Beloved by our hand-reared cat, Nougat, ever since he was tiny, are two soft toys: a teddy and a dog. When he was a kitten, these toys became his surrogate siblings and should one of our adult cats not be so obliging, his reliable sleeping companions.

Although he outgrew these toys in size, he did not outgrow them when it comes to devotion. He still adores these toys, sometimes kneading them with his paws at bedtime and he often ends up sleeping snuggled up to them.  Sometimes, perhaps to attract our attention, he carries one or other of them in his mouth through the house, making unusual chirruping noises, although he immediately drops his toy when we come to see what he is calling about.

2 Beloved

Nougat as a kitten in his basket with his two fluffy toys, and sleeping snuggled up to his toy teddy 

Nougat is now five years old and he still cherishes these beloved toys from his babyhood.

Posted in response to the Weekly Photo Challenge with the theme “Beloved”.  For responses from other bloggers on this theme, click  here

Hadeda Ibis update: In last week’s photo challenge, ‘Variations on a Theme’, I posted about a Hadeda Ibis that had a discarded ring of hard plastic around its neck. It had its lower bill trapped in the ring, wedging its bill open, and rendering it unable to eat or drink. We did not see it again until yesterday when we noticed it perched on the neighbour’s fence. We saw that it still had the ring around its neck, but it had freed its bill and so is able to survive. When it realised we were watching it, it flew off and we have not seen it again.

 Posted by Carol

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