Thread by @bonkers_betty

Five years ago, I was shacked up in a wobbly shed at the bottom of a garden.

I was a single cat with three tiny kittens to feed.

The pretty lady who owned that shed didn't know I was living in it.

I used to sneak in through a hole at the back.

I gave birth to my three kittens in there.

At the other end of the garden to the wobbly shed there was a warm house with pillows and fires and food cupboards.

I wanted to live there with the pretty lady and her two fat, lazy, overfed cats.

I hatched a cunning plan to finagle my way into that house through the power of my diminutive cuteness.

I was going to be moving up in the world, and my kittens were coming with me!

#bigplans #catpower #smallbutmighty #cuteandclever

#cats #CatsOfTwitter #blackcatsoftwitter #blackcats

One day, I was sitting on the lawn in front of the shed with my 3 kittens & the pretty lady saw us through the kitchen window!

My kittens were very scared & ran & hid in the shed. I was delighted the pretty lady noticed us. I was exhausted, thin & ill. Feeding 3 kittens when I was homeless & without steady food was very hard.

Over the next few weeks I paraded my little kittens around the back lawn in front of the kitchen window over & over again so the pretty lady could see how adorable we all were.

The pretty lady gave us chicken pieces to eat but my kittens were too scared of her to go near it.

I wasn't.

I ate all of it.

One time the pretty lady said "This is fresh cooked chicken from Sainsbury's. My mum bought it for you."

I thought her mum must be very nice.

Now the hard part had started!

How on earth was I going to get my kittens to stop being scared of the pretty lady, & to understand that she wanted to help us & not hurt us?

So every day the pretty lady came into the garden with food for us.

Tuna, chicken, corned beef, salmon.

It was a buffet of all the best, wafty, smelly foods she could think of to tempt my little kittens.

I would sit next to the food so my kittens would know it was safe for them to eat it. But they were so scared of the pretty lady they were reluctant to go near the house.

The pretty lady was very clever & realised what was happening, so instead of leaving the food near the house, she started leaving the food next to the hole in the shed so my kittens only had to take a few steps to reach the food.

It worked! My kittens would come out of the hole, take a few little steps and eat all the lovely food the pretty lady brought for us!

Yay! The first problem was solved.

Every day, the pretty lady came with food & put it by the hole in the shed.

All the fresh, wafty food was lovely.

I was very happy & so were my kittens.

But we were still living in the shed!

How was I going to get my kittens into the house?

One day, when the pretty lady came out into the garden with food for us, she didn't go back into the house like she usually did. Instead she sat down in a garden chair & kept very still!

She had been thinking about the problem too & had come up with a plan to help me!

After that, every time that the pretty lady came out with food for us, she sat down in a garden chair & waited for my kittens to come out of the hole in the shed to eat the food.

She didn't move. She didn't make a sound. She just waited.

The pretty lady was so clever!

My kittens were afraid of her, but they wanted the food!

As the days passed, they got used to seeing the pretty lady sitting still in the chair, waiting, each time she brought out some food.

After a week or so, my kittens would happily eat the food while the pretty lady sat at the other end of the garden, keeping very still & very quiet.

Then, each day after that, the pretty lady sat just a little bit closer to the hole in the shed each time she brought out food for us.

After two more weeks the pretty lady was able to sit right next to the hole in the shed, & right next to my kittens, while they ate the food she brought.

The pretty lady couldn't move or touch my kittens though.

How was she going to take them into the house?

All the fresh food from the pretty lady was lovely, but we still weren't in the house.

I was starting to feel more & more tired.

It was hard work feeding my kittens so much milk, trying to keep them safe, & hunting for food for myself.

I was getting ill & tired.

On a particular day, when I was feeling particularly sad that we still weren't in the house, the pretty lady came out with our food & a strange box with a little door on the front.

She put the box on the floor next to her chair & put the food between the box & the hole in the shed.

My kittens were afraid of the box but they were very hungry.

After sitting looking at the box & the lady for a while, they edged close & ate the food.

The next day, the lady came out again with the box.

This time she put the food & the box closer to each other.

My kittens definitely didn't like that box, but they were too hungry to fuss for too long & eventually, while I & the pretty lady waited, they ate the food.

This went on for several days, moving the box & the food closer together.

The pretty lady was very patient.

I liked her very much.

I liked her so much that the next time she came out with the food & the box, & sat in her chair, I jumped into her lap!

I purred a lot, just so she'd know I really liked her.

The pretty lady tickled me under the chin, & told me how brave & beautiful I was.

Right then was when I realised I loved her.

So, we had a box that my kittens were afraid of & we were still living in the shed.

I was very tired & getting ill.

What was the pretty lady going to do next to help me get my kittens into the house?