Another Gift

After receiving a gift of toys for my cats - I think the presentation was inspired by their previous stock of playthings being wet upon while they were stored in a box on the floor - my growing population of feline roommates was given a new cat-bed. This one is a little larger than the other two I have, but shares their advantage of having a removable cushion. I find that those are valuable for washing purposes and for inserting a heating pad underneath, if wanted.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, it is favoured by the larger beasts. Though they continue to enjoy the older cat-beds, they have taken to this new one. Each had to try it out after giving it a good sniff. Because I was unsure of where to place it, it was temporarily near the front door. To obviate any draughts coming in, I raised it on a box-lid. This survived until Josie lie on the bed. I came in to discover the lid squashed flat under the bed, like a bug under a stone at a picnic. The cats still use the bed, but it has since been positioned near the fireplace, and on a rug, so as to keep the air around it warm. Unless the Great White crushes the actual floor, there is nothing more for her to flatten.

My beasts will take their ease where they like. Both Cammie and Bear-Bear, for instance, have refused to countenance cat-beds, preferring human furniture, though this may have something to do with a feeling of transience or awkwardness. They are still relatively new to the household, and may feel uncomfortable reposing in a bed that smells so strongly of more veteran residents. Yet the perma-cats resort to their cat-beds every day, and of an evening, when the lights are dim and the air is cooling toward bed-time, they may be found in the cosiness of their own furnishings, now three in number.