The additional Terrible Twosome

It's been a while since the blog got an update but due to recent events I decided it warranted starting up again. Up until now, I have only reported on the quirks & foibles of my 8 cats, lovingly referred to as The Effervescent Eight but for the last 7 months I have worked at Sherrington House Residential Home and I inherited 2 temporary extras (well, 3 including the lovely Millie).


I just knew that Sherrington House and I would travel the same path for a short while at least. When I went for my initial interview there in July 2013, a handsome black & white cat met me on the doorstep. I discovered that his name was Fluffy and he was one of 2 residential cats, the other being Thomas. On 12 August 2013 I started as Home Administrator and quickly both the cats and staff realised that I was the original crazy cat lady. Once this fact became apparent, the daily "routine" started. The "boys" are 13-year old brothers & chalk and cheese does not even scratch the surface; Fluffy is a long-haired black & white chunky boy with (what my vet described as) "the largest feet I have ever seen". They are massive, like coasters that you would put on your coffee table. He is skittish & excitable but very loving. Thomas on the other hand is ginger & VERY laid back. Nothing phases him, not even the housekeeping staff hovering around his feet and if he was any more laid back he would be comatose. When I started at the home several people had told me that these two cats did not get on & fought at every opportunity. With my many years knowledge of cats & their behaviour, I was keen to prove them wrong.


Within the first week it became apparent that a supply of goodies need to be at hand, otherwise the chance of getting any work done was minimal. They would stroll, nay rush headlong, into my office demanding meaty niceties so that they could leave again, happy in the knowledge that if they came back an hour later, further tongue-tingling items would be made available, If the required munchies where not forthcoming, then both moggies would proceed to jump onto my desk, either laying provocatively on the keyboard & playing with the mouse or extending their furry bodies over the paperwork that I needed to deal with that morning. This proved both distracting & not time-effective so a solution had to be found & quickly. Cats are like small children, they like routine, and this was something that I could put into place quite quickly. Both boys are fed by the housekeeping staff at 8.00am every morning but they soon worked out that if they ate their breakfast then sat in the lobby, "Auntie Jayne" came in at 9.00am with further items that would fill a furry belly. The daily scenario became thus - I would arrive at 9.00am and either one or both lads would be waiting either at the front door or just inside the lobby. Norris, one of the residents, always commented that they had been waiting for me for approximately an hour and they would then proceed to trot along the corridor after me; I could quite easily have been described as The Pied Piper of Sherrington but without the penny whistle. They would then fawn around my feet, insisting that I get the door unlocked as soon as possible so that they could enter. I then had to produce 2 clean bowls from my carrier bag, along with a sachet of whatever was cheapest that week (well, I do have 8 of my own to feed!). Fluff & Tom did not care; it was the ritual that they loved, the fact that they had 5 minutes of my time, in my office, to eat uninterrupted and feel safe and satisfied. When finished, they would saunter away to visit residents in their rooms, or go hunt outside but our morning routine was precious to all 3 of us. Periodically during the day they would pop back and ask me for further treats, in the form of Dreamies, and Fluffy would sometime come in mid-afternoon and sleep on a cat bed secreted under my desk for anyone that needed 5 minutes peace from the hub bub.


Last Friday I left Sherrington House for pastures new - I miss the boys with all my heart and they will always have honorary status in my heart as part of The Effervescent Eight.


For Thomas & Fluffy x