(Fred enjoying a game of chess)

Since the rainy season began the stray cats seem to be settling into their new home with us. There’s a small problem with fighting, though. Only small, because they seem to have the hierarchy sorted. My favourite, the black and white one who arrived with the diamond studded collar (not real diamonds…) is the bottom of the pile… and she knows it. She moves out of the way when the other two come close. Difficult to continue eating when another cat is biting your back but she manages.

(Diamond stray… really shouldn’t be on the table)

The competition for top cat (remember Top Cat?) is still raging between our original cat, Fred and the other stray. (By the way we still haven’t given the strays names, because we haven’t checked with all neighbours in a kilometre radius.) So, back to Fred and the black stray, I think Fred has a slight lead, and it might be because of his very advantageous ability to growl – he sounds very like a dog.

(Black stray having a sleep after long play with his teddy)

We’ve had cats since we got married so we understand that they are all different but having three at the same time really makes it clear. Fred is haughty and doesn’t like to be picked up and will meow loudly and scratch and bite if you try. He also doesn’t like to sit on my knee (he will sit on a visitor’s knee but only if they have previously mentioned that they don’t like cats…..) My diamond stray loves to be picked up and will stop meowing loudly when picked up. She also loves to sit on my knee. She also loves to play for long periods (five minutes is long for a cat) with a plastic cannon ball. The black stray loves to play with a teddy Ciara brought me from Harrods, he’s the only one who likes it, he also likes dry cat food which diamond stray won’t touch.

Anyway, I was thinking, we’re all unique, even cats, we don’t have to be like anyone else.

Celebrate your uniqueness, Mairead.