Keeping track of Henry

Let me introduce my cat Thomas commonly known as Tommy  - he is quite elderly now but still full of beans at times.  He was born in Brum but has lived in Braunston since he was a few weeks old.   He lived with me on a narrowboat for 2 years and had the full run of a large garden near our mooring.  Does not like any kind of change and found it very difficult to adjust to life in a village house, so much so that he would disappear back to his beloved garden at the slightest chance even though it meant crossing 2 main roads.  In the end, after we had collected him 2 or 3 times. we came to a compromise , he would have his meals here but go down  to the canal every morning about 7.30 returning here when it got dark.

He was terrified at the sound of vehicles up and down the road and would hide under the bed.  When winter came however he managed to adjust to the change and  settled down to his new life.   He still hates any kind of change however, i.e. I moved the settee he slept on from one room to another recently and he flatly refused to go on it any more although it had the same covers and blanket.   It is only in the last few days, after 6 weeks, that he has started using it again.   He hates dogs especially small ones, as a Jack Russell got hold of him in it jaws when he was a tiny kitten and refused to let go for over 15 mins, so I don't blame him!

He hated being cuddled or picked up when he was small but loves it now.

When he was living on the boat , a fellow boater with a cat would arrive for a few days  about every 6 months, they obviously had a mutual affinity as Tommy would call for him every morning and they would go off hunting together.  As a general rule Tommy is very territorial, as most animals are, and would go for any other cat trying to encroach on his patch.

This brings us to Henry a young kitten who has been around for a few months now

Here is Henry

Henry seems to regard Tommy as something of a father figure and follows him around , although Tommy does not attempt to fight him off , he ignores him for the most part even when he lies down beside him.    I wish I had had my camera when Henry was trying to play the other day.  Tommy was lying stretched out and Henry kept vaulting over the top of him.       Henry is a real character , he seems to have the impression that every house with a cat flap is open to him. He has tried across the road but at the moment it is empty so I fear he found no joy there. I was away for 2 weeks and during that time he came in daily and raided Tommy's food dishes.

I have awoken several times different nights  night and found him in my bedroom.

I caught him one evening in the kitchen and he immediately disappeared into the garden with Tommy sitting outside the kitchen door,  I said to Tommy, in exasperation, don't just sit there go and tell him off, don't let him take your food,  Tommy looked at me for a minute, then got up and walked over to where Henry sat a few feet away, rubbed noses with him and then cuffed him round the earhole, it was so funny!     Henry daily literally takes his life in his hands as he comes through the next door's garden, as they have 2 Jack Russell terriers.   2 Days ago my neighbour nearly had a fit as she looked out the window as saw Henry nonchantly making his way across her lawn as if he had all day, when the kitchen door was wide open and the 2 dogs were awake.  Luckily he made it without them being aware of his presence but they have chased him across a few times.  Henry is always trying to get me to chase him, Tommy likes the same thing, but I try not to as he thinks it's a game and Henry won't realise I'm trying to chase him off.  He will off run when I shout at him though.     Tommy's food is covered up with a heavy plate now while I'm here but I have to leave it off when I go out for any long period of time.    Henry has got cunning now and waits until he sees me at the end of garden , sometimes comes and sits for a while then suddenly disappears, into my kitchen , took me a time to realise his strategy though.   I fear he got a bit of a fright tonight though which may deter him for a bit.  I was at the end of the garden doing a few last minute jobs, having been in and put potatoes on to cook, low, when I could hear this clanking, same noise the saucepan makes when it's boiling and on high, but I knew it wasn't that.   Thought it might be next door so didn't bother for a while. then I heard it again and thought I'd better go and make sure.  Everything was fine in the kitchen apart from the fact that Tommy's dish was in the middle of the floor, so obviously Henry had been visiting but couldn't quite make out why heavy dish should have moved.   Went into the living room to find Henry who darted behind sofa and wouldn't come out.    So I went into garden again leaving Tommy in with Henry and next minute Henry had shot past me in the garden.         It wasn't until I was having my tea that I suddenly realised what had happened - today I had put Tommy's dinner into his metal dish instead of the usual  china one. and of course, as Henry has the magnet on his collar it caught on the dish and every time he pulled it off it reconnected which was the clanging noise I kept hearing, and is why the dish had moved.  Poor Henry he must have wondered what had happened!    Here is a picture of Henry under the sofa tonight