Gabes with his yellow mouseI love my mice! I have quite a collection: catnip mouse, yellow mouse, tatty mouse, felt mouse and white mouse. I love them all.

I spend many happy hours trying to launch them into space, throwing them around the room, biting them quite ferociously, cuddling up with them in my snoozzeee, and teaching them to swim.

At night when the human is asleep, one by one I pick my mice up and plonk them in my water bowl on the hearth. In the morning the human, with a sigh, picks them out one by one, gives each one a squeeze then leaves them on the radiator to dry, but I can stretch myself up tall to slyly reach up and pick them off with my claws.

Sometimes I put just one mouse in the water as if letting it have a bath on its own.

Gabes' mice swimmingThe best fun is picking them up gently in my mouth and then putting each of them in my cat food bowl, letting them sink into the gravy, as if I was taking them for a feed. But the human got sick of picking soggy mice out of the meaty lumps and having to dry them. So, the wet food bowl is now replaced at night by dry kibbles.

That hasn’t stopped me. I now have a creative time at night when all is calm, my bruv, Reggie is dozing, my human is asleep, and Chav Cat is outside thumping things. I collect my mice and pile them up, quite artistically on the dry kibbles then walk away to await the squeaks of delight in the morning when my human finds them. Each arrangement is different. 

Sometimes, when my mice have had a good soaking in my water bowl, I will silently pick them out in my mouth and take them into the bedroom where my human is gently snoring, and I will line them up on her pillow watching the water soak into the pillow case.

Judging by the volume of noise, when her face rolls over onto them in the early hours of the morning, I am more than certain she appreciates this gesture very much.

Today, during my perambulation around the gardens of Tom Cat Towers, I came across this furry mouse. He didn’t smell of catnip. In fact, he smelt a bit ‘off’ as if he needed a bath. I have no idea where he came from, but he was lying on the lawn, clearly in need of a friend.

Gabes with a mouse of the deceased varietySo, I picked him up in my mouth and carried him back into the house. I placed him on the carpet and looked at him, but he wasn’t much fun to play with. So, I did the right thing.

Very carefully, I placed him, and arranged him so that he is hidden, under my human’s pillow on the bed.

I cannot wait for the shrieks of delight when she discovers it, followed by the praise that will be forthcoming for such a thoughtful present.

I am the mousketeer extraordinaire!

 Gabion Tzchugge

Tom Cat Towers

In the Middle of a World...

"In the middle of a world that has always been a bit mad, the cat walks with confidence."

Roseanne Anderson