Eddie and Ella
Ella and Eddie arrived for a days stay at 8am. Ella is a sweet soft shorthaired tortoiseshell, and was initially curious and very eager to get out of her basket.The hauntingly beautiful, long haired ginger and white Eddie stared at me wide eyed and startled, before climbing out of his basket and disappearing behind the armchair with his huge tail sweeping past me. Will gave me a quick catch up on their habits, feeding ( they prefer their water in mugs) and do’s (lot’s of treats)and don’ts ( don’t touch Eddies bottom half) before hurrying off to prepare for his day with his cat sensitive guests.
Closing the door I waved goodbye to Will, and soon realised the cats were nowhere to be seen. I eventually found both of them hiding under the little red sofa. Usually I let the cats do there own thing, explore, hide whatever their nature dictates, but Eddie and Ella were only staying for a day and the space they’d squashed themselves into was so small that I really wanted to encourage them out. Crouching down and bending my head sideways I could see the two cats touching but turned away from each other and staring at me wide eyed. Eddie looked directly at me and I could see just how perfectly the fawn colour of his eyes matched his beautiful coat. Ellie was sitting side on and refused to look at me. I thought I’d leave them to settle for an hour but was soon back on the floor trying to tempt them out of hiding.
They showed little interest when I slowly presented my hand to each of them so they could familiarise themselves with me, I then put a little catnip mouse just in front of Eddie’s nose which twitched almost imperceptibly while his eyes locked into mine. I put a large green fish filled with valerian in front of Ella but she ignored it staring through the little side tables stacked beside the sofa at something in the distance I couldn’t see. Later still I rolled some toys past them to see if I could get their interest but Ella remained completely still her pupils dilated and black and Eddie stared back at me his eyes retracting and expanding before settling into a comfortable slit. He blinked at me slowly and I blinked back with a smile, at least one of them is settling I thought.
In the kitchen I filled tiny bowls with treats and after an encouraging text from their owner I filled a small bowl with freshly cooked chicken. I slid these under the sofa, along with the balls and the cats, and squashed my hand into the little space to give Ellie a reassuring stroke. They ignored the all the treats and it was close to three o’clock, they hadn’t eaten a thing so I moved their food tray closer to the sofa so they could smell what they were missing,but that didn’t work either. Around a quarter to four, and as a last resort, I pulled out the feather on a stick toy. To attract the cats attention I twirled it above my head, the feathers whizzing past and making the sound of a bird in flight. Still no reaction.I then tried pulling it slowly over the rug and then jerking it away suddenly. By four o’clock I had to admit defeat, the cats were still under the sofa along with an assortment of cat toys and nibbles. The feather toy was jammed untouched between the sofa cushion and It was time for me to go to work.
As well as the kits I was boarding at home that day, I also had three separate cat’s to feed and play with while their owners are away so double checking all was well and safe for them I jumped on my bike and went off to see Zaza and kiki the first on the list. On my return, although still under the sofa they had swapped places and eddie seemed a little more responsive. As I opened the window to the balcony his nose twitched and finally he came out from under the sofa and sat tall and curious (still a little way away) facing the window. Unfortunately that’s as far as he got as just at that moment Will, Harika and baby Jojo arrived to pick them up and as soon as they rung the bell he disappeared back under the sofa. Overhearing our conversation as his family climbed the stairs Eddie immediately sprung to life, trotting excitedly past me and towards the direction of their voices. Elly took a little more convincing and Will and I eventually lifted the sofa uncovering Elly and all the kitty booty that had accumulated over the day. She stared up at us finally unencumbered by my sofa before jumping up and running across the room.
