THE CATS AT HIGH COUNTRY HORS E TREKS.
Smudge
Smudge - The Co Owner!
Smudge is 11 years old and the boss cat. He also weighs 8kg...but we don't mention that to him.
I wouldn't want you to think that Smudge is actually fat, he isn't, just a very big, solid cat. It takes a lot of effort to supervise four young monsters and not lose face when suddenly pounced on. with no respect at all.
Widgit is very fond of Uncle Smudge. If you can find Smudge sunbathing somewhere - Widgit will be close by. Perhaps she thinks this is her missing mother?
I wouldn't want you to think that Smudge is actually fat, he isn't, just a very big, solid cat. It takes a lot of effort to supervise four young monsters and not lose face when suddenly pounced on. with no respect at all.
Widgit is very fond of Uncle Smudge. If you can find Smudge sunbathing somewhere - Widgit will be close by. Perhaps she thinks this is her missing mother?
Smudge May 2013
This is May 2013. Poor Smudge seemed very out of sorts and we took him to the vet last Saturday. He turned out to have an ENORMOUS abscess on his left side which needed immediate surgery. The thing he hates most is the plastic collar round his neck. However he is feeling better and only six days to go before the stitches come out. Get well soon Smudge!
By the way, Smudge was weighed at the vet's and he is down to 6.7kg, a very fit hunting cat in his prime!
By the way, Smudge was weighed at the vet's and he is down to 6.7kg, a very fit hunting cat in his prime!
Badger
Badger
Now four years old, thinks he's a dog. His best friend is Rex the dog and he doesn't understand why they have communication issues.....
Badger is on Rabbit Patrol at the moment. When the cat flap goes in the middle of the night I have to leap up to see what has arrived THIS time.
Last night's offering had me foxed for a while, feathers everywhere but no apparant bird. Eventually I cottoned on to watching Widgit, who was round and round the room searching for SOMEthing. And out from behind the sofa strolled a fully grown quail! Widgit actually didn't know how to catch such a big bird so I got it first, and bunged it in the cat basket. This morning it was set free unharmed. Heaven knows how Badger squeezed it through the cat flap!
Badger is on Rabbit Patrol at the moment. When the cat flap goes in the middle of the night I have to leap up to see what has arrived THIS time.
Last night's offering had me foxed for a while, feathers everywhere but no apparant bird. Eventually I cottoned on to watching Widgit, who was round and round the room searching for SOMEthing. And out from behind the sofa strolled a fully grown quail! Widgit actually didn't know how to catch such a big bird so I got it first, and bunged it in the cat basket. This morning it was set free unharmed. Heaven knows how Badger squeezed it through the cat flap!
Tigger
Nearly six years old now.. Best friends with Oscar, tormentor of Badger (the only one brave enough). Always out helping the staff, but not too keen on mud. Problematic for a cat living at a trekking yard.
Tigger has ended up the most cuddly of the cats and likes everyone, except next door's dog, Don, who he chases off as best a small cat can. If I am making mistakes on this keyboard, it is probably because Tigger is on my lap and "helping".
Tigger has ended up the most cuddly of the cats and likes everyone, except next door's dog, Don, who he chases off as best a small cat can. If I am making mistakes on this keyboard, it is probably because Tigger is on my lap and "helping".
Widgit
Widgit
Six years old now, along with her brother Oscar. Found abandoned on the road at 8 weeks old and near to death. Aspiring secretary, if you can't find a pen or pencil this is the cat to ask.
These days Widgit is a spooky little cat and likes to keep herself to herself. She comes in for tucker but is mostly out and about, hiding under the house or under a bush. She loves gardening and pops out to see me then.
When the other cats are bringing home mice and rabbits, Widgit brings me camelia flowers, which are somewhat nicer to retrieve than all the wriggly things!
2016 Widgit is a keen ornithologist. She doesn't CATCH them, but she sure likes to WATCH them. I feed a lot of birds every day and Widgit is on the job.
These days Widgit is a spooky little cat and likes to keep herself to herself. She comes in for tucker but is mostly out and about, hiding under the house or under a bush. She loves gardening and pops out to see me then.
When the other cats are bringing home mice and rabbits, Widgit brings me camelia flowers, which are somewhat nicer to retrieve than all the wriggly things!
2016 Widgit is a keen ornithologist. She doesn't CATCH them, but she sure likes to WATCH them. I feed a lot of birds every day and Widgit is on the job.
Oscar
Oscar
Six years old now, very cocky. When Badger and Smudge bring in live mice Oscar likes to play the slip fielder when the humans are trying to rescue and evict the mouse. DOE'S NOT LIKE worming tablets..... one. little. bit. Iron gauntlets needed.
Oscar is the most vocal of the kittens and miaows until he gets an answer, and then we have a duet for a few minutes. He is very cuddly, briefly before rushing off again.
Update. Christmas 2016. Oscar I am afraid has legged it apparently permanently. Earlier in the year he was away for longer and longer hunting trips and finally just didn't come home. If he ever touches civilisation he is micro chipped.
Oscar is the most vocal of the kittens and miaows until he gets an answer, and then we have a duet for a few minutes. He is very cuddly, briefly before rushing off again.
Update. Christmas 2016. Oscar I am afraid has legged it apparently permanently. Earlier in the year he was away for longer and longer hunting trips and finally just didn't come home. If he ever touches civilisation he is micro chipped.
How Do I Get Down Again?
That's what pine trees are for - getting well stuck, looking pathetic and begging the camera person for rescue.
Time Out For Sarah And Smudge
Off hand, I can't think of any time up here when I get to sit or lie down unmollested without cats and dogs appearing from nowhere and clamouring to sit on my lap. Size isn't necessarily an issue, my lap being too small to accommodate most of the dogs but all the cats manage to fit on somewhere.
Poor Badger In Extremis !
Awful as it may seem, you ARE looking at a three legged cat. This is poor Badger in January this year. He came home very late one night and hopped up on an armchair. I sort of glanced at him and then looked again as something was wrong. He was sitting on a yellow blanket - and all I could see was red! The German girl who was staying, Luisa, and I rushed Badger to the vets. The bottom section of his right paw was hanging by a thread! The poor puss was stabilised overnight and put on a drip and painkillers and on the Sunday they mobilised a surgical team and amputated his right leg. It was a very sorry for himself cat I picked up two days later, but the worst thing for Badger was the incarceration in one room at home. He is a hunting mad cat and wanders far and wide and to be shut in one room nearly drove him nuts. Very quickly we let him loose in the house, locking the cat flap and putting notices on all the doors so that nobody would let him out in error. He was supposed to be inside for ten days but I let him out in eight days. Once outside he just lay down on the deck and was quite happy!
Two months later Badger is back to his old self, now nick named Hoppitty Hop. He goes everywhere at speed, catches mice galore and still beats up all the other cats and has become super affectionate to all people. The vet found lead in the leg wound and said he was definitely shot! I have been Sherlock Holmsing all over the local neighbourhood and have found that he was shot by the friend of one of our neighbour's sons. He thought he missed Badger as the cat ran off!!!
Words just about fail me.
Two months later Badger is back to his old self, now nick named Hoppitty Hop. He goes everywhere at speed, catches mice galore and still beats up all the other cats and has become super affectionate to all people. The vet found lead in the leg wound and said he was definitely shot! I have been Sherlock Holmsing all over the local neighbourhood and have found that he was shot by the friend of one of our neighbour's sons. He thought he missed Badger as the cat ran off!!!
Words just about fail me.
Widgit 2012
Widgit, as you can see, has gained weight and is busy catching a few zzz's as life is pretty exhausting.
Oscar 2012
Now that poor Badger is permanently damaged, Oscar is our main hunting pussy. He spends days away on hunting expeditions and then arrives home and yowls for attention. He never seems to be that hungry when he gets back so I guess he has made do on the bountiful rabbit and mouse population.
2016 Oscar has been AWOL for some months at this time and I fear the worst. His trips away from home just got longer and longer but I don't want to Delete him from this page.
2016 Oscar has been AWOL for some months at this time and I fear the worst. His trips away from home just got longer and longer but I don't want to Delete him from this page.
Tigger 2013
Tigger is probably the boss cat of the bunch. He is certainly the most laid back, go anywhere cat - over the river, up the hill, to the Bottom Flat - whereever I go - he goes and he ALWAYS finds the most comfortable place to sit.
