Oh Dog!  Another treat in store for you today!  I have the pleasure of interviewing my first South African guest today!  She is a saucy lady with lots of spirit and spunk.  I know you’re going to love her, so dogs and cats, put your paws together and help me welcome Nuala!

Rumpy:  Thank you so much for being my guest today Nuala!​

Nuala:  Before this starts I just want to say thank you Rumpy for this opportunity – it is awesome being interviewed by such a famous doggie blogger and poet.  I love the poetry challenges that you come up with – never thought they can be so much fun!

Rumpy:  Awwwww…. thanks Nuala! Well how about we start by having you tell us about you.

Nuala:  Mmm, what to tell of myself?  I am lucky in that I am not a rescue cat – I share a house in Randburg, South Africa (am I the first South African kitty on your blog?) with three other cats and the two human slaves affectionately known as Paw and Meowmie. I’m the only girl kitty, a ten year old pure-bred Chocolate Point Siamese.  People often think I am a Seal Point though.

Rumpy:  You sure are a pretty kitty.

Nuala:  The humans have my pedigree; apparently I have ‘papers’ – are they edible? Can I play with them?  I was supposed to go to a different home when I was born, but the human didn’t want me as I wasn’t ‘perfect’ being the runt of the litter (Paw says ‘runt’ must mean ‘most beautiful little cat’) and couldn’t be ‘shown’.

Rumpy:  Awwwww….. I think Paw must be right!

Nuala:  At the time Meowmie was looking for a Siamese as she wanted a dog, but with Paw allergic to dogs (and cats too) and having four cats in the house at the time they felt another kitten would be easier to introduce and adapt to. She did her homework and found out that Siamese are very doglike in terms of loyalty. So they came to take a look, fell in love with me (how could they not) and I found my forever home. I got very attached to Meowmie until such time as she had serious work pressure and could not quite spend as much time with me as I deserve. Paw then stepped up to the plate and lavished me with attention, so I got attached to him. I can now not put a paw wrong – the humans are so easy to control. Actually, I could never put a paw wrong come to think of it…

Rumpy:  It seems to come naturally to some of us… *wink*  What about the rest of your family?

Nuala:  As I’ve mentioned, I share the house with three boy cats – Oom Splat, at fifteen still the alpha cat although he is mostly sleeping in the sun these days having retired. He is also diabetic and needs injections twice a day. Then there is Socks, I affectionately call him ‘the bully’ as he still – even at thirteen – haven’t figured out NOT to chase me off the bed. And then off course my little furrbrother Carus that I adore to bits. He is only eighteen months old, but keeps me young.

Rumpy:  Wow!  What an interesting group!  Tell us about your name.

Nuala:  My full name is actually Nuala Ming Tu – my mother’s name was Ming, so originally I was named ‘Ming Tu’. We are indoor / outdoor cats, although I tend to hang out in the house or the garage with my cat hammock on the porch being my favourite sleeping place. What? It is for all the cats? Mmm, interesting concept that. I’ve gotten various nicknames – ‘Little Girl’, ‘Baby Girl’ (yes, at ten years old, I still get called that), ‘Little Goddess’ (since I cannot put a paw wrong) and more recently with Carus in the household I am one part of the duo called ‘Trouble’ and ‘Brewing’. *innocent look*

​Rumpy:  *giggles* So tell us what you like best about your humans?

Nuala:  What do I like best about my humans? Well, they adore us four cats and try to make the house and surrounds as cat-friendly as possible. So there are ramps for the old cats to walk up and down, scratch pads and climbing posts. I love to be carried around by Paw – he does the most amazing shoulder rides and will let me sniff interesting things I don’t normally get access to when being carried – this is inside and outside.  And Meowmie is a great cuddler – especially in winter time.  Many was the day that she would get to work late, cause I settled down for a cuddle while she was having breakfast and she didn’t move.  I must also say, the two humans were quick to train (thank goodness, from some of the tweets I read it would appear that some humans are just untrainable) and using various techniques such as the ‘single paw lift’ combined with the ‘cute attentive look’ tends to work wonders.  The humans have recently done something which they always wanted to – they turned a passage wall into a ‘family photo wall’ and, well, it is filled with pictures of us cats which includes two lovely pencil drawings of me and of the four kitties of a couple of years ago done by a local artist.

Rumpy:  Sounds like you’ve got a talent for training humans!  Any complaints?

Nuala:  As for complaints, well, when I want attention and I don’t get it quickly enough, I let them know. No, I am not a ‘talker’ – I am actually very quiet for a Siamese and rarely meows. The only time when I do make a sound is when there are strange cats on the property – I tend to get very vocal then. According to Paw when I am fierce I look absolutely terrifying. However, back to complaining about the humans – I tend to use the ‘single claw in the lower calf’ method to let the applicable human know that firstly I am there and secondly that I want attention. It tends to work quite well.

Rumpy:  I’m scared of you girl!  Well tell us all what are your favorite treats?

Nuala:  Ooo, favourite treats – I love cheese, specifically Mozarella. Grated as well please, none of this sliced into blocks stuff. Oh, and do use the fine grater thanks, I don’t like large pieces. And cream, specifically low fat whipped cream, from a store called Woolworths. Don’t get it as often as I would like – the humans are watching my figure. And then I love it – no let me rephrase it – I LOVE IT – when Paw sprinkles catnip on my scratch pad. I do get a bit high from it, but it is just sooo much fun.  I also love snuggling with any of the two humans, I tend to snuggle in Paw’s arms at night and then when he goes to work I move my base of operations to Meowmie as she gets up later than Paw. Yes, I am an equal opportunity snuggler…

Rumpy:  My cats are the same way about that catnip.  Now how long have you been on Twitter?

Nuala:  I’ve been on Twitter now for about six months. Carus was on first and introduced me to Twitter – initially I was wondering what this newfangled technology was for, but once Paw got an iPhone Irealised how easy it actually it to follow furriends and keep anipals up to date.

Rumpy:  Yeah, the iPhone is amazing!  My hope is one day we can afford an iPad too!  woo woo So are you on any other social media or do you blog?

Nuala:  I am not on Facebook though and as for blogging, well, after seeing the amount of fun that you Rumpy are having with the blog, I’m considering starting my own.

Rumpy:  Cool!  Keep us all posted so we can come visit you there!  Is there anything else about you that you want all your fans to know?

Nuala:  Only one? MOL. Okay, my birthday is the 15th August and the humans started celebrating it with a themed birthday cake a couple of years ago.  The one year it was a cake shaped like a Mozarella cheese with seven mice climbing on it. The next year a birdbath with eight birdies bringing me gifts. Every cake always has a Siamese cat on it representing me. Oh, the cake goes to Paw’s work for his colleagues to share (yes, they think he is strange heehee). This year it was a Siamese sleeping on a queen size bed with ten flowers strewn on and around the bed.

Rumpy:  What a cute idea!  And they might think he’s a bit different but I bet they didn’t turn down free cake!  Now, one more question just for fun.  If you were a dinosaur, what kinda dinosaur would you be?

Nuala:  What kind of dinosaur – mmm, which dinosaur was cute? None? Oh dear. I’m not really all claws and speed these days (although I am very intelligent, Meowmie says so) so maybe a velociraptor. Actually can I settle for being a saber-tooth tiger? They were pretty kitties weren’t they?

Rumpy:  Works for me Nuala.  Thanks so much again for being my guest today.  This has been great fun!