How many cats play fetch with their humans or run around with their canine sisters? Well, having grown up as a kitten with three other dogs, Maddie seems to think she’s one too.
“She comes bounding up to me when I call her name – not many cats even bother to look at you, much less respond in such an enthusiastic way,” says Sandra, who rescued Maddie as a kitten 12 years ago.
When Emma the puppy joined the family, Maddie took to her instantly. Matching each other’s high energy, the two would often engage in a thrilling game of hide-and-seek or catching, with the excited puppy chasing after Maddie, barking in excitement.
“Needless to say, Maddie always ‘won’ at catching because she’d jump onto a table or countertop to escape. On the few occasions when she was cornered, all Emma did was lick the cat’s face wet.
Dog ate your homework? Try “cat chewed and scratched” the electricity bill to shreds as well as the front pages of the newspaper.
She’s also known to chew off the leather laces of her “father’s” loafers and lick her paws in satisfaction as the dog gets blamed for it.
“My niece actually caught her in the act of earnestly chewing off the laces and walking away smugly after the nasty deed was done.”
She also likes sprawling over her “father’s” shoes as if it was a comfortable mattress and digging her claws into them to mark them as her property. “She’s got off scot free despite the insides of his shoes bearing the marks of her sharp claws.”
You think “cat scratching posts” will help stop your kitty from ruining your furniture? Well, you haven’t met Maddie then.
“She’s ruined all our furniture by hanging onto the sides of the sofa for dear life as she claws her way up the arm rest, and ‘floor-boarding’ by lying on her back and digging into the sofa base as she drags her body across the floor.”
When Christmas comes around, Maddie is her happiest, “guarding” the Christmas tree at all hours of the day.
She is fascinated with the dazzling baubles and other hanging ornaments that swish this way and that, and was once caught red-handed, climbing the trunk of the Christmas tree.
On another occasion, Maddie ganged up with Pixie, her “sister” cat and three other dogs – Judy, Moons and Ruby – and brought the whole Christmas tree tumbling down, baubles, lights and all.
“I came home to find my beautifully-decorated Christmas tree lying on its side, with half the lights smashed, and some of the baubles chewed-up by the dogs – their red-stained pillows were a dead giveaway.”
An expert escape artist, Maddie has been known to dash out the door and disappear for hours. And being naturally cunning, she’ll refuse to reveal herself as long as she knows you’re out there fretting and crying for her to come home.
Once, she dashed out at night and disappeared into the shadows. Despite searching for her with a torch and calling her name, Maddie didn’t emerge.
“Sleep didn’t come easy for me that night – I was worried sick about her safety. Then at around 4am, the dogs started whining and staring at the window. They looked distressed. It was drizzling heavily outside and the winds were strong.
“And there was Maddie, screaming at the top of her kitty lungs, wide-eyed and begging to be let in!”
She’s also terribly greedy, probably never having got over her stray kitten days when she was always hungry. “She’s very good at swatting food from right out of your hands. She does it less these days but as a kitten she was very aggressive.”
Now she’s more diplomatic – preferring instead to casually saunter over to her sister’s food bowl and help herself to everything in it. And Pixie, being a sweet soul, usually steps back and lets Maddie have her way.
“Needless to say, they have to be separated at mealtimes or Pixie would starve.”
Despite all the mischief she gets up to, Maddie is a loving cat who endures hugs and kisses like a true champ, as well as being carried on walkabouts – inside her home!
“Every day, she’ll curl up on my lap, purring loudly as she ‘kneads’ my tummy and dozes off. And in a flash, she’ll jump off my lap and carry on with the business of sleeping and stretching somewhere else.”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PET: FMT Lifestyle readers are invited to send in pictures (landscape format) and a short video (if any) of their furry, scaly or feathery friends to [email protected]. Don’t forget to include details like your pet’s name, age, breed and a short story about them.