Treacle's Tale
Ok, it's after midnight and I should have been in bed an hour ago, but instead I'm covered in cat hair and dyin' to tell you a story...
About 3 years ago I was adopted by a gorgeous little female cat who we later found out had been thrown out of her home across the street from us when her owners discovered she was pregnant. We named her Kitty, a la Monsters Inc.
She settled in our landing, on a nice warm radiator bed by the window, and then gradually entrusted us with the care of her two kittens, who we named Toffee & Treacle - for pretty obvious coulouring reasons!
Kitty was a sweetheart. A real house-cat, and although she regularly sneaked into the livingroom to stare out my cockatiel, she never once mounted an attack. Much to the relief of my bird!
Her kittens however, being that they were born feral, weren't so sure about the whole being indoors thing.
Toffee soon adjusted, and started to enjoy both the heat and the attention. But Treacle remained very wary and prefered to sleep outside in the kennel.
We lost Kitty to some idiot joyrider speeding down our street about 2 years ago. Then Toffee vanished the following December without trace. I still believe he found himself a good home elsewhere.
By this time Sylvestor had appeared on the scene and had taken over the house and the puppy babysitting duties. (I wont go into her story again as it's still kinda raw, but you can read the previous post here if you wish.) Treacle, as always, was still freaking out at even the thought of the backdoor closing him inside.
Four days after Syl was lost, our 16 year old dog, Sam, passed away. We were devistated, and our little puppy, Tyson, was distrought. He was all alone for the first night of his life. His best friend Syl and his uncle Sam had left him. He just lay beside his bed and cried.
I couldn't sleep, so I was periodically going downstairs to check on him. He was still crying each time.
At about 3am I noticed Treacle was sitting on our backdoor step. I opened the door to let him in from the cold for a while. It was freezing outside, but as always I left the door open so he wouldnt feel trapped and bolt straight out again. I left the two of them in the kitchen for a couple of minutes while I went to find some warmer clothes, and when I returned found the two of them snuggled up on Tysons blanket, sleeping.
I quietly closed the backdoor, and that was the first night Treacle ever spent inside.
That was December. He has spent every night since then, inside...and most days too! You would never believe that the cat we have snoozing in the conservatory, and running riot chasing Tyson from room to room is the same feral cat that only a few months back was afraid to eat his dinner indoors without an escape hatch and emergency exit route planned well in advance.
And tonight, for the first time, ever...he purred.
He purred! I almost cried. I guess he never really had anything to purr about before. But tonight as I was about to go upstairs to bed, he padded in and started rubbing himself all over me. As I started to scratch him he got closer and closer, even started rolling on the floor beside me to have his belly tickled! He was almost sitting on my knee at one point...almost - but I guess that'll be the next step for him!
I was just amazed. He has changed so much in such a small space of time. Now he's just a big fluffy lump of a spoiled cat...who has finally found his reason to purr =)
*click for full image*
Treacle vs The Toy Mouse:
About 3 years ago I was adopted by a gorgeous little female cat who we later found out had been thrown out of her home across the street from us when her owners discovered she was pregnant. We named her Kitty, a la Monsters Inc.
She settled in our landing, on a nice warm radiator bed by the window, and then gradually entrusted us with the care of her two kittens, who we named Toffee & Treacle - for pretty obvious coulouring reasons!
Kitty was a sweetheart. A real house-cat, and although she regularly sneaked into the livingroom to stare out my cockatiel, she never once mounted an attack. Much to the relief of my bird!
Her kittens however, being that they were born feral, weren't so sure about the whole being indoors thing.
Toffee soon adjusted, and started to enjoy both the heat and the attention. But Treacle remained very wary and prefered to sleep outside in the kennel.
We lost Kitty to some idiot joyrider speeding down our street about 2 years ago. Then Toffee vanished the following December without trace. I still believe he found himself a good home elsewhere.
By this time Sylvestor had appeared on the scene and had taken over the house and the puppy babysitting duties. (I wont go into her story again as it's still kinda raw, but you can read the previous post here if you wish.) Treacle, as always, was still freaking out at even the thought of the backdoor closing him inside.
Four days after Syl was lost, our 16 year old dog, Sam, passed away. We were devistated, and our little puppy, Tyson, was distrought. He was all alone for the first night of his life. His best friend Syl and his uncle Sam had left him. He just lay beside his bed and cried.
I couldn't sleep, so I was periodically going downstairs to check on him. He was still crying each time.
At about 3am I noticed Treacle was sitting on our backdoor step. I opened the door to let him in from the cold for a while. It was freezing outside, but as always I left the door open so he wouldnt feel trapped and bolt straight out again. I left the two of them in the kitchen for a couple of minutes while I went to find some warmer clothes, and when I returned found the two of them snuggled up on Tysons blanket, sleeping.
I quietly closed the backdoor, and that was the first night Treacle ever spent inside.
That was December. He has spent every night since then, inside...and most days too! You would never believe that the cat we have snoozing in the conservatory, and running riot chasing Tyson from room to room is the same feral cat that only a few months back was afraid to eat his dinner indoors without an escape hatch and emergency exit route planned well in advance.
And tonight, for the first time, ever...he purred.
He purred! I almost cried. I guess he never really had anything to purr about before. But tonight as I was about to go upstairs to bed, he padded in and started rubbing himself all over me. As I started to scratch him he got closer and closer, even started rolling on the floor beside me to have his belly tickled! He was almost sitting on my knee at one point...almost - but I guess that'll be the next step for him!
I was just amazed. He has changed so much in such a small space of time. Now he's just a big fluffy lump of a spoiled cat...who has finally found his reason to purr =)
*click for full image*
Treacle vs The Toy Mouse:
6 comments:
I am SO happy for you! I bet it was a wonderful feeling, that moment that he purred!!! That is amazing, for a feral cat. Any, one of my kitties looks EXACTLY like the butterscotch colored cat, Toffee!
Lmao moro - dont joke, my other half's aunt has like 30 something cats! We're actually kitty-sitting for her this weekend while she goes on holiday!
Whenever Kitty and Toffee were still around, the 3 of them used to tag along whenever my dad took Sam and Ty out for walkies...complete with our nextdoor neighbours big old black lab, Jeff, tailing along behind =D
lol ...nah, if you have even one cat, I guess it's never your turf lol
Yeh, she just keeps taking in the strays...and of course their respective kittens until she can get them spayed. She has no kids, and is disabled with arthritis so she's able to be home all day to look after them. It's a great place for them. She lives in a nice big house out in the country side, so they've all got lots of room to avoid each other lol
i'm not really a cat fan :-/
but still, lovin' the pics chick
Aaaaw! Thanks for sharing. Yet more proof that animals are much smarter than we think. Even when good people are hard to find, you can always find good cats :)
So sorry to hear about the sad things that happened to your other pets! :( It's like losing a member of the family, really--they add so much joy and personality to our lives.
I'm a major kitty lover--I only have two right now, but I have a third who stayed at my parents' with his two brothers. His name is PJ and he's all black and is the sweetest thing, though he's scared to death of nearly everyone but me and my dad. Moving once nearly killed him, so I couldn't do that to him again. Treacle reminds me of him.
He's adorable!!
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