Because I have owned the bigger of the cats for well over a decade now I am hip to his nefarious ways. Thus the moment I heard his strangled ‘burwop’ yesterday I reacted with cat-like reflexes of my own and slammed the office door shut. Moments later he appeared at the glass with a rather large rat dangling from his maw.
‘Go away!” I shrieked I said calmly.
And after a withering look he did, tossing the dead rat onto the patio and removing himself to the neighbours who I am sure he feels appreciate him more. I tried to ignore the corpse, but it kept laying there, so armed with a dust pan and brush I went out and deposited said rodent into the pink leaves bin and returned to my desk. TBOFC then returned from his wanderings, removed it again and left it outside the garage door when I almost trod on it when I went to feed the cats later.
The paramour and I looked down upon the dead rat.
‘Take a picture,’ I said. But alas it was too dark for the old iphone to capture raticuss deathicuss in all his glory.
We left it there and went to Ranelagh. This morning I went to release the cats only to discover the blasted rat has gone missing again.
‘This is most curious.’ I said to Puddy, who sniffed the spot. I know my lot didn’t take it. So I can only conclude his brethren came for their fallen comrade in the dead of night and took him away for a Christian Burial.
Oh Ratty, we hardly knew ye.
September 25, 2010 at 8:55 am |
don’t you know rats never leave a man…. i mean rat…. behind?
why?
cos he might be family…. but he’s still tasty!
September 25, 2010 at 10:17 am |
Oh yes, our cat does that too, she leaves the rat kidneys and tail on the back step, I think that’s the only bits she won’t eat, freaks me out as I am constantly barefoot and have visions of that weird and creepy rat tail between my toes, yock!
September 25, 2010 at 11:54 am |
I have never quite forgiven him for spitting most of a mouse at me as I brushed my teeth in my barefeet. Bleee
September 25, 2010 at 2:08 pm |
Uuugh!! My cat, Pud, she eats all the stuff she catches, birds, rats, mice and shrews, though I don’t know why she bothers with the shrews, I would have more meat on my baby toe!
September 27, 2010 at 11:13 am |
Hip hop went the likkle bunny around the kitchen, hipppety skippety hop. Kapow went Mr Agile Tabbykins… and suchlike until at last, tiring of his cartwheeling, tossing, growling, leaping, and pretended boredom, said bunnywinkums was casually decapitated, right there… under the chair… a little head wiv ears on, well I declare… etc
September 27, 2010 at 1:19 pm |
Mine attacks everything that moves big or small. He was catching between one or two rats a week but since he climbed the tree at the bottom of the garden and chanced his arm with the magpie family he has been keeping a very low profile. They swarmed around him and bullied him bad. However, if the rat catching resumes I am keeping him in I have a pain in my arse cleaning up after him.
Also, do your cats not sleep in the house at night?
September 27, 2010 at 1:28 pm |
Oh bunny slaughter, if the bigger of the cats could get his toothless self into that he’d have a field day.
No Nonny, they do not. They sleep in the shed in sheep skin beds. They’re fed and locked in last thing at night, let out first thing in the morning, where they then come into the house, and spend the rest of the day sleeping in my office and demanding sliced ham.
September 27, 2010 at 1:56 pm |
Hold on I missed something, Conan! Your cat killed a Bunny rabbit ?? And you let him??
Ms Cat, I would have thought your cats had their own bedroom, mine sleep in bed. The nice little stray fella sleep in my bed, politely nestled on the end. I think he is on his way out at the moment. The other disagreeable bollix sleeps in bed under the duvet in the spare room, no disturbances are permitted whilst the king is sleeping this includes turning on lights or opening the curtains.
September 27, 2010 at 4:27 pm |
Nonny, it’s what they do… but mostly outside.
Nature, I believe it’s called, and generally best let take its course, I find, especially when preliminary GBH has been done the shrew / bird / mouse / rat / rabbit / hare.
September 29, 2010 at 1:02 pm
“Nature, I believe it’s called, and generally best let take its course”
Nature my arse, unless you live in a mud made hut, don’t use running water or electricity, don’t drive a car or buy processed foods or drink or smoke or eat fast food or shower with man made soaps you can hardly play the “nature” card. I would in my hole stand in my kitchen whilst any animal belonging to me killed something in front of me. In saying that I am one of the few people who reign’s with supreme control over all the animals I own. Be it cat, dog, pony, hen etc the book stops with me and regardless of what they are doing when I say STOP, they do. If they didn’t they’d be swimming with natures fishies. I guess I favor compassion and responsibility over nature.
October 5, 2010 at 10:02 am
“If they didn’t they’d be swimming with natures fishies”… and there’s a paradox, right there Nonny.
Whereas I wouldn’t harm a hair of their likkle heads for half killing another creature, bringing it back to the lair and then finishing it off. It’s been well dragged over land and fences and will by then die anyway.
There is also an absence of natural predators which means that the main population control of rodents, particularly, now falls to cats.
October 6, 2010 at 12:38 pm
I rescued a non damaged mouse before, but once bitten at all it’s best to let them finish them off, cat bites are pretty toxic. Better a swift death than a slow long one IMO.
September 27, 2010 at 2:10 pm |
Nope, they’d drive me nuts if I kept them in, wanting to go in and out all night, fighting, yowling, demanding doors be opened. The way I have them trained now is perfect. They associate the shed with food and sleeping and are happy to go in there. Even during the day one or other of them will go in and sunbathe on top of the fridge freezer in there. They quite like it.
September 27, 2010 at 4:28 pm |
It ain’t called ‘Fatcat Towers’ for nuthin!
September 27, 2010 at 4:32 pm
I know, Puddy is starting to resemble a bowling ball with feet. Even the Marklar is putting on weight, the neckless little tabby.
September 27, 2010 at 10:10 pm |
We keep ours outside too, though she doesn’t do any sleeping, she prowls the mean streets looking for stuff to kill. Or stuff that’s not even alive to pretend to kill (it’s funny to watch her) because otherwise she’d be into everything, and personally I don’t want to spend every morning cleaning my kitchen for fear that she’s licked everything in sight (I caught her at the butter dish once – bleugh!!!). I don’t like the animals in the bed with you thing at all. Not for me, no way!