House cats and the home jungle.

Even the smallest house cat is king of the jungle. Even if that jungle happens to be a house in the middle of suburbia. My Persian cat Penelope has always been a house kitty. In fact she flatly refuses to go outside. Who can blame her? Nothing worse than getting leaves and grass stuck all over your luxurious fluffy coat.

No, Penelope prefers the jungle that is our house. So what, if there's no long grass to hide in. It's much more fun to wait under the bed for an unsuspecting foot to launch yourself at.

If your claws need sharpening don't use a tree outside, the texture and the quality of cane furniture is sooo much better.

And when your done sharpening your claws on expensive furniture why not take a nice relaxing cat nap. You don't want to sleep on the cold hard ground outside. What you need is a nice soft pile of freshly washed laundry to curl up in.

After you've recharged your batteries you might be ready for a spot of hunting. Hunting outside is no fun. Those birdies are to big and bothersome. The little creatures you find in the home jungle are much more fun. Moths and cockroaches can be chased around the house for hours; and they're CRUNCHY!

The little creatures make nice hors d'oeuvres, but a main meal calls for something more substantial. Fresh fish is best and hand feeding is preferable. Nothing is worse than eating your dinner outside in the elements. It's just not relaxing. You never know when an ambush from the cat over the back fence may occur.

After dinner nothing beats curling up on the couch and being pampered by your human servants. Nothing beats being queen (or king) of your own home jungle!!

BAD HAIR DAY

Everyone has had at least one bad hair cut in their life and Penelope Persian is no exception.

Anyone who owns a Persian cat knows that regular grooming is a necessity. The problem that I face is that Penelope HATES being brushed! She will run a mile at very sight of her brush. If and when I catch her she hisses, growls, kicks and scratches until the brushing has ceased. As far as Penelope is concerned she is more than capable of grooming herself. My assistance is definitely unwanted.

Lack of regular brushing in Persian cats leads to small knots which if left unchecked spiral out of control and before you know it your beautiful long haired cat is wearing a coat of badly maintained dreadlocks. Not a good look!

As the months went by Penelope's knots got progressively worse. Mid way through spring I decided that enough was enough. The knots had to go!! I booked Penelope into the local vet for a "lion cut". The "lion cut" needs to be done under a general anesthetic. So Penelope needed to spend the day at the vet. It's called a lion cut because all the fur from the body and the upper legs is shaved off. All that remains is the fur on the cat's head, (giving the impression of a lion's maine) tail and the lower part of the legs.

When we got Penelope home she was less than impressed with her new look. I fact she was one cranky kitty. I think she thought someone had stolen her coat. As Penelope's cranky mood faded she seemed to become depressed. She wouldn't get out of her bed. She moped around the house and just looked miserable. To make matter worse we had a cold snap of weather. I had to put a little dog coat on her, for warmth. The coat fit well around her chest, but was to short and didn't cover her back fully. Maybe, an enterprising person out there should start designing and manufacturing little kitty coats.

Penelope's depression lasted a few days she eventually adjusted to her new look. She did look a tad funny. She had a tiny little body and a big fluffy head and tail. Her legs also looked looked a little strange. It was like she had a knee high ugg boots on. In this instance she was the cat equivalent of Pamela Anderson. Is this an example of purrrfect style?

Welcome to Purrfect Style! We're entering uncharted territory; so you'll have to be a little patient with us.

Allow me to introduce Penelope Persian. She's our CCEO (cat chief executive officer). She's been in charge at our house for the last two years. We often find her sitting in our home office chair. She pretends to be asleep. But she's always got one eye ever so slightly open. A good CCEO always needs to know whats going on.

Penelope, like a lot of other pets out there, is an important part of our family. She provides us with lots of laughs and helps to make our home a happy place.

One small cat changes coming home to an empty house to coming home.

-Pam Brown

Like myself Penelope loves shoes. I often find her sitting on top of or chewing a pair of my favourite shoes (I thought only dogs chewed shoes). She also likes to chew on a good book. We have a number of books with little teeth marks piercing through the front cover.

I hope you agree that Penelope is a very stylish cat.

Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.

-James Herriot