Gabriel Messenger

INTRODUCTION. From my bed I can just see the window and hear the clamorous sound of wings beating against glass. Yes, she is feeding those birds again! If I really crane my neck I can see the birds – chaffinch, greenfinch, maybe even a coal tit if the weather is cold. I suppose they annoy me if I stop to think about it but I know they are HER birds and HER prey. Mind you she never eats them or even plays with them but the binoculars are out to view the bird table further down the garden. If I really wanted to I could climb that wooden structure and maybe if she was out shopping I could have a small snack – or a big one if a blackbird came to call. Magpies – now I avoid them and the big rooks who only come when the snow is down and food is scarce. I learnt long ago that the wooden bird table is out of bounds. I wouldn’t want to upset her; she is far too precious for that. My devotion to her never wavers – even when she tells me off (which is rare) I just accept I have crossed that line such as when I ate some prawns she was thawing to serve at a dinner party. Mind you there is never anything interesting on her plate. They call her a vegan. But that cheese she has tastes pretty good and those slices that come out of a packet – well, if there is nothing else in my bowl they will do very nicely thank you! When that big golden-coloured dog comes to visit I get very jealous over the amount of fuss she makes of him and he has his own treats in the top drawer. Of course I have tried them but I don’t rate them much. Too dry and lacking in fat! Give me a lump of that cheese anytime or even a piece of one of those sausages that come out of the freezer. I can hang around and look appealing if they are under the grill and that tomato sauce she puts on them is quite good too but she makes a fuss about the salt content. Crickey – missus – it’s the salt that I like! My bed has a heat pad. Not that I am old at ten but I can put on a bit of a hobble if she thinks about putting me out in the rain. And those glucosamine treats are very tasty and sometimes she even forgets I have had them if I head butt the packet in the evening when she is busy watching that TV. All in all I am very comfortable but believe me it wasn’t always that way. I have known suffering and pain. It hurts me just as much as it does you but of course I cannot tell you how I am feeling. Mind you I have my own language and I have cultivated a range of calls and cries to alert your kind that I need food or water or to go out exactly the same as a baby wails when he or she needs something. It is no different although a lot of you still don’t get it. Yes, I do have thoughts although they take a different form to those you experience – more thought processes but I have my own language – as does every single creature on this earth – if you would but trouble to listen to us or learn it. Yes, I feel every emotion that you do; if you cut me I will bleed and if you kick me I will cry. What am I? Who am I? I am clever, loving, a superb hunter, I experience happiness, depression, fear and anger. I am Cat.