The Burmese Sisters Rosa & Silver
It’s been a lovely week with Silver and Rosa they really are a lot of fun. The day often starts of with a very loud meow in the morning when they start to get hungry. They surround me while I’m preparing the food, crying in unison when I open the packet and trying to poke their noses under my arms and into the bowls when I’m not looking. Breakfast is served in front of the large window in the living room and for five minutes there is silence apart from the sound of their determined munching. Their tales float high in the air as they burrow their heads deeper into their feeding bowls finishing every scrap.
When I go to change the litter I notice one of the kitty’s has a sore tummy and has made a bit of a mess, but I’m not sure which one it is I. I follow them both around with a baby wipe ready to swipe their dirty bottoms, and I finally catch up with Rosa who is zigzagging away from me across the kitchen. I swoop down and give her bottom a quick wipe that stops her abruptly in her tracks. Turning to look at me her eyes widening in outrage, ‘How dare you,’ they seem to say. Rosa looks down suspiciously at her recently dabbed bottom and then back at me standing guiltily over her with the offending baby wipe dangling from my hand. Putting her head down for a closer inspection she has a quick sniff and seems pleasantly surprised by the sweet whiff of the baby wipes, she looks at me again, not quite sure what has just happened before running off in the direction of the bedroom.
The cats have been trying to get into the bedroom for a few days now and are becoming completely obsessed. Silver often sniffs at the bottom of the door and mews loudly. I have yet to clean in there properly since John left and it is still a bit of a jumble of clean washing, and dirty socks. When I go to bed at night I put Rosa and Silver and their food and water in the front room and close the door, otherwise they chase each other up and down the corridor, the late hour making magnifying their tiny footsteps and making it sound like a herd of miniature elephants stampeding up and down the hallway. During the day, from my usual place in front of the computer I can hear Silver moaning loudly at the injustice of not being allowed into the bedroom and I go to see what’s wrong. I find her in front of the closed bedroom door, meowing as though her life depends on it. ‘Come on, Silver’ I say smiling at her determined little face, and beckoning her to follow me as I head back to the front room. She turns to face me with her back to the bedroom door and without taking her eyes off me, sits down defiantly and meows loudly at the back of my head as I walk away. When I looked back she is still staring, and catches my eye, glancing quickly from the bedroom door and back to me again.
It was extremely hot the next day and I decided it was about time I let them in the bedroom. There’s a large window in there and during the day, weather permitted, the sun streams in while the front of the house is dark and gloomy. Rosa was in the hallway trying to escape the heat but only making it worse as every time I walked passed she insisted on rolling over like a puppy and having a cuddle. While she was lying down she sniffed at the bedroom door trying to identify the source of light that shone brightly underneath it. I opened the door and she paused for a tiny second before bursting into the room and immediately disappearing under the bed. I went to find Silver who was cooling off in her cat basket and reluctant to move. Finally she got the message and followed me into the bedroom. By the time Silver arrived, Rosa had already made herself at home and was casually bouncing up and down on the bed. As she bounced up she would look out of the window trying to spot birds and on her descent she would happily bat the blind cord away with one paw. Silver looked at me briefly, surprised to see Rosa already so comfortable, and then sprinted into the bedroom, jumping onto the bed and batting the blind cord away before Rosa could get to it.
Rosa and Silver often play hide and seek or tag, with Rosa trying unsuccessfully to hide under a blanket from Silver. She always manages to leave one bit sticking out, like her wagging tale or a twitching ear. Silver will appear from nowhere and run really fast up to Rosa whack her on the bum with a paw and then run off with Rosa chasing furiously after her.
They are also very affectionate and constantly and tenderly groom each other, there rough tongues getting the days grit and stubborn dirt out from even the trickiest corners of their eyes and paws. They often sleep together in their carry basket and when I wake up in the morning I find them curled up together on an armchair. Occasionally they fight, but by the end of the day they always seem to make up and are soon the best of friends again, chasing eachother around the room and pouncing on each others tails.
