I'm a bit tired of this PhD thingy ...

My human was already working on this PhD thingy when I moved in with her almost 3 1/2 years ago, but back then, I didn't imagine she'd still be doing it.

Take last night for example.  It was getting late, she'd finished with her clients, she'd had her tea, &, as far as I was concerned, that meant that it was snuggles with me time.

But no.  She seemed to have other plans.  She wanted to sit and do some PhD work on the sofa.  Well; I wasn't happy about that.  I wanted a cuddle.  It was my time.  She didn't seem to realise this though & got her books and iPad out.  I wasn't having it though.  It was my time.  My time to sit on her knee & have a cuddle.  My snuggle time ...

She gave up eventually.  Like any human, she accepted that the cat came first.  I knew what was right.  I wasn't going to give up.  She put the books down & I got my cuddle.

And then this morning.  She was up early & although she did give me a little bit of snuggle time.  It didn't last.

This is me just lying on her knee, contemplating the day ahead.  And wondering when she was going to throw me off so she could go and do some work.  It didn't take long.  I did enjoy the cuddle & contemplation whilst it lasted though ...

And then, sure enough; she got on the computer.  I obviously wasn't happy about that.  A day off work.  A day off clients.  That should mean my human spends the day playing & snuggling with me.

But no.  The PhD thingy took her attention.

I sat on her knee to keep her company whilst she worked on her computer.  And, to remind her that I was there.  To try to make her feel guilty for ignoring me.  But it didn't seem to work.  Even when I maneuvered myself to make sure I took up one of her arms ... I understand it's easier for you humans to type with two hands, rather than one?  I think my human should have been able to manage quite adequately with one hand.  It's got 4 fingers and a thumb, after all ... she wants to try typing with paws, like I have to do ...

She wasn't going to stop though.  Even when I did fall asleep & started snoring.  I was so cosy on her knee.  I went into such a lovely deep sleep, with lovely dreams of Dreamies cat-treats ...

And then ... the stupid postman pushed something through the letterbox.  Woke me up with such a fright.  Interrupted my lovely Dreamies filled dreams.  I jumped up off my humans knee.  I didn't know where I was.  I was still half asleep, as you can see ...

And even tonight, as I'm typing this with my furry little paws, my human is sitting reading yet more papers for the PhD thingy ...

I hope that when it's finished, she remembers she has a lot of making up to me to do ...

Someone's trying to steal my human ...

I'm a little bit worried this morning.

I think some other cat is trying to steal my human from me.

I just went outside into our back yard this morning, so I hadn't seen it myself.

My human went out early this morning & I went & sat on the back of our sofa in the counselling room. I looked out of the window ... & that's when I saw it.

A little ... well actually, it wasn't so little, it was impressively big ... mouse.

A whole range of emotions went through me ... 

"Wow!" I thought. "That's big for a little mouse."

But then I felt disappointed that I hadn't had the chance to play with such an impressive mouse.

And then I felt a little big angry that some other cat had had all of the fun.

And then, I felt very angry. 

Very angry because which ever other cat had played with it before killing it had brought it into my front garden.

At first I thought it had done it to goad me. To show off to me & try to tease me; showing me what it had caught.

But then ... my heart sank.

And I began to wonder if that other cat had left the mouse there not for me ... but for my human.

Had they left it there as a present for her? 

Us cats can't go to the shops like you humans do (we don't get money), so we bring you our own special presents to show you how much we love you.

Why would another cat be bringing my human presents? 

I don't think my human's been playing with other cats (other than the ones I already know about who live with other humans she knows), so that means that this other cat (whoever he or she may be) is trying to impress my human. There's some other evil cat out there trying to poach my human.  

I don't blame them really, because my human is lovely. And our home is a lovely home to live in. But we don't have room for another cat. I'm the cat in this home. 

And that's when I started worrying. What if my human is impressed by that mouse? What if she likes getting presents & wants to live with a cat who brings her lots of gifts?

I sat at that window, just looking at that mouse, with all of these thoughts going round & round inside my head.

And then my human came home.

And I realised I had nothing to worry about.

She wasn't impressed at all by that mouse! She looked a little bit sad when she saw it. And, a little bit disgusted.

And actually, it was quite funny to watch what she did with it.  

She used a little trowel to push it onto a shovel ... & the look of disgust & horror on her face was quite comical to watch. I don't think she enjoyed having to do it! And then she just dropped the mouse into a bag before just throwing it into the bin!

I did wonder if she did it like that because she was trying to hide it from me. Was she having an affair with another cat which she was trying to keep secret?! 

And I did worry about that for a few minutes.

But no; that look on her face & the way she cringed when she picked the mouse up told me very clearly that she wasn't impressed.

I must remember that & make sure I never bring any mice home. I haven't up until now. They keep getting away from me if I'm honest. But anyway, I don't need to look for mice to play with. I've got lots of toys which my human has bought for me. And they're good fun. And I get lovely dinners from my human so I don't need to bother chasing mice to eat. My tummy is always filled with much tastier things.

Have you ever tasted a mouse? No? I wouldn't bother. They're not that tasty.

I'm feeling a little bit better now. I know my human loves me & she doesn't want another cat.

But, I am going to have to keep an eye out & see who this other cat is who's trying to steal my human ...

They're not getting her; she's mine.

All mine.
And I'm keeping her for myself.
She's not for sale; no matter how many presents you bring for her.

So watch out other cat ... whoever you are.

Ok, so I couldn't resist ...

(You'll need to read my earlier entry to make sense of this one)


After all that, I couldn't keep my huff up for very long ... I just couldn't resist snuggling into my human's side & arm & having a cuddle.

I think I maybe got rid of all of my annoyed stuff when I wrote my earlier post. After writing that, all of the annoyance had gone. I guess my writing that post was what you humans might call a 'cathartic experience.'

I haven't forgotten what she did to me, but I have forgiven her. 

After all, I don't want to deprive myself of cuddles, do I?

I need you to know I'm not happy with you ...

This is me not speaking to my human.  Sitting at the bottom of our bed, as far away from her as I could get. And, with my back to her. That really tells you I'm in the huff.

I know that if I really wanted to show her how annoyed I was with her I should go in another room, but I'm not going to deprive myself of our nice cosy bed am I? I know I'm missing out on cuddles from her, but it's important to me that I show her my upset.

Don't tell her, but as soon as she goes to sleep I'll cuddle into her & everything will be fine!

I suspect you're wondering why I'm annoyed at her, aren't you? Let me tell you ...

Four or five times tonight (I lost count, so I can't be precise, but it definitely was one of those numbers) she left me sitting outside on the front windowsill. And twice, I got wet because it was raining.

When we were indoors together (she was annoying me then too because she was looking at them stupid PhD books & files again instead of cuddling me) I kept miaowing & asking her to open the back door for me ... which she kindly did do ... but then, after I'd ran around the block & got to the front door, she wasn't there to open it for me. And as I've already said, four or five times I was just left sitting outside on the front windowsill, until she could be bothered to get up & open the front door to let me in.

Each time she let me in ... & especially the two times I got wet ... I let her know I wasn't happy. I can miaow quite loudly when I'm annoyed.

She must have got the message, so why, each time I went out, did she keep me waiting?

And I have no idea why she seemed to be annoyed with me when I was miaowing for her to open the door for me  & I kept sitting on her books.

If she'd just get rid of those books & spend her time cuddling & playing with me, everything would be fine. I'd be happy then & I wouldn't need to keep disturbing her or wanting to go out. 

I'd be silly to disturb my own cuddles, wouldn't I ... ?!

I'm much more interesting ...

This is why my human struggles to get her thesis written up ...

I like sitting in front of her computer screens & on the bits of paper she's writing on. 

She's writing something called a 'methodology chapter' just now.  It's apparently about how she did her research.  I don't understand why it's taking her so long & why she needs to use so many words.  Surely all she needs to say is that she read some books & had a few chats with some other counsellors. 

I think she might have recorded those chats because I heard her listening back to them & writing down the words that they said.  Why she needed to write them down, I don't understand; seems like a waste of time to me.  And I know that because of confidentiality, no one else is meant to listen to those chats.  But I did.  But that's because I'm special.  I'm a cat and so confidentiality doesn't apply to me.

I suppose though I'd better move & let her get on with writing more words.  I think I'll sit with her though.  I'll sit in her counselling chair, just to remind her that I do exist.  I think she forgets sometimes when she gets sat on that computer with her research stuff.

I don't know how because I'm much more interesting aren't I?

  

Adventures in the sun ...

This is me just before I jumped from our wall into our neighbours' back yard.

My  human's wondering what I'm doing in there & hoping that I'm not getting up to mischief.

  ~ Tee hee, that's my secret; she'll never know ...

What she also doesn't know is that I'm making my way towards the tree ... see it in the background?

That's where the birds come to play.

And I'm going to play with them ...

Cuddles make me forget the bad stuff ...

Human ... I love cuddling into you.

And I've forgiven you for reacting so stupidly earlier to me being snuggled under the duvet. You humans just don't understand us cats sometimes.

And that annoys me. It irritates me. It even sometimes makes me feel angry.

But then ... we have times like we are right now, when I'm cuddling into you. 

And because those times are so lovely, I forget all about everything else ...

What's your problem ... ?

Yes human, I do know it's hot & sunny outside.

And yes human, you're right ... that bump under the duvet is me.

  ~ so what's your problem ... ?

Self harm & steak ...

Do you see the beginnings of my baldy tummy in this photo of me washing me myself?

That's from my human abandoning me for 2 days.

Every time she leaves me I get scared she's not going to come back for me ... & to comfort myself, I lick my tummy. 

It reminds me of how it feels when my human is with me & stroking me. But my tongue is nowhere near as nice as my human's hand. I miss her lots when she's away.

The only good thing about her being away, is when she comes home! I just love to see her! I purr loudly & just can't stop myself rubbing my face against her & following her wherever she goes. 

This is me cuddling into her tonight ...

Nothing makes me happier (okay, maybe treats do; but don't tell my human that!) than my human coming home after she's abandoned me.

I think she must have felt guilty this time, because she came home with steak for our tea. We've never had steak before, so she must have been feeling really guilty about abandoning me. She ate her share of it & then she left me my share ... you always save the best for last don't you?! So, she saved the best for me, because I got my bit last ... see how much she loves me? And how guilty she felt for abandoning me?

Just look at the big bit she left for me! 

This is me taking it all for myself.  I don't know if I was meant to, but it just looked and smelled too good to resist.  And it tasted even better.

My human must really love me. And must have missed me. And must have felt so guilty for abandoning me.

I've forgiven her ... as long as next time she does it I get steak again ...

Oops; that backfired ...

Me, stuck outside looking inside

My human's abandoned me. She went away yesterday morning & I haven't seen her since.

She does this sometimes. I don't know where she goes & I don't understand why she leaves me. I don't know why  she gives up our evening snuggles & her luxury of having me cuddle into her in bed. 

I had the whole bed to myself last night, which was nice ... but I'd rather have my human  in it with me. She keeps me warm. I was a little bit cold last night ...

I know when she's not coming home for bed because another human, who she calls "Dad," comes to give me my tea & open the door for me to go outside.

He came & gave me my tea last night. I don't mind when he comes because he gives me lots of treats ... lots more than my human gives me!! And he opened the door for me so I could go outside. He seems like a nice human ...

And then this morning (after I'd had a long, cold, lonely night), he came to give me my breakfast. I know that this was kind of him, but I couldn't help feeling sad & angry that he was there, instead of my human ... & so I bit him.

And then, he was kind enough to come back & open the door for me in the middle of the day, because it was such a lovely day. My human doesn't always does this, so I suppose I should have been nice to him for thinking of me. But I couldn't help myself biting him again! Lovely as he is, I always feel sad, angry & disappointed that he's not my human.

I was good mid day & didn't stay out long.

But then ... the Dad human came back later & gave me some tea. And opened the door for me again. It's still lovely outside & so I thought I'd stage a protest ...

Me sitting up high on the wall & refusing to come down

I'm not happy that my human has abandoned me. And I made sure that the Dad human knew that ...

I sat on the high wall that goes around our backyard & just sat still, looking at him as he called my name & shook my packet of treats at me. Yes; I know you're surprised, but even I can resist the call of Dreamies when I want to!

I could see him getting more & more anxious when I wouldn't come down. Ha ha!!

Then, he told me that he needed me to come in because he had to get home to take his cat Smudge (I'm glad I'm not called Smudge; Elsie is much prettier) to the vet because he's got a sore face.

Well, that made my mind up ... I've never met this Smudge cat, but if I could save him a trip to the vets, that's what I decided I should do.

And so I ran along the backyard wall & jumped up into a tree in one of our neighbours' yards ... & stayed there. I just  looked at the Dad human as he kept calling me, & stayed, sat up in my tree.

It seems to have backfired though.  He's gone. He's abandonded me too. He went in.

 I thought it was just another ploy, so I sat in the tree for a while longer (just to show him who's boss ... me!) & then went home.

But he really had left me. The door was shut tight. I'm locked out. Seems he loves the Smudge cat more than he does me.

I hope that he, or my human, come back soon ... I need to get in to use my litter tray ...

Wouldn't have happened if she'd gotten up sooner ...

Oops!!

I woke up nice and early this morning; the numbers on my human's clock said 05:38.  I don't really know what that means, because us cats aren't as obsessed with time as you humans seem to be.  We just listen to our bodies and to the sun.  

And at 05:38 this morning, it was a gorgeous sunny day outside & I wanted my human to open the door for me so I could go outside and enjoy the early morning sunshine.  I miaowed a lot & jumped on her, & rubbed my face against hers.  And it did wake her up ... it always does.  But she wouldn't get up.  I kept trying, but she just kept lying there.  And yes, she cuddled me & stroked me & we had a few snuggles, but she still wouldn't get out of bed.

This is my angry & fed-up face!!

So I gave up.

I went & sat on the windowsill in the living room & looked outside at the lovely early morning sunshine.  And felt really sad and sorry for myself.  I didn't want to be sitting inside looking outside.  I wanted to be outside in the sunshine.

My sadness and self-pity soon began to turn into anger & frustration through.  How dare my human deprive me of the fresh air and sunshine.  How dare she do that to me!  As my anger built up, I began to feel helpless too.  Helpless, because I couldn't open the door myself.  I can't work keys ...

As these feelings kept going round & round inside of me, I could feel my body filling with adrenaline.  I knew I had to get rid of it somehow, because it wasn't going to do me any good.  All of these negative hormones cause stress ... & I didn't want to end up stressed.

So I did what any cat would have done.  I had, what you human's stupidly call 'a mad half hour.'  I went racing round the flat, burning off all of my negative energy and feelings.  I raced through every room ... I knew my human could hear the thud, thud, thud of my little feet.  Have you humans noticed how, sometimes us cats can stalk through a house silently, & yet at other times (like this morning), we make a lot of noise & sound much bigger & heavier that we really are!?  We're clever, aren't we?!

Anyway, as I raced back into the living room, I ran along the sofa & I made a big jump from the little side table my human has there ... & ... crash!!  It fell over.  And everything fell off it.

I've never managed to knock the table over before!  But I guess that just shows how angry & frustrated I had felt with my human.  All of those feelings filled me so full of energy that I did that! To be honest with you, I got a bit of a fright!  But don't tell my human that.  I hadn't realised just how strong I could be when I was so very full of anger!  Don't worry about me though; I'm alright.  I didn't get hurt.  

It was good though, because my human got up then to see what I'd done.

 And I got to go out & sit in the sunshine ... relaxed & happy at last ...

Wishing you purry dreams ...

Night night everyone.

  

This is me snuggled into my human, peacefully dreaming, whilst she reads her book in bed.

I love these bedtime cuddles when my human is relaxed & sleepy at the end of the day. I don't understand why she's awake so much during the day ... seems like a lot of wasted sleeping time to me.

I just wish that she'd stay still though ... she has a nasty habit of waking me up right in the middle of a good dream when she reaches over to turn the light out.

I soon go back to sleep though.

                               Wishing you all purry feline dreams ...