Being Watched Over


For days now Mary has quietly stationed herself in the kitchen doorway facing the backdoor.
Gone have the cuddles at night and the first-on-the-couch snuggles up and so after dinner times and walks instead of her tightly curled up sleeps she remains on point and alert as the elder members of the household, scratch and snore and belch and fart in their slumbers.
Since William died, Mary now sees Household Protector as one of her roles,
It is a job she is ill equipped for and if my situation was less precarious than it is at the moment I would have brought in a gently assertive alpha male to relieve her of her anxieties.
Very early this morning  I found out just why she has been on guard.
I also worked out just why the cat food bill had gone up recently even though Albert has not even put on a pound in weight.
We have been infiltrated by a ginger Tom with attitude.
I was up around 5am waiting for a decongestant drink to brew in the kitchen when I heard Mary's low growl from the kitchen doorway.
I was propped up silently against the cabinets in a natty pair of boxer shorts and must have looked invisible to the ginger Tom who boldly thrust a meaty paw through the cat flap like a leopard,
Mary was still, her job was to protect the rest of the house and the Tom knew it, he was there just for Albert's food.
Theirs was a Mexican standoff
The tom's eyes flashed gold at Mary as he climbed confidently into the kitchen and he never saw the  half kilo bag of wholemeal pasta shapes until it hit him squarely in the mush.
Game Of Thrones couldn't have staged a better fight as when he panicked and circled in shock and fear Mary ran forward and sank her teeth into his fleeing ginger rump.

and twenty five minutes after I had returned to bed Mary returned to her usual nightly position  curled up under my armpit

86 comments:

  1. What a smart little dog she is. There is something so pure about the love a pet has for its human x

    ReplyDelete
  2. The cheeky ginger bastard!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, I have never seen "Game of Thrones" but in any case, I would rather watch a soap opera based on the goings on at your corner cottage. This would make a great episode.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do they throw pasta at each other in Game of Thrones?

      Delete
    2. I totally agree. It would be a surefire hit on Netflix. Title anyone?

      Delete
    3. "Fifty Thousand Shades of Gray"

      Delete
  4. Priceless, made me laugh.
    Briony
    x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Clever Mary to handle that big bag of pasta all by herself!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bless her heart, you are lucky with your animal family John. Hope you feel better soon and let's hope the ginger invader has learnt a timely lesson.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Heloise10:29 am

    Did a proper LOL at this!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Defender of your castle. One ginger tomcat with a seemingly irrational fear of bags of dried pasta.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Aha!! Good for Mary. We also have a cat door and have had a neighbourhood cat come in a few times (ironically also an orange cat - we call him "Orange Cat"). Our two felines don't really fight him on it. Perhaps they are all friends. -Jenn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a lovely comment, Jenn. Friends indeed. Breaking and sharing bread with friends instead of begrudging and counting the pennies.

      U

      Delete
    2. Sweet but not practical

      Delete
  10. John, you throwing a packet of pasta (wholemeal at that - is a kg of wholemeal heavier than the usual stuff, and was it Penne?) reminds me of an incident I am not proud of. Neither does it involve cats.

    No sooner had I returned from hospital with three K-wires to keep my broken wrist together and aligned, no sooner did I fling a pan of pasta across the kitchen. In anger. You can imagine the impact. Alas the pan wasn't any old one. It was (still is) a Le Creuset. Le Creusets are dead heavy. HEAVY. So heavy one of the K wires took flight too.

    For my sins, you will be pleased to know, I found pasta (spiral), dried and shrivelled, in the most unlikely places for many days to come.

    U

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was automatic , I'm not having a tom in the house when I'm not there

      Delete
  11. we've had lots of feral cats in our gardens this spring. it is only a matter of time until they meet their fate with winnie. willie enjoys sitting back and watching the drama.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He is not feral but an overfed tom with attitude

      Delete
  12. Wonderful story John. It gave me a chuckle this morning.

    ReplyDelete
  13. We have a sneaky tom cat like that too that comes in through the cat door. So instead of leaving the cat food out, it now gets binned before bed time to discourage the visitor. Unfortunately our door can't fit a cat door that is opened by only Poppys microchip.

    Good on Mary for being a good guard dog.

    Your ending is much better than the GOT finale I just watched.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Go Mary!! I did LOL at the pasta though :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh, the fights we've woken up to when our resident feral (is that an oxymoron?) comes in the cat door to challenge our cats for their food. It's always so confusing because this wild guy looks very much like our male, Jack. Especially in the early morning hours.
    Good for Mary, taking her responsibilities so seriously. She is a valiant little lady dog.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Mary was not joking. Go Mary!
    And that cat was absolutely cynical. The gall!

    XoXo

    ReplyDelete
  17. People here often make the mistake of putting in a pet door, one of my coworkers went into his kitchen to investigate all the noise and found seven raccoons which still wasn't as bad as another coworker who found two skunks in his house.

    ReplyDelete
  18. That Mary! Small but tough, not to mention loyal. You are lucky to have her.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Terriers are worth their weight in gold .. or pasta
    Our cat food has been disappearing lately, and last night I found the culprit, a cheeky raccoon!
    Jo

    ReplyDelete
  20. She's a smart little dog.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Barbara Anne2:33 pm

    Bless Mary's sweet and protective heart! Am glad that, job done, she took her rest in the shelter you provide. As ever, a charming tale.

    Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Protection is one thing, but a bag of hard-edged pasta? That was definitely a no-no. Poor Tom!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't want him back Raymondo

      Delete
    2. I appreciate that, JayGee, but even so......After his experience I doubt if he'll want to even try, but sometimes hunger has the upper hand.

      Delete
  23. guess you must lock the cat door at night against the tom.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Why are you able to bring tears to my ears more than any other blogger?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oops. Auto correct and lack of readers will get me every time.

      Delete
  25. That's creepy, but poor hungry kitty! Maybe latch the door at night or b=next you'll have raccoons or--rats!
    I think you can get a door with electronic opening, the chip is on a collar Albert would wear.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poor hungry kitty my arse he is a well fed greedy housecat

      Delete
  26. Perhaps Mary could teach Miss Priss her Pasta throwing methods as we have an invading Ginger Tom too. Not having watched Game of Thrones, now I have a vision of them tossing Pasta during Warfare!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Now that's a truly joyful ending.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm watching game of thrones and Mary is watching the flap again lol

      Delete
  28. What a great story! That Mary is a winner. Defending her house against all and sundry. Good on her! And props for the assist with the bag of pasta. Good eye/hand, John!

    I lock the pet door at night. My elderly cat stays in and all the vermin stay out. Plus, my pet door is big enough for a Rottweiler which means that it is big enough for a human, so... closed and locked it is!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Albert is in and out like a foddlers elbow

      Delete
  29. I refuse to put in a cat flap as the bullies in our neck of the woods are raccoons and skunks, and they are very keen to find kibble and quite fierce ..!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Luckily only fat cats here no raccoons

      Delete
  30. Anonymous4:06 pm

    Homeless cats have a hard life, battling the elements and hunger.cruel to smack him with hard pasta. Wondering about some of the comments finding it funny.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who said he was homeless , he's a fat tom from London road who is stealing

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:55 am

      Let us hope the cat's owner notices the dogbite and treats it accordingly.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous2:27 pm

      "hit it squarely in the mush." I do hope that not only the dog bite is treated but also the cats eyes are ok. I wonder how you'd feel John if you heard the cat had lost an eye due to you hurling something at it.

      Delete
  31. She has her alpha male!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Lori Wong4:47 pm

    I was just wondering if this was related to the story of Mary being found outside crying in the middle of the night a few weeks ago. Maybe she tried to pursue the ginger tom.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My thoughts exactly!

      Delete
    2. I suspected that too.... wisely she is now sitting and watching

      Delete
  33. Victory is hers! Well done, Mary!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Reinforcements - just what she needed.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I shall keep a packet of wholemeal pasta handy ....

    ReplyDelete
  36. What a relief. And what a throwing arm Mary had with that half kilo bag of wholemeal pasta shapes (I'm sure it was important that it was wholemeal).

    ReplyDelete
  37. I had to chuckle at the comments like Mitchell's implying Mary had thrown the bag, but on a serious note, every soul has to eat, and probably the cat would have been just as startled if you had simply hissed at it. A cat or dog door is an invitation to intruders of the small furry kind. Some day you may find worse than that in your house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He looked healthy enough Jenny....and ihes not a stray

      Delete
  38. I'd love to have seen the stand-off. Quite dramatic by the sound of it. I don't think the ginger tom will be back for a while - if ever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He was seen by the neughbour this afternoon

      Delete
  39. In his younger days our Jazz was that ginger Tom. He regularly cruised into a neighbours kitchen to see if their cats were getting a more interesting diet that he was. He no longer (I hope) does it.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Quite the story ... but is there a Tom that DOESN'T have an attitude?

    ReplyDelete
  41. Great story John. Mary is indeed quite the dog!

    ReplyDelete
  42. 'We have been infiltrated by a ginger Tom with attitude.' ...Your blog is like a best seller John...Love the details

    ReplyDelete
  43. Poor Mary must have been quite stressed standing guard,
    hopefully the ginger Tom won't be back and peace is restored to the cottage.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Cat sounds like my across-the-street neighbor: yellow stripes, attacks any dog with the temerity to walk by their porch on the sidewalk, and sends them fleeing.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Mary just needed you for shotgun, all along.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Thieving cats are a nuisance. I recommend a zero tolerance policy; as I imagine do you!

    ReplyDelete
  47. It is interesting to read another cultural perspective regarding cats. In many places in Australia it is illegal to let cats out at night. They are environmental vandals and reduce the native animal population. They also get in fights and can get injured. A post fight cat abscess can be painful and expensive.

    ReplyDelete
  48. My little cat is often bullied by one of the many who traipse through our garden. Non-cat owners, believe me - unwanted cats do not take a gentle hint or hiss. They are not strays, hungry of even far from home. Just bullies. My weapon of choice is a water pistol! Mary, of course, is blameless.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Aww ... clever Mary guarding the inner sanctum of the house. At least, hopefully, you didn't end up with pasta shapes all over the kitchen!

    ReplyDelete
  50. Anonymous2:30 pm

    Violence to any animal is never justified. The cat would have been sufficiently startled by you hissing at it. I'm surprised that you as an animal lover think your behaviour was acceptable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a bag of pasta ... not a bloody H bomb!!

      Delete
  51. i agree anon, maybe someone should hit them ....squarely in the mush....with a bag of hard pasta, Poor cat.

    ReplyDelete

I love all comments Except abusive ones from arseholes