MacNoodle in da house!

For once in the household, a Saturday dawned bright and early as Mags started bouncing on the bed to wake Alien Wally up for the momentous occasion of Fetching The MacNoodle. Alien Wally grumbled a bit at the early hour, but he was secretly very excited too. He just chose not to express himself with girly squeals of joy like Mags did.

The cattery lady said to be there any time from 9am. But Alien Wally and Mags were late, rolling into the cattery parking lot at 09:00:02. In order to transport Her Ladyship and all her toys, Alien Wally and Mags rented a car. No bus for Madam. Definitely not.

Madam was suitably confused when, instead of her breakfast being served, the cattery lady brought in those two annoying yet lovable pink blobs who hang around and perform useful functions like scratching Madam’s ears and feeding her treats. Madam was even more confused when the two pink blobs popped her deftly into a cat box and took her outside. Outside! The MacNoodle’s nose twitched from side to side and her eyes followed suit as she wildly tried to take everything in all at once.

Before her little brain could overheat at all the excitement, Madam was placed on the back seat of the car, and, after all the pink blobs had said their emotional goodbyes, the family was off, together once again. The MacNoodle kept a rather strident running commentary from the backseat for the first half of the trip until she decided that it was getting her nowhere and she settled in for the ride.

Upon arrival back at home, the MacNoodle’s cage door was opened and she stepped tentatively out. Then she ran, only stopping when she came to the bedroom and found the bed. Or more precisely, under the bed. Where she stayed for a few minutes until the whole procedure started again. Run around flat. Map territory. Hide under bed. Repeat. Once breakfast was served, each circuit was broken by a pit stop at the food bowl.

And then the purring started. Madam was still doing circuits of the flat, but every time she noticed either Alien Wally or Mags she would make a slight detour to run up to them, her little body vibrating with massive purrs. If Alien Wally and Mags had the ability to purr back, they would have.

And then the MacNoodle found The Sunny Spot. At first she hid herself behind the curtain to enjoy it. Later, she came out and made use of her new soft bed, strategically placed in said Sunny Spot. After the sun had disappeared in the late afternoon, Madam moved her attention to the couch, where she remained until the early hours of Sunday morning when she eventually wandered through to sleep on the end of the bed.

Alien Wally and Mags hadn’t intended for Sunday morning to dawn quite as early as Saturday morning had, but then they had forgotten how persistent Madam can be when she wants breakfast. It’s not a violent persistence, but more of a subtle emotional manipulation that ensures that someone (ok, Mags) follows Madam sleepily down the passage and puts food in the bowl before heading sleepily back to bed. After 6 months of not being able to do this, it was fascinating how quickly the MacNoodle got back into this routine. And how quickly Mags let herself be manipulated…. Only the funny fluffy thing seems to have this power.

When the day finally dawned for a second time at a more respectable hour, Mags headed back through to the lounge and kitchen to start preparing breakfast for herself and Alien Wally. But she’d forgotten about the MacNoodle’s stealth tactics… the ankle biter was back! One of Madam’s favourite games was (and still is, it seems) to hide somewhere and then race out at unsuspecting pink blobs and try to bring them down by rugby tackling them around the ankle. Since the newly acquired throw on the couch (ostensibly bought to save the couch from cat hair) provides an excellent hiding place, Alien Wally and Mags are sure that they will be targeted regularly. All visitors to the household are hereby forewarned. Meep!