Came home to an empty house

We've been on holiday, 10 glorious days touring mainland Europe. But my, coming home to an empty house with no cats was very difficult. The house feels cold and empty. There's no lap cuddles, demands for petting and treats and accusing stares. We miss them.

Kipling would often sit on the garage waiting for one of us to get home, he thought it was a great hiding place. Also, the garage roof was a lovely sun trap. What more could King of the Mumu want?

Another favourite waiting place for Kipling was the side of the house, he'd poke his head round the corner to check out who had arrived home.



Tikki was always a more leisurely cat. Older in years and wiser with her affections. She would wait for us to come to her.

She'd often be found in one of her nests. The nests were often ones she'd made herself. Without a doubt her favourite was the Ikea bag full of odd socks. We were never sure if she was guarding us from the socks or claiming them as her own. Suffice to say that, once she's spent time in the bag, the socks needed to be washed again.



I've been getting a cute fix from Miranda's Kittens. They'll be going to their Forever Homes soon, sad to see them go but happy their new lives will be starting.  As for paws for us, there will be some soon. Very soon!

Big Mu R.I.P.

Sadly, Kipling was P.T.S. on Tuesday 20 March. We found out, after a couple of visits to the V.E.T. that he had an inoperable tumour behind his left eye. This is what was causing the running nose. Even worse, his left eye was swollen and being pushed out of the socket. The left side of his face was swollen. We had time to say goodbye to him and had a weekend of feeding him all sorts of lovely Mu treats. We've lost both cats this past year and it's very hard. We miss having paws around the house. We will get more, but need time to get over Kipling and Tikki. I hope they're settled at Rainbow Bridge.

Kipling didn't start life as Kipling or as a Mumu. He was a rescue cat, he chose me when he was in Teckels Animal Sanctuary. The staff at Teckels thought he had been a pet, possibly when he was a kitten, but then had been feral for at least a year. A kind lady befriended him and rescued him to Teckels.

Initially named Baggie, short for Bagheera, I wanted a name that better reflected his personality. My lodger at the time commented that naming him would be difficult, he was very much A Cat Who Walked By Himself. Clearly this name was too long, but the obvious link between his personality and his past name was Rudyard Kipling. So, it was decided that Kipling is his name, coupled with the fact that he made exceptionally good cuddles. The name proved very apt when, 3 years later, Tikki came to live with us. The literary link was complete. More on Tikki later.

But where does Mumu come from?  This is slightly more convoluted. Mou is the Greek for 'my', as in My Love or My Cat. So, for me, Kipling became Kipling Mou. An affectionate term for My Kipling. My OH pointed out that Mumu are black cats, and Kipling was the King of the Mumu.

Sneezy Time

Kipling suffers from a runny eye and a snotty nostril. Yes, nostril - not nose. His left eye and nostril run. He's been to vet and suffered all sorts of flushings and meds, but they still run. He's just sort of got used to it. It's harder for us to take in, I think.
It doesn't, however, detract from his joy of life. He still takes much pleasure from owning the controls and the best viewing seat.
Even when he's not actually watching, he commands the top seat.

He's getting on a bit, though. While not ancient, or even old, he's iro 14 (real age unknown due to him being a feral rescue) and starting to show a little more white on his black fur.