The Cats of High Country Horse Treks
Smudge
Smudge - The Co Owner!
Smudge is 8 years old and the boss cat. He also weighs 8kg...but we don't mention that to him.
I wouldn't want you to think that Smudge is actually fat, he isn't, just a very big, solid cat. It takes a lot of effort to supervise four young monsters and not lose face when suddenly pounced on. with no respect at all.
Widgit is very fond of Uncle Smudge. If you can find Smudge sunbathing somewhere - Widgit will be close by. Perhaps she thinks this is her missing mother?
I wouldn't want you to think that Smudge is actually fat, he isn't, just a very big, solid cat. It takes a lot of effort to supervise four young monsters and not lose face when suddenly pounced on. with no respect at all.
Widgit is very fond of Uncle Smudge. If you can find Smudge sunbathing somewhere - Widgit will be close by. Perhaps she thinks this is her missing mother?
Badger
Badger
2 years old, thinks he's a dog. His best friend is Rex the dog and he doesn't understand why they have communication issues.....
Badger is on Rabbit Patrol at the moment. When the cat flap goes in the middle of the night I have to leap up to see what has arrived THIS time.
Last night's offering had me foxed for a while, feathers everywhere but no apparant bird. Eventually I cottoned on to watching Widgit, who was round and round the room searching for SOMEthing. And out from behind the sofa strolled a fully grown quail! Widgit actually didn't know how to catch such a big bird so I got it first, and bunged it in the cat basket. This morning it was set free unharmed. Heaven knows how Badger squeezed it through the cat flap!
Badger is on Rabbit Patrol at the moment. When the cat flap goes in the middle of the night I have to leap up to see what has arrived THIS time.
Last night's offering had me foxed for a while, feathers everywhere but no apparant bird. Eventually I cottoned on to watching Widgit, who was round and round the room searching for SOMEthing. And out from behind the sofa strolled a fully grown quail! Widgit actually didn't know how to catch such a big bird so I got it first, and bunged it in the cat basket. This morning it was set free unharmed. Heaven knows how Badger squeezed it through the cat flap!
Tigger
Nearly a year old. Best friends with Oscar, tormentor of Badger (the only one brave enough). Always out helping the staff, but not too keen on mud. Problematic for a cat living at a trekking yard.
Tigger has ended up the most cuddly of the cats and likes everyone, except next door's dog, Don, who he chases off as best a small cat can. If I am making mistakes on this keyboard, it is probably because Tigger is on my lap and "helping".
Tigger has ended up the most cuddly of the cats and likes everyone, except next door's dog, Don, who he chases off as best a small cat can. If I am making mistakes on this keyboard, it is probably because Tigger is on my lap and "helping".
Widgit
Widgit
9 months old, along with her brother Oscar. Found abandoned on the road at 8 weeks old and near to death. Aspiring secretary, if you can't find a pen or pencil this is the cat to ask.
These days Widgit is a spooky little kitten and likes to keep herself to herself. She comes in for tucker but is mostly out and about, hiding under the house or under a bush. She loves gardening and pops out to see me then.
When the other cats are bringing home mice and rabbits, Widgit brings me camelia flowers, which are somewhat nicer to retrieve than all the wriggly things!
These days Widgit is a spooky little kitten and likes to keep herself to herself. She comes in for tucker but is mostly out and about, hiding under the house or under a bush. She loves gardening and pops out to see me then.
When the other cats are bringing home mice and rabbits, Widgit brings me camelia flowers, which are somewhat nicer to retrieve than all the wriggly things!
Oscar
Oscar
9 months old, very cocky. When Badger and Smudge bring in live mice Oscar likes to play the slip fielder when the humans are trying to rescue and evict the mouse. DOE'S NOT LIKE worming tablets..... one. little. bit. Iron gauntlets needed.
Oscar is the most vocal of the kittens and miaows until he gets an answer, and then we have a duet for a few minutes. He is very cuddly, briefly before rushing off again.
Oscar is the most vocal of the kittens and miaows until he gets an answer, and then we have a duet for a few minutes. He is very cuddly, briefly before rushing off again.
Badger In Action!
Get Your Own Bag - This
One's Taken.! I Can Do Handstands Too!
Badger's exploits are endless, plus he quite often stays still enough for one to take a photo, and always peers obligingly at the camera. Widgit is too spooky and Oscar too hyper to pause in photogenic mode. Most of these cat photos were taken by Lorna, who has heaps of patience with anything to do with animals, and particularly in things photographic. I usually turn up just after the good shot!
I Think I Might Be Getting
Stuck Here!
The ONLY Way To Cool Your Feet
This Summer we have had lots of days when the temperature is way up over 35 degrees Centigrade. The kiitens' thermostats don't seem to work as efficiently and they spend a lot of the day in a state of collapse, sprawled all over the furniture and floor. After dark they come alive again and feline shenanigans roar all over the house and garden. Woe betide any hapless moth that flies into range!
The Computer Assistant
Being not in my first flush of youth, and therefore struggling with computer technology, I need peace and quiet to achieve magical things on this site. As we are in the midst of a horrible winter I usually have a hot water bottle when sitting at the computer. Tigger has caught on to this ploy. His furry bottom is firmly parked on my very warm lap whilst he inspects the work going on before him
Mostly Smudge
It is no wonder Smudge is so big - he weighs 8kg - he spends a lot of time sitting watching the world go by and a lot of time eating! This is very wee Badger wondering if he will EVER be so big!
Time Out For Sarah and Smudge
I can't recall, off hand, how often I get to sit on a chair all by myself. As soon as I park my butt cats appear out of the woodwork and I am sprawled upon. Both the chair and I are sagging under Smudge's vast weight!
Badger In Extremis
Awful as it may seem, you ARE looking at a three legged cat. This is poor Badger in January this year. He came home very late one night and hopped up on an armchair. I sort of glanced at him and then looked again as something was wrong. He was sitting on a yellow blanket - and all I could see was red! The German girl who was staying, Luisa, and I rushed Badger to the vets. The bottom section of his right paw was hanging by a thread! The poor puss was stabilised overnight and put on a drip and painkillers and on the Sunday they mobilised a surgical team and amputated his right leg. It was a very sorry for himself cat I picked up two days later, but the worst thing for Badger was the incarceration in one room at home. He is a hunting mad cat and wanders far and wide and to be shut in one room nearly drove him nuts. Very quickly we let him loose in the house, locking the cat flap and putting notices on all the doors so that nobody would let him out in error. He was supposed to be inside for ten days but I let him out in eight days. Once outside he just lay down on the deck and was quite happy!
Two months later Badger is back to his old self, now nick named Hoppitty Hop. He goes everywhere at speed, catches mice galore and still beats up all the other cats and has become super affectionate. The vet found lead in the leg wound and said he was definitely shot! I have been Sherlock Holmsing all over the local neighbourhood and have found that he was shot by the friend of one of our neighbour's sons. He thought he missed Badger as the cat ran off!!!
Words just about fail me.
Two months later Badger is back to his old self, now nick named Hoppitty Hop. He goes everywhere at speed, catches mice galore and still beats up all the other cats and has become super affectionate. The vet found lead in the leg wound and said he was definitely shot! I have been Sherlock Holmsing all over the local neighbourhood and have found that he was shot by the friend of one of our neighbour's sons. He thought he missed Badger as the cat ran off!!!
Words just about fail me.
Breathe In You Two! Who Cares If Widgit Suffocates!
We have now donated a lot of the original cat beds to the SPCA as burgeoning size has made some of them problematic for getting fat cats. Poor little Widgit is always being squished by everyone, but she does come up for air occasionally.
