If you read Allegra and Ruby’s New Year’s resolutions, you already got a hint that Ruby is not thrilled about having to share my lap with Allegra. I’ve often felt that in an ideal cat household, at least from a cat’s perspective, the number of available laps should be equal to the number of cats. Since this is often not the case, some cats have to learn to share human laps. Continue Reading
Allegra’s World
Allegra and Ruby’s New Year’s Resolutions
I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I set intentions for the year instead. I’ve found that it’s a more powerful way to go about making permanent changes in your life, and intentions tend to “stick” better than resolutions, at least for me. However, Allegra and Ruby have been discussing their New Year’s resolutions these last few days, and they’d like me to share their top 3 resolutions with you.Continue Reading
Allegra’s World: Purrsonal Trainer
Hi everyone, it’s Allegra! I want to tell you about a very important job that I do every single day: I’m mom’s purrsonal trainer!Continue Reading
Allegra’s World: It’s my 9th Birthday!
Hi everyone, it’s Allegra! I’m nine years old today!
Mom says she can’t believe how fast the time has gone by. She says it seems like it was just yesterday that I came home with her. The photo below shows me the day I met Mom for the first time, a few days before she brought me home.Continue Reading
Allegra and Ruby: Girls Gone Fishin’
This post contains affiliate links*
Allegra and Ruby were beyond thrilled when their brand new Gone Fishin’ Cat Tent arrived. How cute is this little tent! But why don’t I let them tell you about their fishing trip.Continue Reading
Allegra’s World: The Importance of Grooming
Hi everyone, it’s Allegra! Mom has had so much good stuff to share with you lately, it’s been tough to get some time for me to write one of my columns! Today, I want to talk to you about the importance of grooming.Continue Reading
Allegra’s World: 8th Adoption Anniversary
Hi everyone, it’s Allegra! Today is my 8th Adoption Anniversary! Eight years ago today, Mom brought me home to live with her and Amber. Sadly, I never got to know Amber really well, because she passed away six weeks after I arrived. Then it was just Mom and me for almost a year before Ruby joined our family. I love my life with Mom. And Ruby. Although there are days when I wonder whether bringing Ruby home was really such a good idea…Continue Reading
Allegra and Her Special Toy
A couple of weeks ago, we explored why cats bring their humans gifts. There are a lot of different theories, ranging from cats believing that humans are such poor hunters that they need help to thanking humans for providing a home and food for them. Please read Why Does Your Cat Bring You Gifts for more information. A lot of you shared your cats’ gift giving behavior in the comments, so today, I’d like to tell you about Allegra and her special toy.
Her special toy is not fancy. It’s an ancient olive green and tan suede mouse that was given to her by a friend when I first adopted her in 2010. The mouse lost its tail somewhere along the way.
She picks it up and carries it around the house, chirping and singing and sometimes yowling. It sounds a bit plaintive, a sad little cry, as if she had lost something. The first time I heard it, I thought she’d hurt herself! As soon as I look for her when she does this, she drops the toy and stops, which is why I haven’t been able to get a video of her with the toy.
Almost every morning, I find her special toy in the bedroom, even though it doesn’t “live” there during the day. Some mornings, I find it under the covers. I have never heard her bring it during the night. I’m a relatively light sleeper, but apparently not so light that her chirping, singing and yowling wakes me up – or perhaps, she is considerate enough to bring the toy quietly at night?

Interestingly, she’s only considered that suede mouse “special” for the last five or six years. Before then, she had a different “baby” – an ancient toy that actually belonged to Feebee, who passed away in 2000. She dug that out of the toy basket one day, and apparently decided that it was going to be her “baby.” It’s a soft, plush little stuffed mitten with a tail that has a pompon at the end. Then one day, she lost interest in that toy and the green suede mouse became her baby.
She never actually plays with these toys, but yet, they’re clearly very special to her.
Amber had her own version of a special toy: a green and tan fuzzy mouse that I got for her when she first came to live with me. For the entire ten years that she was with me, that mouse was her special “baby.” Like Allegra, she’d pick it up, carry it around the house, crying and yowling. Amber would often sleep with her “baby,” something I rarely see Allegra do.

What’s really interesting to me is that Ruby won’t ever touch Allegra’s “baby.” Ruby considers every other toy in our house hers – but yet, she hasn’t once played with Allegra’s suede mouse. This was also the case with Amber’s green and tan mouse. Even though Buckley was already a senior when she came to live with us, she still liked to play, but she never once touched Amber’s special toy. When Allegra joined Amber and me as a 7-month-old kitten who would go after anything that moved, she never once played with Amber’s special mouse.
I asked Allegra to tell you about her special toy, but she declined. She said some things aren’t meant to be explained to humans.
A Mouse in the House, Part Two
A couple of weeks ago I told you about the little mouse I trapped in our laundry room and released in my neighborhood park. (Hmm, TNR for mice? Although I skipped the “N” part…) I was well aware that mice are usually not single creatures, and sure enough, last week, I saw another one scurrying behind the washer. Continue Reading
A Mouse in the House
The other day, I was in my laundry room when I saw a tiny little mouse scurry across the floor in front of my feet. And while I think mice are adorable, I don’t really want to share my living space with them. Of course, this also explained why Allegra and Ruby had been hanging out outside the laundry room door quite a bit lately!Continue Reading
Allegra’s World: It’s my 8th Birthday!
Hi everyone, it’s Allegra! I’m eight years old today!
Mom says she can’t believe how fast the time has gone by. She says it seems like it was just yesterday that I came home with her. The photo below shows me a couple of hours after I arrived at our house.Continue Reading