Finding Jimmy - Part 1

by Robert the Serious Siamese.

A black-and-white cat named Jimmy lived in our neighbourhood. Jimmy and I were buddies -we enjoyed walking the streets side by side and sometimes we playfully wrestled.

Jimmy went through stressful times in October as his family (his brother, his dog and his humans) were moving house. 

Little by little furniture started to disappear and there were men coming and going, making loud and scary noises with their machines. 

On the 29th of October Jimmy had enough. 
He decided to leave and never come back. 

He was now a streetcat named James the Free. 

His owners were heartbroken and worried. They searched for him everyday, walking the streets calling his name. 

But the newborn James the Free no longer responded to his old name.

The family moved many kilometers away, but the lady owner kept coming twice a day to our area to look for her beloved Jimmy. 

Sometimes Jimmy was hungry and he missed the warmth of a home. I tried to keep him away from our house and once I gave him a huge round of cat slapping when he tried to enter my home through the cat flap door.

My thought back then was that I only share my food with my own brother, Jacob. Now I regret my egoistic behaviour.

Jimmy was clever and started coming when everyone was asleep. MyPerson was wondering why all cat food was gone in the mornings. But she thought Jacob was snacking in the night, because he kept getting fatter.

A week later MyPerson actually spotted Jimmy, but only his hindpaws when he made a quick escape through the cat flap door. Soon everyone in the family had had a brief glimpse of Jimmy's black-and-white hindpaws.  

Jacob and I were stressed in the beginning, but we decided to avoid having a fight and  stayed away when we heard Jimmy coming. 

MyPerson planned to activate the microchip function in the cat flap door to only allow me and my brother to enter. But Jimmy had luck - MyPerson stayed true to her habit of procrastinating and being forgetful.

Now Jimmy's owners were desperate and they put up flyers everywhere with Jimmy's picture on it asking people who saw him to call as soon as possible.

MyPerson saw one of the flyers and immediately called Jimmy's owner. She was careful not to give false hopes because no-one had ever seen all of Jimmy. The owner was delighted and sure it was her dear cat who had been visiting us.

Jimmy's owner and MyPerson stayed in touch. MyPerson sent updates on food gone missing in the night and every sight of black-and-white paws disappearing into the night.

It was the last week of November and the weather was getting cold here in Basel. MyPerson decided she would have to try to catch Jimmy...

About cat food and my overweight brother

by Robert the Cat

MyPerson rarely gives me any treats. It's cat food everyday. 

I love tuna, minced meat and chicken. I prefer them raw but my brother Jacob only eats them cooked. And he calls himself a cat. He's such a wimp. 

I also like boiled potatoes and cheese. 

Well, I'm a modern cat living in Switzerland. And I never had any weight problems. Unlike my brother Jacob. 

I think I've mentioned being embarrassed about my brother before -but this story will help you understand my discomfort better.

MyPerson started to worry about Jacob's weight, despite only feeding us cat food. Expensive and high quality cat food. 

But Jacob was without doubt getting chubby. Even our vet mentioned it. 

We suspected someone was feeding Jacob goodies, perhaps even some unhealthy stuff. 

Jacob is cute and has soft fur and you remember his belly-rub trick? It works very well on people sitting outside having a barbecue - unless they have a dog, of course. 

I think dogs are so cool. A bit noisy perhaps but I'm really into dogs. 

Excellent exercise, playing with dogs! And it's safe, because they're pretty slow and clumsy. I sure don't need a smart band to add steps to my day. 

MyPerson used to have a labrador dog when she lived in Finland and in the summers the dog would sneak over to neighbours barbecuing outside. The dog would suck in her cheeks to look thin and make big, round eyes to look cute and people would feed her. 

And labradors eat anything. Even alarm clocks, I've heard. 

In the winter the dog would run on the ice across a lake or the sea to find people fishing through a hole in the ice (yep, the really do that in Finland). So these fishers would throw the dog some little fish. I'd love to visit Finland in the winter once. Sushi-extreme.

But I'm getting carried away here, back to Jacob's weight problem.

MyPerson wrote a letter, and littlePerson distributed it to all of our neighbours.

Here it is:

English translation:

"Hello, my name is Jacob. I get high quality cat food at home but I am much thicker than my brother Robert. Please do not feed me. Thank you!"

As if that wasn't bad enough, circulating a picture of Jacob with his favourite bunny toy we actually got a letter back saying: 

"Hello, my name is Jacob and I like to sneak into other cat's homes through the cat door and eat their food".

I'm not quoting the return letter any further to maintain the anonymity of innocent Swiss citizens. But I'd like to use this opportunity to remind everyone of the possibility to activate the microchip function in your cat flaps. 

All of this could have been prevented. 

I mean, Jacob sneaked out of his home. -A loving home that served him expensive and high quality cat food in order to steal the food of an other cat... (I still can't help wondering what brand they're serving?).  

Add to this Jacob's interest in playing with hair bands and his obsession on bringing home those muddy earthworms...

Now, would you like to have a brother like that? If yes, please send me your address.

-Robert

Siamese cat morning

By Robert the Cat

Woke up at 06:03, the sun was up and I could hear the birds twittering their nonsense.

I stretched and sneaked out through my and my brother's cat flap. The flap is microchip operated but myPerson has not activated the microchip function. 

Sometimes I worry about this security breach. There are some nasty cats in our neighbourhood...

I went for my shorter morning round, in order to be back for the alarm clock. There were two days without alarm clock so today there will be one. 

Gosh, I'm hungry!  Too bad myPerson always insists on having her coffee and to wake up the littlePerson before giving me any food. 

Luckily my brother takes care of helping out with the wake-up-the-littlePerson procedure. He also drinks from the tap, and uses the opportunity when myPerson makes her precious coffee. 

I prefer rain water. You find it everywhere! There are insects and larvae in the puddles -an excellent protein source. I also prefer my privacy when drinking. I take pride in the fact that no one has ever seen me drinking. A cat has to maintain his dignity. My brother Jacob, of course, is an exception.

By 07:15 my brother has done his job and the littlePerson is awake. I sit in her lap for awhile. 

I'm her excuse not to fetch her toothbrush herself.  The white stuff she uses smells funny. I think it's peoplemint.  All humans in my family are addicted to peoplemint, they use it at least twice a day! I've made a resolution to stay away from that stuff. 

My claws are itching! I'm going to have a go on the carpeted stairs. They're the best for itchy claws.  I know I don't have much time so I put all my energy into the scratching. It helped! I love those stairs. My brother does too, and I think he heard me 'cause he comes running up and scratches the stairs as well. But a human runs over and shouts at my brother. Jacob can be very quick when he senses trouble so he runs out, almost smashing the cat flap door.

Now comes my morning highlight: littlePerson and myPerson are putting books and boxes into the schoolbag. My special number is to pretend I want to sneak into the bag. I love bags and with my schoolbag trick I get some well deserved attention. They always ask: "do you also want to go to school, Robert?". So I go "mau" and then they laugh and cuddle me. They think it's a "yes". Actually "mau" means "hell, no" but I don't mind. I like it when they laugh and cuddle me.

Now littlePerson walks off to school and promises to be good, and it is finally time for my breakfast! 

My brother Jacob reappears as quickly as he had disappeared before and we eat together. We have signs on the wall to know who's bowl is who's, but I always eat from the fullest bowl. Jacob doesn't mind.

I've a had a good, regular alarm-clock-day morning and I will now go for a nap. The bed is still warm. Everyone's left the building, but I know they will return by the time I'm up and about again.

-Robert