The first time I ever saw a kitten

I’ve already told you about when I met Pippin – the first time I ever saw a cat. Pippin needed some time to adjust to the idea of having a puppy in the house. Mulberry was a kitten and he was a lot more enthusiastic about the idea.

I’d been in my home for a few days when I met Mulberry. He is only a couple of months older than I am. One of the bipeds opened the kitchen door and Mulberry charged in and landed on my head, knocking me over! He seemed to think that I was a new toy for him. Once I got up again, we bounced around the room together. He jumped on my head a few more times – he seemed to find it amusing when I fell over. We had a lot of fun, but as soon as I was tired the biped took Mulberry away again and I had a nice nap.

Mulberry on his footstools!

I saw Mulberry at least once every day after that. He liked to climb in my water bowl and play with the water. We would play chase around the room, but he always jumped on a bench if I got close to catching him. He would then wait for me to sit still and he’d run across the room and land on my head – he could knock me over in this way until I was almost four months old, even though he was so much smaller than I was.

When I got a bit better at catching him, he invented a new game. He would sit on the bench in the kitchen and I would reach up with my face. He would tap me on the nose with his paws and I would try to touch him with my nose. When I could reach him more easily, he sat at the back of the bench so that I was still stretching. However good I got at this game, Mulberry always won – he made the rules and changed them when he wanted.

Then one day we’d been playing for a little while when I noticed that his tail was dangling down at the back of the bench. I put my head underneath the seat of the bench and gripped his tail firmly and tugged. He fell off the back of the bench onto the floor. I was sure I’d won this time! But Mulberry was cross, he immediately left the kitchen. He wouldn’t play with me for a few days after that. When he did decide to play with me again, he made sure to keep his tail tucked up on the bench.

He still changed the rules of the game all the time, but I didn’t mind because I enjoyed playing with him. I really thought that winning was going to be a lot more fun than it was – I missed playing with Mulberry. That’s how I learnt that cats make the rules of games and they reserve the right to change them at any time without telling you.

Tickle my tummy!

We still play a version of this game. Mulberry lies on his back on the sofa and I try to touch his tummy with my nose. He taps my nose with his paws, never a claw in sight. Visitors who don’t know us very well think it looks quite scary. Mulberry always says he’s won, but I don’t mind – it’s just fun to play together!

See you next Wednesday!