The Naughty Tortie

Anyone who knows me, and has therefore had the fortune of being introduced to my Tortoiseshell cat Jasmine, will know that our relationship has been rocky.

My Mum and I rescued Jazzy from the wonderful NANNA (Northampton Animals  Needing Nurturing & Adoption) centre over 6 years ago. She was approximately 10 months old and had been abandoned at the side of a dual carriageway 4 months previously. From the second I picked her up, looked into her big amber eyes and she clawed a hole out of my new jumper, it was love.
She is not the easiest cat to live with. She only wants contact with humans when she initiates it; you must never approach her. If she does approach you for affection you must lavish it upon her unreservedly. When she has had enough, she will let you know by biting you and running off. She will only eat cat food that is served in jelly, and when she has watched you open the packet so she knows it is completely fresh. She will not return to the house if she thinks you want her to. Only when you seem uninterested and stop calling her name (and possibly pretend to be engrossed in a phone call as my Mum once had to do when we were on holiday) will she very slowly make her way back.

A visit to the vets with her last week was particularly embarrassing, and unusually for her, she showed her true colours in public. She gripped her claws into my long blonde hair, hissed at the vet, launched herself at the window in a bid to escape (which pulled down the blinds), then hid behind a fridge.  The vet nervously joked that she’s one of the “naughty torties” she was warned about at college! I have decided that now, at 6 and a half years old she will not be getting those booster injections again, as I’m sure the stress of getting them must outweigh any benefits. And when I talk of the stress, I mean for me and the vet.

All of this aside, I would not be without her. She brings so much happiness to our lives, and she’s great for warming the bed before you get in. My husband who “didn’t like cats” before we got her would probably give his Playstation to save her (and that is saying something).  I miss her terribly when I go away even though when I’m gone she seems to like to sleep on my side of the bed, spooning my husband.  Every now and then she’ll let her guard down and have a big snuggle with her mummy… I like to think she loves me most…

Lisa x