Our girl Muffy

Our beautiful Birman Muffy seems to be feeling the cold this winter.  On these cold mornings we often see her sitting as close as she can get to the Night-store Heater in the hallway.  If she got any closer she would burn her nose!  This type of heater uses slightly cheaper off peak power to heat the  bricks inside, and then the heat is released during the day .

Muffy in the hallway

It was time for her annual check up and vaccinations so we made an appointment and took her to the vet.  I mentioned that I felt Muffy had slowed down a lot recently, but thank goodness she was declared quite fit and well, and her joints seem to be free of arthritis and she moves  well.  We were reminded that she is in fact an elderly cat at 15 years old and that is probably why she is a little slower these days.  Muffy spends a lot more time curled up on one or other of our laps these winter evenings and loves to keep close by.  I think she just needs to know that her humans are near and ready to answer to her every request.  So she will continue to sleep on our bed and come away in the caravan with us when we go tripping away. 

It doesn’t seem that long when she first came into our lives as a little fluffy kitten.  She is a Sealpoint Birman with a pedigree name of “Acalypha Mufasa”, her sire was “Leegrgo Lord Apollo” and her mother was “Leegrgo Casper”.  Way back in 1997 when she was only 6 months old we entered Muffy in her first (and last) cat show, not just any old cat show, but the National Cat Show.  Muffy was shampooed, blow dried, brushed, combed and generally fussed over, to make her debut at the show.  First came a vet check to ensure that the cats were healthy, and a little yellow sticker to this fact was added to her cage number.  Then at last the judge came and picked Muffy up, gave her a good going over, and she was then returned to her cage.  I was flabbergasted that our little princess was not placed at all!  How could that be?  After our disappointment we wandered around to check out the other cats.  Muffy’s father was at the show too, and I carefully carried Muffy over to make his acquaintance, after all, no-one should have to go through life not knowing who their father is, should they?  Apollo was a very handsome fellow but he was dozing the afternoon away and not at all interested in one of his many offspring.  We returned her to the cage and went to watch the Best of Show awards.  Although Muffy wasn’t placed at all, she could bask in some reflected glory.  The Supreme Longhair Best in Show was her half brother! Good old Dad Apollo, he certainly sired a winner there!

Muffy now comes away in the caravan with us, and is getting to be a much travelled cat.  With her harness and light lead, she is safely tethered in case she takes fright and tries to run away.  She has settled down to caravan life very well and is quite content to curl up inside the caravan and snooze the day away.  All our caravan training has paid off and next year we plan to take her on our South Island Odyssey for several months, we are sure that she will take this in her stride.

On the caravan bed

If it’s open, she’s checking it out