Andy was born on the 4th July 2005 (The day of the Wimbledon
finals). In true UK tradition, he is named after Andy Roddick, the tennis player.
He is one of a litter of five kittens; 2 boys and 3 girls. His mother is Persephonies
Elwing, and his father is Nikelsilva Bee Bee Cee.
At the moment of writing, Andy is 20 weeks old and growing at a fantastic
rate. He was born with blue eyes but already they have changed to a yellow-gold
colour, and eventually they will become the famous much-admired Korat Jade green.
First Night Together
Myself and my partner Sue have been together with Andy for about 5 weeks now.
During this time he has amazed us with his playfulness and devotion to people
that I have never seen in a cat before.
When we arrived home with Andy, we opened up his cat carrier and watched him
to see what he would do next. He slowly walked out had a sniff here and there
and then let out a meow as if to say the room had his approval. For the rest
of the evening, Andy nibbled at his food and asked for a cuddle, and enjoyed
a few naps in front of the fire. At this point it should be noted that kittens
are fascinated by the flickering flames of a gas fire! Warning: get a fireguard!
Quite a few times we had to take him away because he was getting too close.
When the time for us to go to bed arrived, I put Andy into his new Whiskas
bed and made my way upstairs. A few minutes later Anders must have woken up
wondering where everyone had gone - he started crying! Sue decided to get a
sleeping bag and join him downstairs. The funny thing was, as soon as he saw
her getting into it, he jumped in and started attacking her toes! Eventually
she took him upstairs again and this time he shot under the duvet and started
attacking my toes as well! I can tell you, kittens do have sharp teeth! After
a while Andy settled down and we all managed to get some sleep.
Favourite Activities
Surprisingly Andy’s favourite toys seem to be the little mice that cost
about 50 pence, which come in a variety of colours. Andy’s personal favourites
are yellow or white. He also likes paper scrunched up into a small ball (the
more compact the better as these seem to roll faster!).
One other item Andy likes is his cat play tent - this is one of his most inexpensive
items, purchased off eBay, but the pleasure it brings him is enormous. His favourite
game is to get either Sue or I to throw one of his mice onto the roof of the
cat tent so that he can launch himself on the roof, collapsing it in the process.
Andy never gets bored of this activity, and only stops when we get tired from
throwing his mouse.
Before we had seen Andy we learnt that some Korats do like to play fetch,
retrieving objects which are thrown for them. Well guess what? Andy will play
this game until your arm aches! I thought this was maybe a trick Andy had been
taught as in the past I have managed to train some of my cats to sit up, beg,
shake paws or rollover. It does take patience and you must reward the cat with
a treat and affection to show that they have carried out the trick you wanted
them to. Now with Andy it wasn’t long before I threw his little yellow
mouse for him and much to my surprise he ran over, picked up the toy and brought
it back to me and dropped it at my feet. Call me surprised at the very least,
but I have never seen this behaviour before in my life. I have thought about
why a cat would want to do this and how instinctive it was. I can’t think
of a reason why… but if you do know contact me, as I would be most interested
to find out!
Kitten Mischief
Andy does have a taste for ripping paper items to shreds. One of the best
confetti makers is the humble kitchen roll. All those layers of soft tissue-like
paper must really feel good as he bites down on them.
Another game is climbing the curtains. Now, I know cats and curtains don’t
really mix, as there can be some accidental damage done by cat claws to fabric…
but what I find strange is the speed at which our Korat can climb - before you
can say "Andy, NO!" he will be at the top. He certainly is at home
either on the ground or climbing up to a great height… thankfully he is
slowly learning that curtains are not for climbing!
