Jess came to live with us from Colchester
Cat's Rescue home. She had been dumped on some waste ground in a cardboard box
with a litter of kittens. All the kittens had been re-homed and Jess came home
with us. She is a soft velvety cat and is very affectionate but on her own
terms. She must be about eighteen by now and though she no longer catches rats,
the odd mouse is not beyond her.
Jess is definately boss of any dogs that we have. When she first joined us
we had four dog - a Border Collie and three Shelties. I was going to show and
breed the latter, but after Tricksy's first litter I couldn't bear to part with
any of the pups except for the one I gave my mother. I suppose it was lucky she
only had three or we'd have been over-run with dogs. Any way Jess
kept them all in their place. It was quite amusing to watch her stalking Polly
round the garden. She would creep up behind the dog and go down on her elbows
ready to pounce. This is usually when Polly would realise she was being
followed. When she looked behind her the cat would pretend she was just having a
stretch and nonchalantly walk away as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
Max is very good with her but gets very jealous of her sitting on my knee. He
comes and sits at my side and leans against me until the poor cat would get
squashed if she stayed put. Being a cat, Jess never cleans out her dish. She
always leaves the last little bit - much to Max's delight. So he's quite happy
sharing his house with a cat after all.