keeping an eye on her. It was great to see her playful side, somewhat ninja like at times!

Saying that, when she's being very playful she has had a few 'You've been framed' moments already. The speed she can pick up running around the house chasing her toys and screwed up paper balls sometimes has to be seen to be believed. At a guess - like all kittens, she also has her 'meaner' side. This Youtube video below had us almost in tears laughing - especially the part where he dons the overmits - it's a song entitled 'mean little kitty' by Cory Williams and is about his pet kitten named Sparta. He certainly experienced a kitten like our own and loves it just the same! after all they're just being kittens even if you are a human chew toy.

We didn't name our kitten after a city state famous for it's military superiority though, we called her Amy Farrah Meowler - named after a character called Dr Amy Farrah Fowler from the very funny US TV show 'The Big Bang Theory'. The name 'Amy Farrah Fowler' basically has the meaning: Beloved Joyful Birdcatcher. Though she is an house cat and won't be catching any birds unless they fly into the house, she is instead a 'Meow-ler. Saying that she doesn't meow often, only when she wants something and it doesn't look like it’s forthcoming. The good news is she's already begun to respond to 'Amy', I'm reliably informed that names ending in 'Y' and 'ie' are easiest for cats to learn.

As far as personality goes, she is like her namesake, a clever one! Where most cats I've known would be timid, Amy see’s only more opportunities to play. And when she's being mischievous, she knows just what to do. I'm sure at times the look in her eye is one that says "you think you’re using kitten psychological behavioural modification techniques on me! Nuh Uh! Muwhahaha, I shall reverse condition you back my human!". I wouldn't be surprised if one day to get away with something she put on the Super Mario theme tune for me and cooked spaghetti with hot dogs cut up for Norngirl.

Her playfulness, though boisterous at times is often very instinctive but ever increasingly adaptive. At the moment, to hunt a ball of paper, she'll first gather intelligence:

Then leap out at her target it least suspects it, before chasing it around the room and carrying it back in her mouth to somewhere she can lay down and toy with it. If you use more than one ball, she'll do the same for each and line them up together like they're mice. She's also very stealthy. If she wants to sneak up on you she will.

If a human is stood up and doesn't want to play there is a 2 second window to call her bluff, tell her 'No Amy' and move on without hesitation. If not done within that 2 seconds she'll proceed to play chicken with you. She's a master strategist at this game - well except the one time she got ahead of herself and did a back flip in some sort of confused strategic retreat, bless. Her pouncing at feet is her current specialty, only to be outdone by her first mini-beast kill when overnight she left a very large house spider curled up dead in the middle of the floor. Norngirl was very pleased with her for this mind you as she doesn't like spiders. Amy for the next couple of days became known as Amy 'Spider killer' Farrah Meowler.

Luckily the playful and sometimes 'mean kitty' moments are almost always followed by the amazingly cute - sleepy kitty moments.

Like a light going out, after a good couple of hours of play time she'll regularly jump into her spot on the sofa where she'll just curl up & drop fast asleep. Most of the time though her routine is to go from manic playful to affectionate, you give her a stroke, she grooms herself for a minute then the light switch moment as she curls up into a ball or stretches out on her back and turns herself off for a couple of hours. It's very cute and it was like that from day one. Within just a mere matter of hours of being in the house with us she'd found a spot of her own on the sofa and was asleep slap bang in the middle of us!
We were expecting to have to coax her out from hiding places but nope, it was like she'd always lived here with us. Can't blame her, she'd found herself a home and was going to enjoy it damnit! Good girl yourself Amy lass.

Her daily routine so far is to be all purry, cute and out for affection first thing in a morning before being fed, once she's had her fill of breakfast it's then play time.
She will run about the house in a mad half hour before settling down in her room on top of some draws where she has the best vantage point out of the window to watch us head to work. What she does other than make a mess during the day we're not sure though given her fondness of technology she might be a 'Stewie' of Family Guy fame like creature, plotting her quest for global dominion.

We leave classic FM on low on the radio for her for some company, she seems to like it, or at least doesn't mind. If anyone has any better suggestions for cat radio, do let me know!

On an early evening, again after food and a mad half hour, her favourite place to spend some human interaction time is on Norngirl. AFM quickly adopted Norngirl as a motherly figure (Like Amy Farrah Fowler took to Penny as her 'bestie') and will spend lots of time as close to Norngirls head as possible, usually preening and often trying to lick Norngirl's skin too. It's cute but having seen where the cats' tounge has been, Norngirl wisely opts for the human form of washing.

At this point it's back to play which is when we normally play with her the most. It's can be quite a work out for us as well as the cat, she soon learns patterns when you're playing with her so it's a challenge to be random enough to keep her interested in the toy and not your feet.

Though she plays with the bought toys during the day, her favourite things to play with (apart from our hands and feet) are of course the packaging those toys came in. What else! She loves rustling brown paper, cardboard boxes and anything paper based that is scrunched up into a ball.

Food wise, she's quite picky, the vet (probably trying to sell the stuff) recommended dry food only but (on advice of more independent books we've read) we feed her 2 high protein (kitten specific) wet meals a day and access to dry food the rest. She likes strong flavours and smells, seemingly the stinkier the better, but only eats small quantities at any one sitting. If anyone can give us some better scientific advice, please do, the internet seems more divided on this topic than the extremes of the Northern Irish Assembly on the subject of national identity.

Then, as I mentioned already, comes the usual stuttering of the motor as she runs out of fuel. She enjoys some pampering and some self grooming before falling asleep on one of us or in between us. Later on around midnight we set up her room and fill her cat hot water bottle with some warm water and put her to bed. Her bed being a cat bed but placed on an office chair as the first night when she had a choice of the two she slept on the chair itself.

So yep, so far so good, she now has her routine and we've got used to the change in ours. At her check up she was in pristine health and growing purrrfectly.

Looking at my hands right now, like Norngirl's too, they've taken plenty of collateral damage these last few weeks, but it's been worth it. We've also learnt the advantages of using a blanket when she's showing her kittytude and it's certainly helped, as did clipping her claws. All being well, she'll grow from being an awesome energetic little kitten to be a big friendly clever cat. That’s the theory anyway!

Soft kitty, which kitty?

Today, we're going to an animal sanctuary to choose a feline to live with us for what could potentially be the next 20 years. I'm not so secretly hoping the cat chooses us! It's not like you can interview for the position of house cat or can you?

Our landlord has kindly allowed us to keep a feline & Norngirl has bought all we need (except food and cat litter which we're waiting to get once we know what the cat we get is used to). It was a lovely surprise sprung on me at Christmas by Norngirl who had plotted to make my hopes of one day keeping a pet cat a reality.

I grew up with cats around me and I think they're one of the most majestic creatures on the planet. The independence and self sufficiency of a wildcat entwined with the calmer nature of a domesticated animal is as brilliant a combination for a pet as I think you can get.

Though I guess how great a pet is all depends on why you want to look after it...
It's an odd one, in human history pets are really just a strange result of our historical dependency on domesticating animals to help us. Though these days, around this part of the world, you still get the likes of guide dogs, sniffer dogs and the odd foodstuff guarding-rodent catching cat, keeping such animals has spiraled away from their working past because we no longer need them to help with the tasks they were originally kept for. They now add to our own life experience by their very presence and companionship. Even keeping goldfish had a calming influence so it’s probably not a shocker to want to look after an animal that responds to being stroked with a soothing purr, is soft and warm, can be playful and carefree but also affectionate and sociable. And yes, sure there is the smelly cat litter, the damaged furniture, the random medical conditions, the life span that will see you out live your cat… but those things pale in comparison to the positives a pet can bring. Not to mention the extra responsibility which might be a well needed kick in the right direction.

So the big question I have is how do you pick a cat over another? You can't ask them if they'd like to live in your house so I guess you have to hope you can earn their trust. Thankfully it sounds like we’re going to get a little help in finding the right feline friend. I’m told that at the shelter they ask you to answer lots of questions so they can try and pair your household up with an animal suitable for your situation. My best guess is we’ll adopt a house cat, short haired, older than a year old and hopefully friendly. Even if we do find the perfect kitty this weekend, we'll not be bringing it home until the weekend after but it’s still all very exciting!

RIP Kelly the Cat

It's with much regret that I have to inform you all of the passing of one of the worlds most awesome animals. A week before we were due to visit my dad back in my native land of Yorkshire, Kelly the cat had gone missing and sadly when found, it wasn't good news.

It was just weeks before we were due to visit sunny Yorkshire that he was still gathering mice for the new Kittens my dad had taken in, but he had also been getting a bit bigger and a bit slower - as all cats seem to do when they get a bit older - so it wasn't totally a shock when he did go missing. We went searching for him when we were over, checking up at the house he'd spent a week at before when he was being fed by two families simultaneously - the sneaky beast - but sadly we couldn't find him. We put up posters in local shops but kind of expected the worst, so it wasn't a big shock when his remains eventually showed up under a dividing bush between two houses across the road. The neighbour found his remains by the power of smell as you can imagine. Apparently the spot was next to one of his sun bathing areas and so by all accounts he likely curled up in a ball and never woke up, nothing seemed untoward at least, so it seems like natural causes. The best way out we can all hope for really, so that was a comfort.

That's the morbid bit over, so why was Kelly the Cat so awesome?

Well, first of all, he started life under the guise of a girl. We don't go rummaging around down there on our animals and we'd been told he was a she. I guess it's a tricky thing to know when the said feline has long fur. It wasn't long before a vet found the mistake, it's hard to be spay a cat that has no ovaries. Oops.

Thankfully, the name Kelly (as Kelly of the Stereophonics will attest) can be used for either gender without much bother so it was kept as initially intended - named after Leeds United legend and Republic of Ireland international footballer - Gary Kelly.

As far as cats go he wasn't one with a huge attention span, he was quite the live wire. We got him during my first year at high school and many a time I would be walking home from school and he'd meet me at the top of the road and walk all the way along side me back to the house, getting as far off the ground as he could whilst doing so by tight rope walking on walls, fences and gates, eager for some food and attention.

He tortured a fair few smaller creatures in his time, especially mice, but he also took on bigger competition. At least one time that we know of (which was witnessed) he had a face off for territory in the back garden with a fox twice his size. and won. Thankfully both animals survived the encounter though Kelly the Cat did come out of it with a cut or two. Similar cuts appeared once or twice over the years so he probably had other run ins with local wildlife too but we'll never really know.

Unlike the local wildlife though, his known run ins with humans was the exact opposite, well except my cousins leg but to be fair Kelly was given good reason to retaliate after being nudged out of the way so often with a foot. At home he always seemed strangely responsive to emotion, if you were feeling down he'd be over to sit on your lap and offer a purr. Strangely when my dad was going around the neighbours and the local area, the people he spoke to all knew who Kelly was, enjoyed him visiting their gardens and knew where his favourite spots were for prowling and lazing around.

Normally you find some people who despise cats in their garden but it seems either my dad lives near to people who are all just uber polite or who really liked having 'The Old Man' around since he seemed to use his own back yard as his main toilet spot, as it should be really.

And as he had been fertilising the garden for years, so it is he'll be fertilising the garden for even more because his burial was by the cherry tree in the garden.

An awesome cat and my best bud for many a year. I'll remember Kels as a crazy but kind nutter butter of a domestic tiger, he really was one of the family.

We're just hoping since they got to spend some time together that a little of Kelly rubbed off on the latest additions to my dads house, Nelix and Kes:

Nelix

Kes

Like their Star Trek namesakes, Nelix found himself branching out when he got stuck in the tree on one of his first adventures out and Kes has already tried flying the nest.

Kes even managed to leave the house one night and the only way out was a very partially opened 2nd story window. Thankfully both survived and will hopefully grow up to become awesome cats like Kelly.

Highlights of a long weekend in England

Last Friday, Norn Girl and I took to the sky, final destination, Yorkshire. This was the first time I'd been over to visit since my Stag Do and the first time we'd seen most folks there since the day after the wedding. Here are the highlights of our little trip:

Making a snow Bunny in a bush.

Discovering the recently revealed refurbishment at Belfast City Airport though the new bigger bar was about the only plus.

An anticlockwise random tour of some of Lancashire's and Yorkshire's train stations – rolling from Manchester to Sheffield, Sheffield to Wakefield, Wakefield to Leeds and Leeds to Manchester.

Petting the kittehs even though they were well on their way to killing my wife due to her allergies.

Taking in another Leeds game at Elland Road in League One as Leeds took on Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

Watching some of the curling and getting my dad and Norn Girl glued to it even though my dad stayed up past midnight for the first time in years only to see the USA beat the UK after playing the most negative tactics in a game of curling I've ever seen. Thankfully the men's team brought back the pride as they beat the USA the next day. Also watching the Ski cross... what a sport!

Waking up to a winter wonderland and watching Kelly the cat try to negotiate it.

Making a punk snowman on my sisters car bonnet because she left us waiting on her getting ready just that little too long. That long in fact that we had time to make our snowy friend with his Mohawk.

Being in the audience for another gripping instalment of Hans the German & Evil Naked Man. A 2 ½ year saga direct from the imagination of a now 9 year old.

Being hit in the forehead with paper aeroplanes and sending them on return journey's back to the cranium's of their senders.

Noming some home-made Chocolate Biscuit pudding.

Trying bubble tea for the first time - Yorkshire style with a hint of Ireland thrown in for good measure – A mixture of Yorkshire tea, condensed milk, Tapioca and sugar.

A ride on the Manchester Big Wheel.

Flying home with a lovely sunset. A sunset which even turned the clouds to the east of us looking back over a snowy County Down, a nice hint of pinky red. If only the windows of the plane had been a little clearer.

Bits of Belfast - Part 2

I stumbled to the supermarket after what proved a mind sapping day at work and found myself a dinner for one. I’m not used to this making something for one malarkey anymore. Thankfully it’s only a temporary situation, for tonight was another night for the girls of the wedding party to get together to discuss and plan plot for the wedding.

On my path from the tills to my sofa and with my bag of goodies for nom’s in hand (3 slices of beef, 1 still warm bread roll, a pack of cherry tomatoes, a tin of Sweetcorn, a litre of milk, a bag of frozen peas and the most important thing of all – a chocolate bar) I happened to stumble across a furry friend who made my day. A friendly tabby who just wanted some attention and revelled in a free head massage. I should probably state in clear cut terms that it was a cat. I’m not wandering the streets stroking just anything!

I dunno what it is about cats but when one has a friendly nature I find them one of the most wonderful creatures to be around. I was brought up with other members of the kitteh persuasion and I miss not being able to have a kitteh around the place. Landlords just don’t appreciate that the kitteh is a clean creature who usually head to take a leak in other peoples gardens and often burry their number 2’s - unlike the random drunk dude who once arrived at our door in the early hours of the morning banging on the door after giving a golden shower to our path.

Sure, I could have gone all out and used the kitteh family name; Felidae, but kitteh has a ring to it, and like most LOLspeak its worryingly addictive. Oh hai! I haz nom’s now plez? The answer being, hadz noms but wud needz halps to getz thru. The giant maize, beef and tomato sandwiches were great though!

icanhascheezburger.com has a lot to answer for but it sure is a nice realise. Norn Girl forwarded me this one recently that made me make a noise I’m finding hard to describe. It was along the lines of a scoff, a grunt, a hiccup and a laugh:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

To tie this little furry story all together, in the absence of my fair maiden to wedding planning, I have done my bit! Focusing on the wedding vows, just as an option, I'll be putting forward LOL Speak Wedding vows.