My Sunday Snapshot – Ash in a Basket

For those that don’t know, Ash is our cat which we acquired from a rescue centre about 3 years ago. He was the cutest kitten, but he’s not a very loving cat. It’s rare for him to cuddle up next to you and will only give fuss if he wants feeding. I found Ash in a basket the other day. He could barely fit, but he did look cute so I took some photos.

Cats will amusing tolerate humans only until someone comes up with a can opener that can be operated with a paw.

Terry Pratchett

When we moved into this house 8 years ago we came with four cats, Salem and Sabrina (Brother and sister) Scribbles and Suzie. One by one they passed away until we were left with just Sabrina. She’s a real old lady now and looks it bless her.

We got Ash because it felt lonely with just one cat to cuddle. But he’s not the cuddling type, he’d rather be outside terrorising the birds. He’s pretty good at catching flies and spiders though.

It’s an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family effort goes into selecting one at the start (“She looks like a Winnifred to me”), and the as the years roll by it suddenly finds itself being called Meepo or Ratbag.

Terry Pratchett

We kept all our cat names apart from Sabrina, who often gets shortened to Sabby. We could have changed Ash’s name when we got him as he was only a kitten, but we thought it suited it and as Pokemon fans it worked for us. (Ash Ketchum is the original main character of the Pokemon series.) You can really shorten Ash, but we have called him other names…like ‘murderer!’

Maybe when he gets a little older he will become more cuddly? Salem and Sabrina were always fussy cats but Scribbles and Suzie were not so until they became old. When we had Salem and Sabrina, Scribbles objected and moved in with a neighbour. She did come back eventually though. When we moved house she became a house cat and lived mostly on the stairs and slept outside the Little Man’s bedroom door.

Will we get another cat at some point? I doubt it. I love cats but it’s a myth that they are not hard work, especially when you have a home with no cat flaps. They can’t be fitted in our doors so I have to get up 50 million times a day to let Ash in and out.

Sabrina doesn’t go out anymore but she’s not very good at finding the cat litter and I’m always cleaning up after her. I’m glad she is restricted to where she goes in the house. She doesn’t even attempt going upstairs.

Are you a cat person?