I thought I would join in, by posting a little about Merlin, the cat I had when I lived in Cyprus. This is him, when he was 1yr old;
He was a very nosey cat, twice he had ended up getting too close to the cooker, when it was on and burnt his whiskers
I should mention I wasn't by the cooker at the time! He became an indoors cat but had 2 big verandas to play about on. On the bigger veranda, I had potted plants, that he used to love diggy about it. He was always wanting to search/hunt for things, so each evening, before bed, I would shut him in my bedroom and then hide treats around the apartment, pretty big apartment, so it kept him busy for a while. Upon letting him out, I could hear him shuffling about, until I fell asleep. I would always wake up, to find him curled up at the end of my bed
He adored water, so in the hotter months, when I went out to work, I would fill up the bath tub, with a foot of cold water, cover the bathroom floor and half the halfway with 'merlin towels' and let him swim to his hearts content. Many a time, I had found him curled up asleep in the kitchen and the bathroom sink, so you could imagine the amount of detol I had gone through in a week
If I was running the bath or shower, I always had to make sure the bathroom door was closed, or he'd be in there like a shot and chasing a soaking went cat, around a tiled apartment, isn't fun lol
Due to being an inside cat, I had to get him to exercise, so I used totake him up to the apartment block's roof (which was massive and had a roof garden ontop). I would close the door and relax, whilst merlin spent an hour or so running about, I sat and caught up with the latest book I was reading, plus gaining a fab tan
He loved playing fetch, you could through his ball anywhere and he would ensure that fetching the ball, would include jumping over the 3 seater sofa too, fully cleared it aswell lol
As a cat, that was saved from drowning as a kitten, he was always nervous around others. When I got him home, he was only 4-5 weeks old, if that and hid behind the sofa for a full week. I would leave his food and water behind the sofa at first and put down newspaper as a litter tray for him. When I wasn't working, I would lat on my front, infront of the tv and let him come to me. It took over a week for him to build up the courage but within 2 weeks of him being with me, he had left the comfort of being behind the sofa. Litter training seemed a natural thing for him, so had no trouble with that aspect. I took him to the vets for the first time, after 5 weeks of having him, it took a while, as he was very nervous. He got his first set of jabs and we talked about nuetering. But the vet advised to hold off on operations, until his nervousness had faded.
When he turned 8 months, I took him to get nuetered, it had to be done, his spraying really did smell
after bringing him home, he gave me a major guilt trip! Never forgot that
whenever i got up to get something or move, he would follow but kept falling over and meowing at me. His first night home, I ended up putting down towels on my bed and putting him in there with me, he slept like a baby! When he was back to himself, he ignored me for over a week
occasionally hissing at me, when I walked passed him
but that temper was buried, when i brought him treats home
Unfortunately, due to having a child and not being able to afford living in Cyprus and providing for my son, I had to move back home to the UK. I would have loved to have brought Merlin home but the stress of the flight and move, would have tipped him over the edge IMO. So I rehomed him with a friend, she also managed a cat rescue place in Cyprus and ended up putting him in there, for company. As far as I am aware, he is very happy living his life with other rescues, she sends me updates every so often. He's also put on a bit of weight
but if he's happy lol
So there is my story about Merlin x
