TABITHA

Tabitha, known variously as Tabby or Tabs, is the sweetest, loveliest cat in the whole world, as far as I'm concerned. She has just turned six, although I have only had her for six weeks; she was previously owned by a work colleague.

The first thing to say about her is that she poses no threat at all to the local wildlife. There is a hedgehog which wanders around sometimes in the evenings, which completely terrifies her. She watches, but always from a distance and usually having tried spitting and snarling first. She ran away from a small rat. And the other day, she found a vole. It was just sitting there, doing nothing, and she sat and watched it. When it moved, she jumped back as if shot; she was far more scared of it than it of her. Basically, she wanted to play. She was fascinated, rather than lethal. When it wandered off across the road, she trotted after it quite happily until it disappeared into the long grass, and then came back. I did try telling her she was supposed to be a cat, but she didn't take any notice. There again, I'd rather she didn't go round murdering the other living residents, so I should be grateful.

The only living things in any danger are moths, which she catches, eats and then spits out in disgust. Recently she tried to catch one which had settled on the ceiling by jumping up from the floor. She didn't get her own height off the ground, and gave a pathetic whimper when she realised she had missed her target. I laughed, which she seemed to find very scary.

Tabs had always had a cat-flap, so when I had one fitted I thought she'd be fine with it. I showed her, she looked and then looked away. I then went to the shop and, when I came back, found that she had managed to get out, but couldn't work out how to get back in; even when I showed her, she waited for me to open the door. I am pleased to say that she has now mastered this very tricky concept and is able to come and go as she pleases.

Other than that, I can only say that the two adjectives which best describe her are timid and greedy. She hides when people come near the house, or even worse into the house. She would eat non-stop if she had the chance. But she is sweet and lovely, and of course I'm not obsessed. Of course not...

More to follow on Tabby when she next does something worth the telling!

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Written by Jon Renyard
Last updated 11 August 1999