You have reached the Extracts from Widget Steps

"EXTRACTS FROM THE "WIDGET" STEPS"

The Steps Were Crudely Made, By Necessity Roughly Put Together In A Hurry. But They Were A Lifeline To The Four Month Old Kitten. At Last She Could Begin To Explore A World Previously Denied To Her.

FINDING, FEEDING AND SURVIVING THE FIRST WEEK

We brought our little 'babies' home in their new cat carrier loaded carefully onto the back seat of the car. They cried all the way!

We put them in the shower room along with a scratch post, food bowls, litter trays and 'Igloo' basket. We rushed round like people possessed (which we probably were) preparing milk, kitten food and 'growth' biscuits.

Once the bowls were topped up we stood back to watch the outcome. They promptly stood in one of the bowls whilst behaving like a swarm of locusts in the rest. The outcome was inevitable. Baby tummies rumbled in unison shortly followed by our furry little friends throwing up all over the carpet.

We immediately got to work cleaning up the mess only to be greeted with explosions from the other end of their anatomies!

The toys we had placed around the room added to the general pandemonium by becoming various trip hazards for all concerned and the saga ended with two confused little bundles of fluff disappearing into their igloo and gazing at us with sorrowful eyes.

NAMES AND NAUGHTY BEHAVIOUR

Even at this early age we could see both kittens showed many talents. Two that spring readily to mind are knitting and flower arranging. We would come home to find my knitting trailing into every room downstairs and the dried flowers in the lounge neatly arranged all over the floor. The easy answer to the knitting was to hide it. A fragrance holder was placed in front of the dried flowers. Our little terrors hated the smell of this!

PUBERTY, TRAINING AND THE TERRIBLE TEENS

They travelled everywhere in the car with us from a very young age. Eventually we visited relatives some three hundred miles away.

We installed their litter tray on the floor in the back of the car. The kittens were in separate baskets on the rear seat. A strangled meow was their way of indicating that they required release so they could visit their 'porta' loo. Bonnie worked this out quite easily. Even at seventy miles per hour her balance was perfect.

What was not so perfect was the result which immediately had us hastily winding down the windows for the next two or three miles!

MOTHERHOOD AND MAYHEM

Pippa delivered her fourth and last at 2 a.m. This little one appeared to be black, white and tortoiseshell with a totally black head and ginger ears!

She also seemed to have something wrong with her back legs.

TO KEEP OR NOT TO KEEP

Chris thought it would be a good idea to put a collar and bell on the first kitten to leave. We did this the night before so we could pick it out easily in the morning. The kitten didn't mind the collar and bell in the least. What it did mind was the way all the other kittens treated it like a new toy!

GROWING PAINS.

Letters were received from our newly homed kittens.

"There is a big cat here who doesn't seem very keen on me. Mummy says she'll be alright once I know my place. She says I'm going to grow up to be a "Holy Terror", whatever that is. She's got something called a 'Duvet' which is great fun. Both of us cats often purr on it and Mummy says she supposes purring in stereo will at least drown Daddy's snoring. My new name is "Jessica". My new Daddy says I'll probably be called 'that bloody cat' most of the time!"

and

"Dear Granny and Grandpa

I'm in deep trouble.

I got bored one night and had a session round the bed, up the headboard and up the light pull. This was at 4 AM which seemed quite a reasonable time to me but as I also climbed the wallpaper to a height of three feet I am now banished to the kitchen.

My big sister sometimes lets me play with her but she seems to have a bit of a short fuse and I often get my ears boxed.

I'm twice as big now as when I left you. Mummy says if I reach adulthood it will be a miracle!"

THE UNKINDEST CUT

It is worth remembering that no self respecting cat will shove its paw in the air to volunteer a visit to the vet, either to have things propelled down its throat or popped up its rear!

There are differing opinions in the cat world about the easiest way to put cats into the new 'front loading' carriers! Some say backing them in is best. Chris says that he, personally, has never seen a cat walk backwards! He states that although they start the exercise with four legs it is totally amazing how your friendly domestic moggie soon shows its split personality and turns into a furry octopus!

Phoenix decided, again, to remove the carpet. This time Chris proclaimed that he was "in charge" and made the point very, very clearly that the carpet was staying where it was! Perhaps the problem began when he tried to extricate Phoenix by the scruff of his neck and take him downstairs. Chris came second. The ambulance man said that apart from the blood and the lumps on his hands and arms he didn't need any stitches but maybe a Tetanus shot would be a good idea!

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