Fur, Fame, and Feline Follies: The Nine Lives of Mouse The Cat. Episode 3: Paradise Lost

In this episode: 

A brand-new den; TV stardom; from dreamland into the nightmare; the epic showdown — forest trees vs. cat trees …trust me, you don’t want to miss this purrformance!

Previous episodes:

Episode 1

Episode 2

New kingdom

Now, where was I? Ah, yes — happily living with my humans, enjoying walks in the woods and all that.

Suddenly, we moved again. I was baffled — my territory was already perfectly customized with my smell, claws, and fur! Why abandon it?

Then I got it: in the old place we shared space with the third human. My parents clearly wanted a den of their own, where they could spread their scent and stash their toys however they liked.

The new place was smaller, but still big enough for my “Elephant Herd” sprints and a decent game of fetch. Exploring fresh territory was a bonus.

At first, furniture was scarce, but soon I got all the essentials: things to climb, lounge on, and sneak under.

In between world exploration and games, I would always find quality time for myself:

I even got a splendid hammock! My guardians parked it on the radiator, so winters were extra toasty.

Do you remember my beloved Father Bear? Well, he moved in with us and settled down on the refrigerator. It was high, but I figured it out. A jump to the couch back, then two little step-like shelves on the wall – and I could have a siesta on the familiar cosy belly:

We'd still occasionally go out for a walk. It was not the forest, but at least I could find some trees. People we met admired me going on a leash, as if it were something extraordinary. Come on, it was only the smartest cat in the neighbourhood, going for a stroll!

 

Living in a dream

I did my best to keep my humans in good shape, watching their diet. Sometimes I had to take certain food away from them:

It was useless to object - I knew what was better for them and made a severe face: 

If my providers growled, I made the "Cute Kitty" figure. Their hearts melted, and they stopped being grumpy.

My female caregiver would often point at me and say, “Cat!”. And I’d answer: “Muff!” I knew she liked it a lot, so why not please her? Besides, I’ve always enjoyed an intelligent conversation.  

I liked showing my guardians that I was one of them:

I helped to decorate the New Year tree...

...and even tried to play their games - they were nonsense, so I improved them my way.

To keep my guardians happy, I graciously agreed to a TV appearance. Clearly it was comedy — why else would the audience laugh so much at my sheer brilliance?”

Waking to a nightmare

All of a sudden, my life changed completely and outrageously. Brace yourself, my dear reader, I have to reveal an awful truth:

THE AUTHORITIES BROUGHT A BLACK MONSTER TO OUR HAPPY HOME !!!

The monster looked like me, but, as I said before, I’m human! (Just check the evidence I gave earlier.) All I wanted was a quiet life with my folks, not this dreadful impostor. Was that too much to ask? Apparently, yes.

From day one, she pounced, chased, and pestered me nonstop. I hissed, growled, fought, and hid — but she was too sly to lose and too strong to defeat. To make matters worse, my companions adored her! They even named her Bagheera and ignored all my protests. Dark times indeed.

Eventually, our caretakers helped us to establish a shaky truce. Bagheera the Bully toned it down, and I accepted she was here to stay. Our family was now three humans (me included) and a cat. 

Bagheera the Bad still shadowed me everywhere, but we managed to coexist — nine times out of ten without a fight. Still, I made sure everyone knew I disapproved:

Cat tree

On the bright side, I got a stupendous cat tree! Clearly a bribe for putting up with the lousy neighbor.

Honestly, it was better than any forest tree — sturdy platforms, a secret nook, and cosy nests instead of wobbly branches. Even the return process got an upgrade — I always had problems with that.

Now I could unleash my inner forest predator anytime I pleased… though Bagheera the Brat never let me forget about her:

To be continued… once I’m done grooming.

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