Lillibet is a few coppers short of a quid shall we say, very smart like a savant at one minute and then as stubborn as a donkey on a hot day. At 11months old she had blood poisoning which ruined her brain and then at 12 months she fell and cracked her delicate head on wood flooring knocking her out and then at 2yrs old she had a grand Mal seizure that changed her forever.  After the Grand Mal she was diagnosed with Hyper Esthesia which may or may not be related to any of the above - no one knows - so it is managed, mainly holistically, at home with 6monthly check-ups.   6years on and she has been experiencing more and more mini seizures, so Momma took her to Vet Marina where they talked about giving her a drug to calm them down and stop her skin from rocking-n-Rolling too as well as to stop her biting herself and attacking all of us, even her own Mother Faith.  It's called 'Grab-your-pen-tin' or some such thing that is totally unpronounceable to us cats.  Momma says it's Gabapentin and not that difficult really for us to wrap our tongues around it.  Luckily, I don't have to wrap my tongue around it at all leaving that to Lillibet.  

In the first week Momma cut the tiny pink pills in half and started with just that every 24hrs.  It was like a miracle, she stopped flicking and twitching within about 20minutes.  Her back stopped rolling and the Hoomans could go right up to her anywhere in the house and stroke her - not just on her preferred safe places of the en-suite, the wash bin in the main bathroom, the windowsill in the main bedroom and the worktop in the kitchen.  For the first week, she lay more on Momma in the evenings and was less fazed if we approached her from the back to whakk her!

The tiny little tablet just slipped down her throat so easily, it was a doddle in the morning time before breakfast.  One breakfast, Momma had left for a show very early and forgotten to give her the pink pill, so she text ManSlave who said he would do it.  At midday there was a text back saying he had tried really hard to give her the tiny 5mm across pink pill and Lillibet had clamped her mouth shut and began to growl.  Nothing he could do seemed to make her open it.  With the  pill disintegrating in his fingers he tried to wipe it on gums and she hit the kitchen roof then ran around the house as though she had been poisoned, foaming at the mouth and hiding under the lounge chair where she stayed until Momma got home..  He stood bewildered with a pink mush in between his thumb and forefinger shaking his head. He had seen Momma and Lillibet do this for a whole week with no trouble.   Finally, Momma came home and ManSlave said that Lillibet had become agitated after their trial at lunch time, so Momma got out a new pink pill and sat Lillibet on the work top, kissed her head, said 'Open Sesame' and she opened her mouth and Momma popped the pill to the back of her throat and it was gone with a stroke of her neck.  ManSlave stared in amazement.  "That's exactly what I did" he exasperated.  But we all know for certain, because we watched him, that he didn't kiss her on the head nor say the magic words!

After that fiasco, Momma and Lillibet have devised a way to administer a pill by crushing it on the worktop and pouring a little vitamin paste over the top of it and down the hatch it goes.  She now waits patiently twice a day now for her magic pink pills.  It had to be twice a day as she was inappropriately piddling on things and getting agitated at simple things.  After a week of two halves, she is now socialising with us and hanging out watching Little Lord Darnley playing on the landing with only a slight growl and will come and sit on the windowsill in the bedroom even when one of us is sat there too or even falling asleep on the main bed.  Quite an improvement.  

Yesterday, she had found a feather outside and even said that Ikon could play with it and touch it whilst she had it.  Momma watched in sheer amazement.  Ikon was a little nervous of her magic whakking paw and stayed just out of reach.  Smart lad. Lillibet carried on and even mixed with us watching bees in the wild geraniums. Tyga touched her by accident and she didn't do anything but moved away instead of the usual high jump in the air and a screaming growing frenzy.  It was quite a scene to see and one that Momma shall report to Vet marina when Darnley goes in for his Vaccination next week. 

That's all folks from your loyal Queen Vee. Enjoy the heat and suncream those ear tips! =^..^=

Little Lord Darnley is now nine weeks old and being a right proper boy kitten.  He is spoilt rotten and can throw quite the stamping paddy paw tantrum when things don't go quite his way.  I guess he has no smaller kits to play with so us big cats have to tell him how to act and being brought up by three CatWomen who were also spoilt is proving to be just adding fuel to the fire. I was an only child like LLD so I have no boundaries at all where people are concerned, I am in their face and will teach him to be as such.  Then there is his Mother who was from a family of four girls and at 11weeks old began to get sickly with a cat milk allergy, so she had to be hand fed to bring her back to health making her a right little madam.  When she screamed, ManSlave came running.  She is teaching LLD these traits.  Then there is Tyga, She was a litter of two girls and all the way through her kitten hood she was picked out as a show kitty and with these big ideas in her head she shows LLD how to play and be cute and look pristine all the time.  

There is one other cat in the mix, he is also a kitten himself, not that you would know it!  He is clumpy and bumble footed and crashes through everything. He has no manners and is so clumsy - all this because he is so BIG for his age.  Other than his size, he is also sweet natured and lovable and enjoys chewing LLD's leggies and giving him a good rough game.  I have to say about Ikon that his English is really good now, he still squeaks with an accent which sounds ever so funny compared to our trills.  He has grasped the basics  with NO being top priority for his biting and sometimes Momma says it in Polish and he REALLY knows she means it.  His biting has subsided now that neither ManSlave nor Momma play those games with him and use other toys to distract him.  He still tries to bit if you trim his claws - he in not one for a Mani-pedi and has a short fuse. 

He knows OUT, usually from the office.  He knows IN, usually from outside.  IKON COME ON - means he gets ducky treats.  IKON IKON IKON IKON means there is meat in the bathroom for him at lunch and dinner.  He is learning OFF, mainly from the kitchen sides as he gets pushy when Momma is cooking.  He goes all still and non bendy when the OFF word is used and a help down from the work top several times with an OFF is working.   He almost had Momma A-over-T on the stairs so now he has added DOWN DOWN DOWN to his repertoire of English words.  He races down like a good boy and waits at the bottom to attack the hoomans feet instead.  He wraps his body around their ankles and bites their socks and the Hoomans just walk along, dragging on one foot a Polish duster. He really is a hoot.  When he gets bored he makes this sound like a duck.  He wanders around slighting quacking until he finds something to do.  It is a really cute sound and nothing any of us have heard before.  

We have only really just trained Tyga to behave in a orderly fashion and being a girl, she was quick to learn and enjoys praise.  I went through a stage of hating her on sight and she didn't fit in at all and everyone picked on her.  Then I got sick and she came and looked after me.  Then she got sick ans I looked after her.  Sometimes Flaire can be very mean to her and Ikon is a bit heavy pawed.  She is very strong for a small cat and really wallops him.  He is two months younger and he is twice her size, but still she keeps him at bay.  Tyga is a proper little lady, not at all like me really, she is not in any way a tomboy, which I am glad of really.  She does have this funny habit of screaming in a high pitched wale to get attention and it is usually when she needs a quick cuddle. It is very endearing really.   Tyga is great at teaching LLD too, she plays really sweetly with him and lets him share her toys and gallops about in the cat tunnels at high speed.  She is the only one out of the three kittens to not stand on the computer keyboard and doesn't stand on the bread boards either.  I guess LLD, once allowed into the kitchen,  will be all over the joint! 

Speaking of joints, I can smell something yummy roasting away for lunch.  We all get a little nibble and I am guessing today is turkey!  I shall nip downstairs and poke my head into the hot pan when ManSlave brings it out for basting and I may get a sneaky taste if he is feeling generous .  He is always generous when Ikon is about, so I may train him to come with me on a Sunday to help seal the deal of a turkey snack.   Heavens above, my mouth is watering at the thought of it now.   Right....Ikon Ikon Ikon Ikon.....come hither me mighty pal and off we shall trot for a nobble of a noble turkey breast. 

Bye for now my loyal subjects and enjoy your Sunday roast too - be it meat or nut.

The eternally hungry Queen Vee ^..^=

Nothing moves faster than a sleeping hooman hearing a kitten about to vomit in their bed.  Darnley  had obviously eaten way too much for his dinner at 10pm the night before and pushing his Mother, Flaire, from her bowl in a bid to guzzle hers down too.  Seriously, for an 8 week old kitten, he sure can pack it away!  I watch him every meal time and he eats like a kitten possessed.

Momma woke up quick smart, collected up a heaving Darnley, swung her legs out of bed,  smashing her feet on the cat post at the end of the bed.  Holding a now emptying kitten over her left hand to be sick into, she climbs out of bed, untangling her feet from the scratch post.  The watery bit drips through her fingers and onto her bare legs. She can feel it running to her ankle rather than see it, because it it pitch black.  He heaves again and with not enough room in her hand she staggers in the pitch black to the hard surface of the kitten pen.  She curses, treading on a spring toy which immediately wrapped it's self about her toes.  As she flicks her foot to try and dislodge it she cracks her knee on the same scratch post as she heads for the kitten pen!  They makes it just in time, ish, for his second hewie which just misses the top of the kitten pen by millimeters and lands squarely on Momma's foot.  Well, at least it is not on the carpet!

Then again the poor little soul gives his last two ickies onto well placed bits of kitchen towel this time.  Then, he backs away at speed, Momma steadies him whilst walking on her heel to stop the kitten sick getting onto the carpet and wiping her shin at the same time.  He is empty - and once the light is on, not much damage really.  The extra bit of stolen adult food and some liquid is all. 

Momma squished his belly about and gave him some electrolyte water that was all ready made in the fridge and a dollop of vitamin paste for good measure.  He just ran about then at 3.56am until the birds began to sing sun rose at 4.43am.  Darnley didn't seem at all bothered about his recent emptyage and left Momma wiping and disinfecting herself and the surfaces everything had touched and washing her legs and feet in the sink with a small kitten following her back and forth with pure excitement of something new in the middle of the night.  

During all this time, Flaire, Tyga nor I even opened an eye or came to their aid. Nope. Not our problem. God job he was sleeping in Momma's arms and not in the kitten bed with us or we would have been subjected to the bout of watery mess instead.  We would have just decamped and moved beds and not said a word until wash day.  We think Momma is a hero the way she fumbles through the dark with her useless human eyes and doing the bumblers shuffle from foot to foot sweeping toys from her path.   For now, we close our eyes tighter and tighter against the light and tuck our heads under our paws so as not to be disturbed, all the while chuckling at her misfortune.  

Then, not two nights hence, Tyga throws a hurl whilst cuddled up with Momma.  This time she was unceremoniously plonked onto a feeding mat. We don't know why she was sick? It was just two heaves and watery mush and since then nothing. Only possible explanation is Momma was lazy and gave snax out of Flaire's food that evening and being made from potato, they don't suit every one or she does get very hot snuggled under the blankie?  But seriously.  Flaire was sleeping on that feeding mat too, she looked indignant and smacked poor Tyga on the head but Momma held her fast.  Flaire eventually gave in and moved.  Again, it was the crack of dawn and there is nothing worse than being woken for such matters, so I took Darnley into the kitten bed, with Flaire soon following and watched the merry dance in the dark and then the clean up from slitted eyes.  Tyga was happy to follow Momma about and feeling much perkier brought her ducky toy to play.  No one the worse for wear. Only the poor washing machine!

Of course, because we are rudly awakened so early, it is only right that just a few hours later, we invest our time and energy into waking Momma.  The only way to do this is either deliver chocolate gold into the nearest litter tray or begin a good game of chase which starts on the landing, the stairs, then around the kitten room and over a slumbering Momma and now Darnley is 8weeks old, he too can join in.  We make sure that each of us that jump over her uses her chest or full bladder as a spring board.  She will turn over then making the jump more fun and there is nothing better than bouncing from her shoulder blades or giving her a good scratch on her ribs as we pass.  It soon pokes the bear enough into rising and opening the curtains fully.  I say fully as we can only do a part job climbing and parting them.  Once she stretches and meows like a cat, I race over and stick my sniffer into her yawning mouth and she laughs and then we all fall about sleepily ready to settle for a quicky nap before breakfast.

There is much to be said for a lay in. It is OK for us, we can sleep anytime of day and readily do.  However, the fun is watching Momma sloth about for most of the morning cleaning up our nightly doings and setting the feeders for the day, coffee in hand, she opens the office and we are in like rats up drainpipes, to our stations for power naps and pen pinching!

Lots of purrs from your unsickly Queen Vee =^..^=

Life is like a box of chocolates as Forrest Gump expressed and to prove that Ikon had another superb weekend.  This time at the Merseyside Show, oooop North Momma said.  It wasn't quite as far as Poland for Ikon but he soon made his voice known the entire journey, which Momma said was a bit loud as he tried to out sing her many times.  

He didn't really want to be in his little show pen and certainly was a bit bonkers ripping his pen number from his cage door many times as well as scraping his bedding into a heap.  Momma walked away and watched him from a distance and then had to leave to start judging at which point he popped back to his bed.  

All day he was such a good boy and really played his crowd. He purred for everyone and lay in their arms as well as being a little live wire trying to dash from the judges table and yelling at full volume.  He was judged many times because, not only did he get his first place, but the Best of Breed too and then went on to the main ring to be judged for best of variety where he collected a special rosette for Section 4 Kitten.  He jumped about and yelled his head off telling everyone how excited he was and he was a winner winner turkey dinner.

He was also very happy, if not a little tired by now, receiving a special award from the President of the club who wished their award of a beautiful hand made cushion being presented to either a Colourpoint or a Devon Rex of which Ikon was both!! It really made his day and he presented this to ManSlave when he got home to put in the blue bedroom and then promptly lay on it.

To celebrate his day even further, award winning photographer, Shirlaine Forrest, was there taking photos of not pop stars and celebs, but our very own pussers and you can tell she has a real passion and drive for her work and certainly understands patience with getting that purrfect shot!   We would like to say a huge thanks to Shirlaine for some incredible images of Ikon and his pillow and rosettes as well as photos of him being judged on the table. 

Ikon is proving himself to be a good boy at shows. However, that did not stop him singing WINNER WINNER TURKEY DINNER all the way home and then getting in and yelling behind his bedroom door that he was the best and squeaking and yelling that his turkey dinner needed to be served on a silver platter now that he is twice Best of Variety Kitten and been photographed by not one but two leading photographers now!   I swear his head has puffed out even more and he will no longer be able to get in the litter tray, he will have to back in to tiddle. Having said that, he had taken to tiddling in the larger shower last week which ManSlave put a stop to! 

Momma says he must not forget his roots and keep humble. He will be humble once he has done 10 circuits of the house, rosette in mouth like some show horse doing a lap of honour at HOYS.  Once he has calmed down, eaten more turkey dinner, then he might be humble?  Momma said he has another show soon and not every judge is going to think his totally delicious and kissable.  Watch this space!

​Lots of love from your Queen Vee =^..^=

If you would like your cat photographed by Shirlaine, you can contact her via her website or look out for her at the GCCF Supreme SHow in November: -  https://www.shirlaine.co.uk/cat-shows
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