Friday, April 4, 2014

maftet


This is Maftet when I found her. She's much cleaner now. She was hiding under a bin. Near the scene of a murder, yes, but not actually in it. Sherlock was disappointed to learn she didn't eat any of the body. The rest of us were relieved. Although if she had, you could hardly blame her. She was clearly hungry. Poor skinny little thing.

I didn't really check her for fleas before I picked her up and tucked her in my jacket. Just got lucky. Maybe she hadn't been a stray for long. She seemed friendly enough. Still does, despite minor damage done to L's hand...

I am definitely not spoiling her, don't listen to him. She needs toys just as much as the dogs do. And maybe if she has a bed she'll be less likely to want to sleep wrapped around my head. I worry I might roll over on her. Greg claims to worry she'll take his eye out in the middle of the night.

She and the dogs are still wary of each other. Deimos tried to play with her earlier and knocked her over. With his tongue. She puffed up and hissed, and they both ran away, Deimos to hide behind the sofa and Maftet to hide on my shoulder. It's going to be interesting, by which I mean painful, the first time she tries to climb me when I'm not fully dressed.

Anyhow, she's in and out and down with Mrs Hudson or security half the day. Greg still refers to her as 'my' cat (or my pussy...), but she's not really. We do seem to be keeping her though.

75 comments:

Greg Lestrade said...

Fairly sure she's keeping us, actually. And training us.

John H. D. Watson said...

She seems to be doing it quite well so far, yes.

Greg Lestrade said...

Don't they say dogs have owners and cats have servants?

John H. D. Watson said...

They do...although you don't have to walk cats and pick up their poo in a bag.

Greg Lestrade said...

True... you have to worry where they've gone when all goes quiet and pick their poo out of a tray!

And I know she can't jump on the bed by herself yet, so hold you fully liable for any removal of my eyeballs by her claws! She was fine in her box until she started eating the cardboard. She definitely needs her own bed. An inedible one.

John H. D. Watson said...

It's not my fault, she sounds so sad when I don't pick her up.

Greg Lestrade said...

I shall sound sad when she's rolling my eyeball around the floor as a new toy.

REReader said...

Awww...no WAY could you leave that poor skinny sad kitty on the street!

Cats and dogs...

Mycroft said...

Sound sad, yes. But you won't be crying much.

Greg Lestrade said...

...thanks, partner!

John H. D. Watson said...

Ha!

Greg Lestrade said...

Knew you'd take her side.

You just wait until I sew catnip into your clothes.

Mycroft said...

I believe this sums up Lestrade's view.

Greg Lestrade said...

It does!

Hey, Mycroft, think I should tell John about that thing I told you about earlier? I mean....he can't get any big ideas with being daddy to the moglet, right?

Mycroft said...

I believe it would be safe. But I make no promises.

John H. D. Watson said...

Thing...?

Greg Lestrade said...

Thing.

One of my DCs has a brother...who is currently biking around the world. He's thirty...eight? nine? days in, just reached Belgrade, started in Derby. I thought it would stir up your wanderlust.

And when I say biking...I mean on a bicycle. With all his gear. Solo.

John H. D. Watson said...

That does sound like fun...

Greg Lestrade said...

Sounds insane!

And Maftet would need her own pannier.

Anonymous said...

I admit I've thought about doing insane things like that on my bike. But I think first will be Ride the Rockies (a 5-day ride in Colorado that covers something like 470 miles and 10,000 vertical feet), and we'll see if that sates my thirst for insanity.

Also, I feel like Lestrade might like this better than John, but it seems appropriate: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/cat_kill

Ella

Greg Lestrade said...

Ella - I'm fairly sure you don't need to be able to 'tell' - cats just are planning to kill you.

Maftet is slowly learning that sitting on John's hands/keyboard not only forces him to give her attention, but is also warm. She clearly to employ him as her blogger. Then kill him, once her followers number in the millions.

Cartlin said...

I believe it, Greg. My dog may snore, hog the bed, and refuse to go outside alone, but I know he'll never assassinate me.

Greg Lestrade said...

She attempted to lick John's hair into order this morning. Wisely she's waiting a while to try the same on mine.

There may be a rift developing in their relationship though. She licked a knife clean of marmite dregs too. Good taste, moglet.

Anonymous said...

Maftet doesn't need to kill anyone, she's clearly capable of keeping everyone in her thrall by sheer cuteness. By the time she's outgrown that kitteny cute, the entire household will be entirely cowed.

You'll know it's out of hand when someone searches online for marmite flavored cat food.

Hope today is another good day for all. I am pleased with my day. My son & his girlfriend will be using my house as their home base for her spring break - she's a teacher - and she arrives today!

fA

Unknown said...

nice pic, what a beautiful kitty, even in her pre-adopted/cleaned up state. :)
the difference between cats and dogs is thus:
the dog sees that the person feeds him, walks him, provides fresh water at all times and a nice place to sleep, in short, all the dog's needs are met. the dog thinks "wow, this person must be some kind of god!"
The cat sees that the person feeds her, provides fresh water and nice places to sleep, things to play with, in short all her needs are met. She thinks "I must be some kind of god."
I can very easily believe she's got the dogs in line already. :)
The thought of a long bike trip with the cat in a pannier, :D not sure I'd be brave enough to try that!
S

Anon Without A Name said...

She licked a knife clean of marmite dregs too.

As if further proof were needed that cats are evil :-p

John H. D. Watson said...

I have a relevant poll up...

Greg Lestrade said...

she's gone up in my estimations.

I will try to feed her Marmite before she licks John's hair next time.

John H. D. Watson said...

eugh, marmite hair

Greg Lestrade said...

We'd both enjoy you more if you had Marmite hair ;)

She does seem to be okay with the dogs, doesn't she? I mean, given she's so small and they're so huge and clumsy.

John H. D. Watson said...

She'll probably be using them as transportation in a few weeks.

Mycroft said...

My dogs are not clumsy.

Anonymous said...

John, your poll is hilarious.

I love that while my answer is ambiguous, you had a category that worked. So many professional surveys fail at this. (I like marmite and am indifferent to cats as a class while loving certain individual cats.)

fA

Cartlin said...

Mycroft, what would you call it?

Mycroft said...

The flat is just too small for them to adequately express themselves via tail movements.

And the corners are too sharp to allow their safe passage when in a rush.

John H. D. Watson said...

To be fair, L has trouble with that occasionally too...

Greg Lestrade said...

I don't understand how they don't hurt their tails, smashing them against walls/doors/table legs when they wag that hard.

Greg Lestrade said...

Danger - trouble with which part??

Cartlin said...

As for the poll, I dislike marmite, as for cats, due to my allergy I avoid them and try to convince myself they are evil in order to try and keep myself from being sad I can't have one....so, I think I needed an option of It's Complicated.

John H. D. Watson said...

L - the tail wagging, obviously.

Anonymous said...

My friend's dog did cut her tail open wagging it too hard on something when she was a puppy. And then there followed the usual problems of her containing to bash her tail on things, getting blood everywhere, but also chewing off anything we tried to put on her tail to stop that happening. The Cone of Shame had to be employed.

Ella

Greg Lestrade said...

One of the search dogs at work had to go on sick leave because it strained its tail by wagging it too hard actually...

Cartlin said...

BWAHAHAHA! My sister's dog (a Mastiff mix) is the same way. My dog's tail is too thick at the base to wag enough do much damage....
Though I'm suddenly reminded of when he slipped in the yard, onto his tail. It's the only time he seriously bit me for trying to touch him...but I can't blame him, he had severely sprained it. It's still a bit crooked.

Greg Lestrade said...

Maftet just saw herself on John's computer screen and hissed...

Sherlock said...

Can we buy her a laser and a lead so we can go on walks?

Cartlin said...

Awesome idea, Sherlock!

Greg Lestrade said...

I've got a cat and a doctor asleep on me.

Small Hobbit said...

Aw, sweet! What more could you want?

Greg Lestrade said...

It's all good. Except a dog may eat John.

Maf opens an eye when a dog comes close and has her ears up all the time. John's not stirring. No sense of self preservation.

Anonymous said...

No sense of self preservation? Or maybe he's secure in the knowledge of which you'll choose to save, between him & the cat, should a dog lose its mind and act menacing.

fA

Cartlin said...

....that wold be above and beyond fA, that's just asking for serious PAIN.

Greg Lestrade said...

I'd choose to save myself ;)

Bit miserable here today. We might go and see the boat race...but probably not.

Might go for a swim instead.

Greg Lestrade said...

Even more miserable now. We've thrown the season away. Might not even get Champion's League now.

Football, nothing but heartache!

pandabob said...

Was the swim better than the football Greg? Or the boat race whichever you decided on.

I hope the day's been ok even with the miserable weather.

Greg Lestrade said...

The boat race was better! Well done Oxford.

And the swim was good.

Cartlin said...

They used race boats on the ake on the 4th of July, but I must confess, I was never able to get into it enough to find watching enjoyable.

Cartlin said...

Lake, I meant the LAKE my grandma lived on.

Desert Wanderer said...

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Then it's a game called "Find the Eye."

Greg Lestrade said...

Hey DW. I'm fairly sure with all the animals here I'd never find the eye, sadly.

Hope you're doing okay?

Desert Wanderer said...

I'm back in the US, yes, for 9 days now. Major life changes coming up. It's....an interesting time.

At least I have about 9 months of blogs to catch up on! :)

On another note, I was in Doc's old stomping grounds, and I happened upon an interesting engraving in a portaloo there. It said "Goats wrangled and fed, J3CW for info" and a phone number. Nothing to do with you, Doc, I assume?

Greg Lestrade said...

sure it didn't say 'rustled and fed'? You should have called the number ;)

Cartlin said...

Lol! DW glad to see you home and safe. Having caught up on the blogs over the past several weeks myself, I'm very happy to see you've returned to the blogs, as your brand of humor is often what has me laughing!

Desert Wanderer said...

I'm sure the scene hasn't been the same since Doc left. The rustling scene, I mean...

John H. D. Watson said...

DW - at least it didn't say 'for a good time with goats call...' I think there was one of those too.

Welcome back! I almost said welcome home - and you are home but not here, but also, well, here...ish. Anyway. I hope you're doing well.

REReader said...

DW! How the heck are you?!

Desert Wanderer said...

That one may have been in the male portaloo. ;)

As well as can be expected, thanks. You know what it's like coming back, everything is the same and nothing is, including you. My dog has a new collar, for Pete's sake!

Cartlin said...

You make very good points, Greg....do you think ske has some kind of radar or something?

Anonymous said...

DW! I wasn't commenting (was reading from the beginning forwards) when you were last here, but you've been missed! This most recent cat-related surge of completely innocent badinage suffered from your absence. I think we disappoint the good DI, sometimes.

Hope your life changes go well. Better than it is reasonable to expect, even.

fA

Greg Lestrade said...

I'm very rarely disappointed.

Cartlin said...

I'm sure the Doc takes care of that. ;)

Desert Wanderer said...

Thanks, guys. It's good to be back. :)

I agree, AK.

REReader said...

It's very good to have you back, DW.

Piplover said...

Welcome back, DW!

Unknown said...

Welcome home to the blogs, desert wanderer! i have thought of you in your absence, hoped all was well, good to "see" you! yes, we have missed your humor, you'll see we tried our best but... well, we missed you! :)
S

tresta said...

Congratulations, John and family, on your new little one. Cats easily top my "best things in the world" list. She's lucky to have you. And you are all lucky to have her.

The reason cats don't ever smell as bad as (wet) dogs do? They bathe themselves, as you know. And they have something in their saliva that keeps them clean and free of smells. I imagine it goes to their past as lone hunters; can't catch much if you smell of blood and feathers, or blood and anything else!

This question was asked on your blog many moons ago; I have been re reading a bit. So there you go!

Also, was thinking of you, John, because Nov 11 is Veterans Day in the US. So glad you are home and safe.

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