Friday 23 December 2011

The Perils of owning a Burmese kitten

It's a good few years since I've owned a cat and I'm not too sure what prompted me to decide that it was high time to experience those joys again.  Perhaps it was the idea of a gently purring cat curled up on my kneee in the evening.  After all, it's not quite the same for a fully grown Staffy to do that even though it's nice that she lies happily at your feet.
So after much humming and hahing I went off to a breeder and picked out my kitten. (Well, I should say he picked me). 
I was drawn to him because he obviously had a personality crisis and thought he was a parrot.  He got on my shoulder and no amount of moving him would keep him off.  I should have read those warning signs!
I finally picked him up a week ago at age 15 weeks - a magnificent little Lilac Burmese boy and named him Parker (we seem to have a propensity for surnames for animals in the family).
In this week I find that I love him dearly, he does sleep, purring,on my lap but I'm starting to look like I've been dragged through rose bushes.  My neck, shoulders and arms are a patchwork of scratches.  It's not that he's vicious or even scratching during play - he just loves to sit on my shoulder and this includes jumping there from great distances - and his aim isn't always spot on!!!!
He's already established that he's boss of the poor dog who is a bit wary of him.  He ignores Lucky most of the time, even to the degree of chasing toys around the floor while she's watching but the minute she goes too close, up go the hackles and a hiss and "where's that shoulder gone....?"
I bought him a state-of-the-art kitty litter tray.  $90 worth, Italian design.  Virtually the Ferrari of kitty litter trays and he won't use it unless the fancy lid with the filters etc is OFF.  Luckily I saw him crossing his legs and dancing around before he had a nasty accident!
One of his favoured playtimes seems to be about 3am.  After two nights of being pounced on (Sean Connery where are you???) I now shut the door between the bedrooms and living area when I go to bed.  However, he waits his chance for when I get up to let the dog out and he's waiting for me when I get back.  I think the bathroom is going to be the next closed door.  He won't come too close when I'm in the shower but a couple of times he's crouched as though he's about to jump as I've dried myself...ouch!!!
The computer is the biggest bone of contention between us though.  He will NOT stay off the keyboard.  He's changed the font size to minute, he's opened twenty three versions of Google at the same time and makes his own status updates on Facebook.  He frequently just turns the whole thing off.  He had that error sound bleeping at him the other day and was frantically trying to find out where it was coming from and he's sat next to a scrolling screen with his paw up trying to stop the movement.


He's nearly as bad with the iPad, tapping the screen with his paw while I'm reading a book and turning the page over!

Life has certainly changed in this household, but as I look at him, peacefully sleeping on the top level of his scratching pole/cat gym and looking so innocent I have to say it's all for the better.  maybe oneday Lucky will agree with me!!!!