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This is Jennah speaking. I am just reflecting on some of the stories told by my "human bean" pet, called Boss Lady, of past associations with we cats. One such story is of a cat that was a member of the household before I took over the management of the "human beans" here. His name was Timmy, however, let him tell the story in his own words. TIMMY the Manx cat. Hello cat peoples and hello to all your "human bean" pets. Allow me to introduce myself. I am a ginger Manx cat who came to live here as a kitten.
See my pic above? Am I not the most handsome of cats? I am playing with another member of our household Not wishing to appear rude, I will begin my story with an outline of my breeding, ("human beans" say it is not only important to be "upfront" and also impolite not to make such an introduction. Well.... I think they said that). Anyway, this is to ensure that "human beans" don’t get confused. Manx cats originated on the Isle of Man. They are unique to the Isle of Man and are definitely not genetically related to far eastern cats. We are mostly tailless or bobbed tails as some of the human beans say. Frankly I don't understand why they should say we bob when we don't. However some of us do sport a remnant of a tail and occasionally others do have tails. The tailless among us are called Rumpies. We are the elite of our breed, regularly attending shows so peoples can see how handsome we are. Those sporting a remnant of a tail up to five inches long are called Stumpies and those with full tails are called Full-tails or Longies. We are sometimes likened to a hare or rabbit in appearance, having short rounded front legs, a high back and very strong back legs. I beg to emphasise there is an element of poetic license regarding the physical appearance description. Let me make this point! Hares and rabbits are timid creatures, whereas, and I really must emphasise this, Manx cats are not timid creatures. We also sport a double coat. The inner layer is thick and soft and warm. The outer layer is harder, standing up rather sharply to protect the inner coat and also help with the insulation and stop us feeling the cold. These attributes are useful, as our environment is on a rocky and steep island. It can get very cold with the winds coming from the Irish Sea off the coast of the country called Great Britain. Pausing, I ask you to hang on for a moment, while I finish teasing the knots from my coat and giving this coat a licking to keep it shining, purrrr. We are very friendly and playful and like to be with our "human bean" pets. We are also good hunters and ratters, says I, (rubbing myself against the legs of my pet human bean). Mythology Mythology has it that Manx cats lost their tails because they were slow entering the ark. Noah had to shut the door quickly as the floods were rising. He shut it so quickly that the door cut off our tails. What a ridiculous assumption! Grmph! Growwwl! Now who possibly could believe that? We Manx cars are highly intelligent smart hunters and sportscats. Could you imagine we would be so slow as to get any tail caught in a door! Indeed! Humph! Now! I think for politeness sake, that should suffice as an introduction. Otherwise I might be unfairly accused of being conceited. Although I must say, some people will say anything to get noticed and make them appear knowledgeable. Sniffing; I raise my head in the air. What is that tantalising smell? Pointing my nose into the air, I sniff again. Hmmm? Is that a nice piece of fish I can smell? Interesting. It is not yet lunchtime, so I will investigate it shortly once I tell my story. Well, getting back to the point. The reality is that the "Supreme Being" decided that tails could be an encumbrance climbing around and under rocks. He also decided to make our back legs stronger to enable us to leap from rock to rock in the pursuit of food. My new home. My introduction to my new home. The "human beans" where I came to live, owned a property on the river in NSW, in a place called Australia. It was on the Murray Valley river system and at the time we are speaking, it had been raining for days and days, even months. Smiling;
Part of the property was on what they called a flood plain and as you can see from the photo above, it was surrounded by forest. The picture shows the forest flooded. Dams were full; the rivers and
creeks rising; overflowing the banks and spreading across the land. Our "human bean" pets, had
built a levee bank around their property to stop it from flooding. The photograph shown next is of a house that was not
protected by these levee things
The younger "human beans", called children, had a small funny shiny tree trunk thing they called a tin boat. They liked to paddle it among the flooded trees looking out for all sorts of things that had been washed down by the floods. Now we come to the crux of the story of how I came to live with these "human beans". I was approximately 12 weeks old at the time and had been living with some "peoples" (human beans) a long way up-river. The floods came so quickly I found myself floating down-river on a log. I travelled for a several days without food and was getting quite exhausted. The log I was clinging to, kept rocking and rolling in the current, threatening to make me overbalance and fall into the water. It was terrifying, even for a Manx cat. It had been such a long time and I was getting so tired from trying to keep my balance on the log. Eventually I slipped off and fell into the water. Meooowww-elppp!!!!!!! Brrrrh! It was so cold!! Remember it was in July and July is wintertime in Australia. I swam to a tree and tried to scramble up but the current was too strong and I was carried further downstream. I cried in terror, thinking that all of my nine lives would be lost. Cats, as you well know, are reputed to have nine lives, says I giving a smug, erhhh sorry! I mean superior look. As the height of the flood the water was up among the branches of the trees and I kept getting hit by them as I was washed downstream.. Eventually, bruised and shaken, I managed to scramble up among the leaves. I thought I would call and see if anyone would come to my rescue. Meow!, I called. No one heard. Meow!! (Louder). I called again. Meooowwww!!! (louder still). Still no one came. Meooow!! (Even louder) I cried again in desperation and still no one came. Just then, a large snake, living higher up in the branches, heard me and came to investigate. He looked at me hungrily and I shivered, meowing softly. After all, I was only a very small, wet and bedraggled kitten. Not really sufficient to make a meal for a snake, I hoped....... However, apparently the snake did not seem to think so and it slithered down towards me. I backed off along the branch meowing and screeching in fear. Meooow!! Screech!! Spitting defiantly and in defence and trying to frighten the snake away. I was such a small-frightened kitten. I backed still further along the branch, but the snake kept coming, until I was among the thin branches and leaves, hanging on desperately. Still the snake came, until I had backed so far out of the branches and among the leaves and twigs, they broke and I fell with a loud wail of terror!!!! into the raging flood. Luckily, at that moment the children heard the commotion and paddled their boat to investigate. They arrived at the tree just as I was falling. One of the children jumped into the water and swam to rescue me. I was so frightened by now I dug my claws into his shoulder so I could climb up. The child (a male (boy) "human bean") swam back and scrambled into the boat. Taking off his fur (shirt), (a very remarkable act that. I can't take off my fur), he rung out the water and wrapped me in its folds to try and warm me. He spoke softly and gently "human bean" language, stroking me and cuddling me, while his friend paddled the boat back to their property and he took me to his mother. "Look mum!" he called the Lady Boss. "See what we found in the water? It fell out of a tree and we picked it up". Lady Boss picked me up and cuddled me close to her nice warm breast, cooing and stroking me. Gradually my fears calmed down and I feel asleep in her arms. After a little while she made me some warm milk and made up a special warm bed for me and I feel back to sleep. Later when I awoke there seemed to be lots of "human bean" children around, each wanting to cuddle me and talk to me. I liked that and was soon quietly purring away. Ohhhhh. It was so nice and warm and friendly here. I was introduced to one of the female cats in the household, who was nursing her litter. She mewled and called to me with a soft purr, licking me all over and making me welcome. Her kittens moved over to make room for me and I was soon feeling as if I had always been there. Later when the "human beans" sat down to eat their meal they discussed what to do with me. One "human bean", called a Man Boss, said they had too many kittens and cats now. He said there were eleven and they could not provide any more homes. Everyone cried out and said "Oh come on Dad; he is only a little kitten and is so sweet. He won't take much room". The female (girl) child came and sat on his lap and said, "Look at him, his coat is so thick and smooth and he is nice to cuddle". Naturally I stretched and preened myself, showing off my best side. The girl child was the only female in the human’s litter comprising of four males and one female human children. She was also a very smart girl, nearly as smart as we cats. She was very special to the Man Boss and she could wind him around her little finger. Man Boss, I found out later, was really a "softie". He just liked to grumble and sound so fierce. This family liked all creatures and had made homes for snakes, lizards, kangaroos, possums, calves, goats, cows horses, sheep and lots of other animals, even mice. Shaking my head in wonder and puzzlement, I think to myself, even mice?? They also had lots of friendly birds, singing in rooms called large aviaries and there were also friendly birds in the trees. The humans had made friends of them all and we cats were persuaded and encouraged not to frighten them. So!...... Yes Boss Man was really a softie,..... but he did so love to grumble a lot. Nobody really believed he was so tough:). He suggested that they would have to try and find someone who needed a cat to look after them. If they couldn’t, then I could stay But he said, mind you! Only until they found another home for me. Rajah, a Siamese cat, chuckled, saying, "He always says that and look at how many of us are waiting until new homes have been found". "What Male Boss doesn't seem to realise is, we have our new homes, lol". "I have been here for three years and I suspect, having survived this long; Man Boss is not about to enforce his direction about me finding another home. Others have been here longer. Don’t worry about it. He'll come round. He always does" The Boss Lady’s parents were also staying here for a holiday. I had won the heart of the mother. Oma, they called the female parent and Opa the male parent. Opa was a sort of "man boss" too and I suspect he also was a "softie". I think Oma and our Boss Lady chose them for their mates because they liked cats, despite denying they were cat peoples lovers. That was really their cover to make people think they were not "softies", but we knew better :) "Opa, Oma said, couldn’t the kitten stay with us. He is so beautiful and we need a companion to come with us when we are touring in the caravan". I looked at the human called Opa, thinking he had a kind and friendly face, I jumped down and climbed up onto his chest. I rubbed my head against him and playfully butted my head against his. Just let him know I was really a beautiful and friendly cat, who had lots of love to give to a human deserving of my company. Also I wanted to let him know I approved of him, and was willing to adopt him. Opa laughed and said "Oh alright, I know when I am beaten. You can stay with us". Oma, like her daughter, usually got her own way. It must be bred in the "human bean" female genes:) Boss Lady, Oma's daughter had so many of the attributes of a kitten, e.g. loving, cuddlesome and winsome that it was easy for Boss Man to give her what she wanted. All these are attributes of the cat family.:) I am sure that in a previous life she was a kitten and a particularly well loved one. The male boss called her Katje, which means in the Dutch language, little kitten. I looked at Oma in triumph and she gave me a little wink. She told me that my name would be Timmy. I looked like a Timmy, she said. Hmmm........ Yes, I think I rather like that name. Opa, like Man Boss, also liked to grumble and growl, sounding so fierce, but he too, was really soft hearted. I lived with them for many years until I got rheumatics and was getting too old to travel. I had a wonderful life travelling in the caravan with Oma and Opa and had so many adventures and saw so many places. But then those are other stories. I came back to the children’s parents to retire. Ho-hummm, yawning. Well, interviews can be so tiring, I think I will go out onto the verandah and doze in the sun until the next meal is ready. One day, maybe I will tell of some of these adventures to other places another day, but for the moment I am so tired. Oh Hum, Yawning!!! |
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Worldwide Copyright John W. 1998,2001
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A big wide cat smile, I can never resist this comment...."It was raining cats and dogs" 
