Tilly was lonely...

[fjm]

I got back yesterday afternoon from a few days away, and Tilly has been spending as much time as possible on my lap or close by. She is always affectionate but usually prefers the sofa by the radiator or a warm chair - it is unusual for her to quite so clingy, even when I have been away. She gets a lot of attention from neighbours out in the courtyards around my house, and is fed and fussed over regularly, but of course the weather was bad at the weekend so people probably were not out much, and Pippin is not here to keep her company (one more week till he comes home from the Hyperthyroid Cat Centre). They are amicable but don't play or sleep together, and she did not seem fussed by his absence while the dogs and I were around, but I suspect she felt it far more while we were gone. It will be interesting to see how she reacts when he comes home next week - this is the first time they have been separated since they I got Tilly when she was around 6 months old, over 14 years ago!

[Lilith]

Bless her, so glad things are getting back to normal for her, though she will continue to miss Pippin until he's out of purr-dah.

They never do react as you think they will. Two years ago I had to let my cats be fostered because of (my) illness. This broke my heart; Emily and Mouse were then 14 and 15, gentle ex-ferals, very quiet and in the case of Mouse, extremely timid. Then there was Molly, then 4, my 'strayaway child', the kitten from hell, who had been a problem for her previous owners and was lively and aggressive as well as being loving and vulnerable. I'd always felt I'd let her down - too quiet a home, no-one of her own age to play with ... she was a separate unit from Em and Mouse, and it was agreed with the very kind rescue who took them that Em and Mouse should be fostered as a pair and that lively Molly should go to live in a larger household. In my ignorance I thought that Moll would love this.

So what happened? Emily and Mouse settled down and bonded well with a marvellous foster carer who treated them as her own (I understand she would have kept them if needs be) and were bewildered at first on returning to me. Molly, with the prospect of other cats to play with once she settled, stimulation and amusement, sulked. Sat on top of a wardrobe and growled. When SHE came back, she ran around like a friendly puppy, headbutting everyone, purring, and astonishing the rescue workers who had never got a single purr out of her.

You just can't tell with cats.

Fusses to Tilly and the dogs and virtual fusses to Pippin

[Kay]

when my Trigger got back from his treatment, Tiffany hissed at him, but he was far too thrilled to be back home to take any notice of her, so she didn't bother again