Cat Companions

My two girls are the most important things in my life (yes, even more important than food!). I thought I'd take a cue from Susan and devote some space in this recipe blog to my long term companions.

Lucie (actually, it's Lucie Moglet Carlos MacAllister the Kitten Cat and her Sunshine Band Rodziewicz Drew)

My flatmate found Lucie in the gutter of a main street when she was about 4 weeks old - eyes just opened, unable to walk, didn't know how to go to the toilet...I fed her with an eyedropper and rubbed her tummy and helped her go to the loo (the first time...yeah, right down my front because I was holding her at the time. Ick.) She's been with me for 15 years now, and is still feisty enough that after our most recent house move she scaled a sheer 8 foot tall fence and wandered off across the neighbouring houses into the distance. She came calmly back in response to food, but frankly, she's far too capable of exploration for a cat of her age, and enjoys torturing me with this fact!!

I have two cats, and I really shouldn't have favourites....but Lucie's my favourite. She's my baby girl.





Paw Extreme Closeup!!


The other feline in my life is Squeak (just Squeak), who followed me home one night after I had given her scritches when she was sitting outside a theatre in Katoomba. I think she had been treated quite badly before she found me, because she was a very skittish kitten who would soil herself at loud sounds, and needed constant attention.

She still needs constant attention, and has the loudest purr of any cat I have ever encountered, and she loves people and people love her.

She's a little...well, I joke that she has one brain cell, which isn't very nice, but she is very very sweet and she loves nothing more than to sit on your lap and stare fixedly at you with great love and purr in a very concentrated manner. I do love her dearly, and I feel bad when I pay too much attention to Lucie and not enough to Squeak. But she does get lots of attention from visitors!

She's lovely, but doesn't photograph very well - in fact she photographs as if she were the spawn of Satan. But here are some shots where she looks a little more beatific...ish.



Unfortunately, these girls really don't like each other. I introduced Squeak when Lucie was five years old, and it's just been a warzone since then. As they're both entering senior life (yeah, right - did I mention that Lucie climbed one of the trees in my backyard three days ago?), they're able to at least sit near each other without too much fighting and scratching. And on those rare occasions where they're within two metres of each other, I feel overwhelmed by the need to take photos.

Winter is conducive to being friendly, when there's only one concentrated source of heat.

And they often sit on the arms of armchairs or the couch, when I'm in between them as a buffer. Or where there's sun and neither of them are willing to give up the warm spot.

And those are my girls. Without them my life would be much poorer, and I think that having them as my companions definitely put me on my path to veganism. But mostly, I am utterly grateful for their having chosen to spend their lives with me, and I hope I've made their lives as happy as they've made mine.