He was named
after Beatrix Potter's squirrel because of his bushy tail. It is a name
that has achieved a certain poignancy now that he has been castrated. |
arrived with Ross and I at
Kimberley Avenue at Easter 2003.
He had previously belonged to our nextdoor neighbour, Jamie. |
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After a year, he is still a delight and a love. And there is clearly
a mutual adoration society going on between him and Ross.
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As he has continued to grow, Nutkin's curiosity has not diminished.
Here he has managed to insert himself into Ross's filing cabinet.
Whether he chose C for cat or N for Nutkin
remains unreported.
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Initially, Nutkin was quite put out by the arrival of Jemima (see below) in September
2004. However, within a couple of weeks, he had mellowed and was playing games with her,
sniffing her rear, grooming her and generally acting a parental fashion.
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They continued in glorious pussy companionship right throughout the winter, although
Nutkin has become very guarded about his private time and often asks to sleep in
our bedroom on his own out of Jemima's way. He tells us that he is not looking forwards
to Jemima joining him outside as he thinks that the responsibility will be too much
for him to bear.
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By December 2006, Nutkin was over four years old and was a fully grown male tom cat
- albeit a neutered one. Fiercely protective of Jemima and loving of his independence,
he is nevertheless a big softie who loves being picked up and hugged. He has gradually
overcome his fear of all visitors to the house and now greets certain arrivals, like
my parents and Ross's brother, Sam, with
positive indulgence.
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On Wednesday 15 September 2004, I received an email at work from
Ross to say that he had been to
Freshfields Animal Rescue and had fallen in love with a little kitten.
By the Saturday, she had come to live with us and, keeping the Beatrix
Potter theme, was called Jemima.
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Jemima immediately took to the presence of an older cat in the house and watched
Nutkin (see above) to learn essential feline behaviour such as how to groom your back
legs without falling over. After an initial frostiness, the two of them began spending
lots of time together sleeping, playing and grooming.
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The winter of 2004/5 brought many feline escapades - notably the shredding of the
paper lantern in the hall. Jemima is pure mischief; there is not a box unentered, a
plant unchewed, a fabric surface unscratched or a game unplayed. We are all just
waiting for the moment that she can be spayed and then she can go outside and
wreak her brand of havoc outside.
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February 2005 saw Jemima come on heat for the first time. Luckily for us, her displays
were not extreme but there was a lot of fanny waving and Nutkin became most disturbed
and excited by the lewd posturing.
Off she went to the vets for her operation and then we had a fortnight of her wearing
this cloth collar to prevent her from tugging at her stitches. Variously, she looked
like Elizabeth I, a little girl in a party frock and one of those strange lizard things
from Jurasic Park.
She became very adept at rotating the collar by scratching at it until the tags
underneath were under her chin. She would then use her front paw to push the tags
through to the front where she would then chew and tug at them until she had undone them.
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By December 2006, Jemima had grown into a gorgeous, adult female cat. She likes
lying on the bed with Ross and I in the morning. She likes stretching out on the
radiators to warm her bones. She likes climbing trees. She likes jumping out of
trees and onto Nutkin. She likes to carry her small stuffed toys around the
house like a little girl with her dolls. She likes to bite chunks out of
cardboard boxes. She has grown to like being picked up and cuddled though she
still sometimes complains. All in all, she likes living at
Kimberley Avenue.
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Into 2009, Jemima continues to like warming herself on the top of the radiator during the
cooler months and chewing on the odd newspaper if she can find one.
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She still condescends to sleep on our bed with Nutkin.
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