Saturday, July 27, 2013

War & Peace – Cat Politics: The State of Play

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Blue note – Talya caught napping

As I write this post both cats are asleep on the bed - at opposite ends of course - Talya at the foot, and Willy on my pillow in his accustomed spot.

Yes, the state of cat politics has changed once more. A truce appears to have been called and they are tolerating each other most of the time.

Who would have thought  a month ago that the following situation could occur…

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B is understandably looking apprehensive with both cats occupying different parts of his person. Not exactly B’s knees but close.

It all happened when Talya jumped up to sit on B the other night. Willy was out and about, so she felt confident in draping herself on B’s chest. She doesn’t curl up on a person’s knee, but is a draper, spreading herself across the upper part of a person’s body.

Willy turned up and saw B sitting in situ, but didn’t initially notice Talya occupying part of his person until he had a closer look. This took him aback, but you could see him considering how to dislodge her.  He took the plunge and for a time both cats were practically nose to nose. We waited for the fireworks, but they didn’t occur, with Willy turning his back and settling on B’s knee. Talya maintained her position and all was well with the world.

So things are looking more positive as far as the cats are concerned. If there is argy bargy it is more likely to be Talya making a fuss, or trying to provoke Willy by stalking him. He’s attempting to be a gentleman about the state of affairs, and goes out of his way to avoid conflict with her. I tell her she’s only making trouble for herself if she carries on so, but she ignores my advice and persists with her aggressive behaviour. There are hopeful signs that her attitude is thawing and that she is willing to consider a truce.

Other News

Spring is just around the corner, and of course that reawakens my enthusiasm for horse racing.

At Caulfield today is the last meeting of the 2012/2013 racing season, and the feature race is the Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes, a race that I regard as the first group race of the new spring season.  It has been won by some classy horses – Apache Cat, Shoot Out , Super Elegant for instance - but this year the field is rather ordinary. I just watched it and the 2013 winner is Second Effort.

The big racing news this week was the announcement of Black Caviar’s chosen mate for her first breeding season – Exceed And Excel is the lucky boy. He’s quite a good looker, so the resulting foal should be a beauty.

Meanwhile I wait with keen anticipation for the first Group One of the 2013 spring carnival which happens to be the Memsie Stakes at the end of August.  The race has only recently been upgraded to group one, it being a group two race up to now.

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