Sunday, 11 May 2025

Word of the Week - Cat

Pushkins our expat cat, from South Africa. She moved in with us in 2012, 13 years ago, the vet said she was about 3 years old at the time.

We moved to Dubai the end of 2014 and she relocated to the UK with us in 2020. She's 16 now.

She's also not a she, but a he. We found out a year after our move to Dubai, we've had her details changed on her microchip and vet records, but she'll always be a she to us and she still wear her pink studded collar.

This morning we had a trip to the vets and I had to change pronouns. The vet gets quite upset with me as saying 'she' would make a huge difference if he was to get lost, in helping us find him. FFS microchip and records up to date. The vets in Dubai found it funny and called her, she. 

Anyway at 16 she is still very active, clearing the fence, starting and finishing fights with the neighbours cats. She's overweight (again a vet issue) she's always weighed 5 kg. She needs a tooth extracted as it's broken (again a vet issue) the tooth has always been broken and she needs blood tests and scans to check she doesn't have a, b & c (again a vet issue) she's a cat, aged 16.

We spend a lot of time with the cat, she's either on our laps, or under our feet or shouting at us for food. We think she misses Bob the dog still (it's been 18 months since he died) she's much more needy (could be old age) she's forgetful (can't find her food) and we don't think she can hear as well and recently she's got herself locked in a cupboard and in our shed, but I think that's more of a Peter problem for not checking than it was hers.

This week I got the paints out to make a card for my son's dog who is recovering from surgery. I found myself explaining to the vet (and to you now) that the card was for my 3 year old grandsons benefit and I only told the vet so they weren't alarmed if they found anything red on the cats paws.

After the vets we went for a coffee while Peter did a food shop as it was too hot to leave her in the car.


And the rest of the day we spent at home for cuddles, after feeling sorry for herself after her jabs.


She's disappeared out now for the evening, prowling her territory, she'll be back soon scratching at the living room door. Failing that, I'll find her under the neighbours hedge where she'll make me go and drag her out, purring her head off.

She'll be up early waiting for her food, then she'll take herself over the road to the neighbours where she likes to perform her morning duties. She'll return home for her food, that we'll have to take her to her bowl to eat 2-3 times before she realises her food is there and she stops asking us for it, then she'll sit out on the front door step in the sunshine, making us step over her as we come and go and she'll watch the world go by. On a school day she entertains the kids and the parents on the school run and stares out any dogs as they are walked past.

At 2pm she'll start asking for her tea, for cuddles, for attention until one of us gives in around 4pm, usually when I come home from work.


Word of the Week linky

5 comments:

  1. How funny that you found out Pushkins was a he after a few years. At 16 years old they are doing really well despite the vet issues.
    Aww! That did make me smile about you making a card for your son's dog and the red paint. x

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  2. I loved reading about your cat, she's absolutely gorgeous. Our cat made it to almost 17 and was still very active and cheeky despite being an old fella. I hope your sons dog has a speedy revovery and enjoys their paw print card.

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  3. We had a cat once that we thought was male and turned out to be female, we'd called her Scribbles though so the name was ok. She lived to be 16 but she's been gone quite a few years now. I love that you took Pushkins for a coffee! She sounds like a real character. My current 16 yr old cat is skinny, does nothing but sleep, only eats cats soup or fresh chicken, and never strays further than the patio. her favourite place is lying on the back of the settee where she will occasionally screech in my ear. She had a 'senile' moment of forgetting to use the cat litter for a while which was annoying, but she's found it again now, phew!

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  4. I never realised that Pushkins was a he rather than a she. I can imagine that switching pronouns after thinking he was female for so long can be confusing. S/he’s such a beautiful cat. I love that you did pawprints for your grandson. #WotW

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