Not very keen on the cold, wet weather!

I like going out & about & do so every day. Lately however, the weather has really been awful. After getting soaked through three times in one day I give up & go back to bed.

Thomas only ventures out if there is no water at all coming out of the sky. He prefers to stay warm.

 Sometimes we snuggle up

We often eat together & sometimes share a dish

I've got a smart new collar - can you see? I lost 2 bells off the last one in a single week (proud)

The Dog Monster & the Assistant ganged up on me the other day. It was getting dark & I'd caught a chunky mouse so I thought I'd bring it indoors to play with. They both chased me out! Mean aren't they? 

Here he is, for those of you who like Dog Monsters. Apparently some people do.

 

                                                                                       

I thought I was in trouble the other day when The Assistant came home & said she'd met someone who claimed to see me "quite often" sitting in my favourite field on the other side of the Big Road. Honestly, there's no privacy, what business is it of anyone else??

The Assistant just gave me another name instead of telling me off - not that I take any notice. She says I'm like The Prodigal Son & she's always pleased to see me when I get home.

That's nice isn't it?

She says the jumble sale she was helping to sort was a big success. That's to help others like me who need to go into foster care for a while. So that's good.

 I'll say goodbye till the next time

Lots of Love from Othello / OJ / Jason / The Prodigal Son

xxx

In which Dog Monster becomes Dog Hero

He's the Leader of the Pack!

It's official - Dog Monster is on our side. He saw off a big, black cat who has been scaring me & really annoying Thomas. The Assistant was so pleased with him. He's become a Hero to me & to her but Thomas doesn't really care. He says he was dealing with it.

This black cat lives on the other side of the tracks. 

The Assistant says it's the same semi-feral one that terrorised her, much-loved, cat Matthew more than 3 years ago. 

Matthew was a real looker - see here

 

The Black Bruiser is the reason we don't have a cat flap as he caused so much trouble. Eventually he broke the cat flap at the back which was in glass so really expensive to fix. 

Dog Monster (Hero) broke the one in the front door but that's another story!

Thomas is very laid back, as you know. He kept sitting near Black Bruiser on the railway track just watching him, facing him down.

This was all very well but it didn't help me, I was scared. The Assistant says it's because I don't have a vicious bone in my body - that's sounds like a good thing I think.

It was when the other cat came into our garden that Dog Monster (Hero) flew at him barking very loudly & scared him away.  

The Assistant was particularly pleased because this cat just stares at her with his yellow eyes & tells her he's not afraid of her.


 

  

Anyway, enough of all them. 

Here are some nice pictures of me - it's me you want to see isn't it?

Quite a few of the recent photos are of me sleeping. That's because The Assistant is limited. I was climbing a tree today - Thomas was watching me with great admiration. The Assistant said it was too far away to get a picture.

Can't get the staff.....






I like myself on the new duvet cover - sets off my shiny coat well don't you think?

As always The Assitant likes me to include a picture of all three of us together. It's not always like this because the Dog Monster is still a bit stand-offish &, dare I say, moody! 

But I am forgiving him now because of his heroic act.






 Me & Thomas have started really eating together now. The Assistant has been buying special food for each of us but we just swop bowls so she is giving up! 

 

That's enough for now. The Assistant tells me she's met some people who used to help me when I was in my foster home. More of them next time.

Lots of Love

Othello /OJ / Jason

Winter warming

It's good to be back. The Assistant always seems to be busy although I have no idea what she does as nothing much seems to come of it. As long as she remembers to get our food in, that's the main thing.

I spent a very pleasant few hours yesterday with Anna-next-door. 

She wasn't feeling well, she has a cold, so I accepted some Dreamies & curled up in her special chair to keep her company & have a good sleep

Last time I called on her Dog Monster was there & he got shirty about me using "his" chair. Anyway Anna says it's my chair now so ha ha DM!

He gets plenty of attention so it's nice for me to be the only one sometimes

DM was given a bone for part of his Xmas. I got a big mouse

I do tend to prefer real mice, they move about more!

Thomas was given treats. People know how much he likes his food although he did have a tooth out recently so is saving the crunchy stuff for later. 

He likes this new bed.The Assistant bought it for Dog Monster but we have a joint policy of taking over all of DM's beds at some point & Thomas didn't waste any time.

Me & Thomas still get on but I think Dog Monster can get jealous. He & Thomas get on really well as they are both a bit dull & like to be quiet unless they are outside

I have learnt about eating crisps

And helped with the ironing.....

and best of all......

I discovered cheesecake!

Happy New Year everyone

A Special Post from The Assistant

This post is dedicated to The Bear, Tom Cox's Sad Cat who has recently died.

http://www.tom-cox.com/2016/12/goodbye-kind-friend-rip-bear-1995-2016
(sorry I can't get this link to go live....)

This is one of the most moving accounts of the loss of a companion animal that I have ever read.

Indirectly, The Bear was responsible for my adoption earlier this year of Jason (Othello/OJ) & his friend from the KCC rescue, Thomas.

I was following The Bear's Twitter postings as @MySadCat & had got to know members of #TheBearsArmy on there. Anna is one of them & she began to retweet @KeighleyCatCare's appeals for adopters for Othello, who had been in Rescue for far too long. His story was that he is a black & white cat, which is a colour people tend to overlook, & that he has one eye smaller than the other, so was perhaps being ignored because of that as well. He had been given his own Twitter account so I asked if he was OK with dogs & KCC were quick to respond.

I had had cats most of my adult life but since 2013 found myself with just Danny the Dog Monster, as OJ insists on calling him, & I began longing for another cat. Danny is pretty spoilt & was used to having my full attention so I worried that he might react badly to sharing. Of course I now know that he is really quite scared of felines & the two cats now in residence dominate him!

Anna encouraged me online to take the leap into the unknown & I brought Othello home in April this year. Once he was fairly well settled I went back for Thomas two months later. Funnily enough Danny & Thomas get on pretty well, despite Thomas's misgivings at first, as they have similar temperaments & tend to leave each other alone. OJ is a real character & makes a nuisance of himself with both of them!

I am so happy to have these two felines as well as my lovely canine. It feels like the best possible outcome for me, despite all the extra work the cats create! Several of #TheBearsArmy correspond about any cat difficulties & share their own cat stories online. None of this would happen if it hadn't been for The Bear &, of course, Tom Cox who wrote about him.

If you haven't read the books I do recommend them. They contain swearing & they are definitely not cosy, twee cat stories. They make you cry at times as well as laugh & they are beautifully written.

The books are available on Amazon although Tom does encourage the use of independent bookshops if you can

Some more escapades!

Both Thomas & myself have been getting extra kisses & cuddles recently. Thomas because he wasn't eating much for two days & the Assistant was worried about him. Me because she thought she'd lost me. She says there's nothing like a companion being poorly or missing to make you realise how much they mean to you.

Thomas started to eat again just as the Assistant had decided she would take him to the Vet for a look at his teeth.

The Assistant was very worried about me because yesterday I stayed out for eleven hours at a stretch. Normally I check back in for a snack & bit of a rest after 3 or 4 hours.This time I had vanished & she was getting very concerned by the time I reappeared. She had dragged Dog Monster all over the place looking for me, she said. I was wet & extremely hungry when I got back & very pleased to be home. She thought perhaps I'd been shut in someone's garage & just been let out, then got soaked on my way home. Or perhaps I had got lost -  but then I don't get lost. She knows this because of my other escapade!

The Assistant was being taken for a walk by the Dog Monster a couple of weeks back. Apparently they have regular routes around the village. On this one they had crossed the big main road & gone through the railway bridge & down a side street. Sitting in a field over the wall the Assistant saw what she thought was "a very pretty black & white cat". A closer look showed this cat had a green bell on a red collar, at which point the Assistant realised it was me!

When I saw her I ran to her, jumped up onto the wall & started to walk with them. She likes it when I walk with them around the block at night. She seemed a bit edgy this time though & tried to lose me by turning back quite soon. I went back through the culvert where the beck goes from the field & under the road. I was ready to go back up on to the railway line which eventually leads to home when I saw the Assistant & the Dog Monster walking along the main road on the other side. I immediately ran back across the big road to greet them. She reacted a bit strangely to this! She has since explained that it's a very busy road with wagons, coaches & lots of cars & not at all safe for a cat to be running across. She had actually been very frightened for me. She hid her panic until it was all over, she says.

To cut a long story short, she ended up carrying me along the underpass where there were people & dogs, across the big road & part way up the short cut where there aren't many cars. When she finally let go of me - & I had struggled & wriggled to get free - I walked back home with them as usual. She had held me so tight I thought she was going to 'do a Michael Heseltine' on me! She praised Dog Monster for being very good on his lead crossing the road, as if he knew there was an urgent problem - that problem was me wriggling around trying to get down!

All back to normal again now!

See you next time - thanks for reading about me

Lots of Love

Othello / OJ / Jason

Hello Everyone

My Assistant has let me down again. She says she has a new computer & that she can't always work out where the photographs are that she's saved of me. Something about a Cloud but we can't find it.

So I have to give her apologies if we show some photos you may have already seen. 

Funny but she seems to find ones of Thomas easily!

The clocks changed this week. She thinks it's good because me & Thomas come in early for the night. 

Well, it's cold & dark now so of course we do. I don't like the cold. And we need our sleep. Don't care about her clocks do we? 

I often sleep downstairs by myself. I also use the igloo next to Thomas' bed so I am near the bedroom door to wake her up when necessary. 
She rarely fools me by getting up without me hearing her before she opens her door. 

She tried letting us in the bedroom again for two nights but has given up again. Dog Monster gets very shirty if I trample around near him, he growls & that wakes The Assistant up. I keep on trying though.

 This might sound as if I do nothing but sleep & eat Dreamies. I do watch a bit of telly. Dateline London has been a favourite. Not as keen on Marr.

  

You know I have to include a picture of Dog Monster out on his excursions

Here he is the other day - he has a cushy life

And here's Thomas in yesterday's sunshine

And here's Me. I'm very handsome aren't I?

That's all for now. 

Don't forget it's that time of year again 

Lots of Love from

Othello / OJ / Jason

XXX

Life goes on.....

Since I got out of Prison things have settled down very satisfactorily. It's as if the whole business made The Assistant more contented with our lifestyle & she doesn't complain as much as she used to do.

I have also found another way to make her smile. I wait outside until she comes out with Dog Monster for his Last Walk of the Night. It's always after a radio programme in the evening - 'dumtedum' or something like that. Dog Monster usually barks as they set off. 

I then appear from a nearby garden & accompany them all the way round the block

She loves it, especially if I run alongside the Dog Monster so we're walking together

We've also got a new pod to sit in outside if she isn't around when we want to come in. It's here in a picture with the other two. It's pretty cool, don't you think?

Things can be quite harmonious although me & Thomas still have sparring matches. Shirley-who-lives-opposite laughs at us & says we're like wrestlers. 

I've been perfecting my Loaf posture. What do you think? Should I win a prize?

So, life goes on & the household is pretty happy. So long as she remembers I need lots of Dreamies & Thomas gets his chicken we co-operate. We don't wake her up early every day now as it's dark in the mornings. But we do chase up & down stairs when we think it's time for our breakfasts.

Lots of Love from
Othello / OJ / Jason
XXX