I'm on a roll. My first Sunday Scribblings:

Our two Burmese, Gaffer and Ede have always been fairly easy to read. Their eyes are so large, their faces so defined, and their attitude and intent so clearly reflected in their body language that it has always seemed like the communication between us runs both ways.

Here's an average Gaffer train of thought over the period of a few minutes:

"Love me, love me, love me, love me. You don't love me. Love me, love me, love me, love me. Cuddles, I want cuddles damn it. Hold me, hold me, hold me hooooollllllld me. Pay attention to me, pay attention to me, pay attention to me. I'm going to hide behind this sofa and claw at it, and THEN you'll pay attention to me. Haha, you paid attention to me. Love me, love me, love me, love me, love me. Cuddles.... Cuddles.... Cuddles... Aaaaahhhhhhh, cuddles. I love you, you love me, I love you, you love me, I love you, you love me.....

Ede is the dignified elder female of the household. She rules with a quiet dignity. This is a cat who knows what she wants, and how to get it. Ede wants, primarily, to live in peace. By day she wants a warm spot in the sun. By night she wants to lie under the duvet up against my side. When we brought our Tortiseshell moggy Tissy home, Ede nearly moved out in protest. It is clear that Ede regards our little ball of fluff as being well and truly beneath her.

Tissy, unlike our spoiled pedigrees, is a cat impossible to read. She speaks a completely different language to the other two. In full her name is Fortissimo. When we brought her home she was tiny, fluffy and vocal. Gaffer took about an hour to realise that this little brown dustpuppy played, and from that point on he was smitten. Ede declared war on sight.

Although unreadable, Tissy is also the cat of 1000 identities. She is Madame Chin, mistress of Kitty Foo. She is MC Tissy in the (kitty) house. She is the secret shadow, Ede's spy and tormentor. She is Tissy Tiss Tiss, running around the house emoting to nobody other than herself. She is the small cat with the ridiculous possum tail.

I have no idea what is going on in Tissy's mind, but I suspect there is something of the calculated observer in her under-the-radar small cat presence. Our scatter cat is quietly scoping us out. One day she will call in enforcements, take over, and eventually rule the world.