Queen and Latifa

I have mentioned before that I was asked to write a Queen and Latifa column for Zhoosh Magazine.

Well, today is the day, and issue 7 of Zhoosh is available to download for FREE from the Zhoosh website.

Remember, this is an EXCLUSIVE Q&L column that you won't find anywhere else, and I hope that it is something quite special as I attempted to make it an important article and something a little more meaty that the usual 'I love my kitty' vibe of Q&L.

Any feedback on the article, good or bad, would be gratefully appreciated.

M x

People say things to me like "it's cruel to keep a cat indoors."

What a load of utter balony! These people are clearly ignorant, borderline stupid, and don't know what they're talking about. It might be considered cruel to keep a cat indoors that obviously wants to go outside, but even then there might be a good reason (such as living on a main road). But some cats just don't need or want to go outside, and 'Tifa is one of those kitties.

Whenever I get home, the noise of me turning the key in the lock attracts 'Tifa, and she is almost always there to meet me when I get in. I say hello and she meows then trots off to the bedroom expecting me to follow and indulge her with cuddles (which, of course, I do). Not once has she ever attempted to dart out of the door when I enter or leave the flat, which makes me pretty confident of her contentedness in our home. The flat is her territory in exactly the same way as a cat would have a territory outside. She's a happy kitty, and I'm a happy queen because she's a happy kitty.

It really irritates me when judgemental people who don't know what they're talking about say that I'm being cruel to my girl for keeping her inside: wrong, wrong, WRONG!

M x 

As the front page of this website states, I don't just call my cat 'Tifa or Latifa, I call her many other cutesy names including ?Missy?, 'Puss', 'Princess', 'Crazy Kitty', 'Beautiful' and 'the Diva Kitty'. More recently, I have added 'Honeybunch' and 'Honey' to this list.

It's true that this is not particularly newsworthy in itself, but 'Honeybunch' was a pet name that I previously used exclusively for an ex-boyfriend with whom I had a less than amicable breakup. In fact, there is a particularly apt term for the unfortunate state of the breakup, but this is a family friendly blog! So, when I found myself calling 'Tifa this name, it made me think of him. It also made me think about whether or not I want to give a name to my beautiful princess that I also associate with someone with whom I clashed with in the past. It also made me realise that, not only do I not want him back, my scars of bitterness from that destructive relationship have healed over. I wonder if they have for him: I hope so; I am no longer angry or bear him any malice.

The way I see it is that 'Honeybunch' is a lovely little affectionate name for my kitty, and I certainly didn't call the ex 'Honeybunch' during the unfortunately rough break up. 'Honeybunch' was the name I called him when things were good. For me to actually care about the pet name being used would suggest that I am not over him. I am definitely over him, and have been for a very long time. Honeybunch stays as a name for my pretty kitty.

One thing that I have realised since starting to call my cat Honeybunch is that I love her tenfold times more than I loved the previous entity to whom I gave that name.

Meow - 'Tifa isn't the only one with claws!

M x

But my Princess is, damnit!

I was recently directed to this mean spirited article. So what if those 15 random moggies are thickie kitties?! My girl is clever. Seriously, the things she does and the way she associates things with other things makes me think that some half-baked, simplistic experiment can tell me nothing about my puss.

• She knows the sound of her bowl being plonked down and runs for food.
• She remembers what works and what doesn't work to make me melty enough to give her treats.
• She can tell when I'm down and she cuddles up to me.
• She gets huffy when her routine is changed - IE: she is intelligent enough to set a routine.
• She knows where I keep the cat treats and get excited if I head towards them.
• She can quickly and easily predict patterns when I'm playing with her with the dangly fishing rod toy.
• &c, &c, &c

She is an intelligent creature, and no lame article (even if it is in The Guardian) will make me think otherwise.

M x