Felix the Fluffy Kitten and Other Kitten Tales

“What are you going to call him, dear?” Mrs Dent asked, smiling.

Jodie thought hard. “I’m going to call him Felix,” she said. She gave Felix a cuddle. “You’re my fluffy Felix.”

Tired from all his kitten capers, Felix closed his eyes, burrowed his nose into the crook of Jodie’s arm and went to sleep.

Jodie’s mum paid Mrs Dent, and Felix was put in the pet carrying box they’d bought from the local pet shop on the way.

Jodie looked down at her sleeping kitten and smiled. “Look,” she said. “He’s so fluffy that you can hardly tell which way round he is!”

“He does have a wonderful thick coat,” Mrs Dent agreed. “The thickest I’ve ever seen. You’ll need a special comb for grooming him. And he’ll need combing every day.” She wrote down the details for Jodie.

Jodie thanked her and gave Felix a gentle stroke before closing the carrying box.

Still sleeping, Felix purred. What a lovely life he was going to have with his new family . . .

On the way home, Jodie and her mum popped into Pearce’s Perfect Pets in the high street.

“Oh, you’ve brought your new kitten in to see me,” said Mr Pearce, the owner.

Felix allowed himself to be lifted out of his basket, put on the counter and shown off to Mr Pearce.

“Well!” said Mr Pearce. “What a fine kitten – and such a wonderful coat.”

Felix preened himself, purring loudly. He could get used to all this praise!

Jodie nodded, pleased. “He’s lovely, isn’t he?”

“You don’t want to sell him, do you?” Mr Pearce joked.

“No way!” Jodie said. “We’ve come in to buy a special comb for grooming long-haired cats.” She gave Mr Pearce the piece of paper Mrs Dent had given her, with the type of comb written on it.

“I don’t think I’ve got one in stock,” said Mr Pearce. “But I’ll order one for you. Jot down your phone number and I’ll ring you when it’s in.”

“I hope it won’t take long,” Jodie’s mum said, writing down their number. “I want that grey fluff combed out before it gets shed all over the house!”

Mr Pearce tickled Felix behind his ears. “With a thick coat like that, I reckon you’d soon comb enough fluff off him to knit yourself a woolly jumper!” he joked.

Jodie laughed. “I just want to keep him looking good.”

“I tell you what,” Mr Pearce said. “He’s such a handsome kitten that I’d like to take his photograph to put in my window. I’m sure it would attract a lot of attention. I’ll give you the comb and a smart new collar in return. How’s that?”

“Great!” said Jodie. “Can we, Mum?”

Mrs Taylor nodded. “I can’t see why not,” she said.

Felix began to wash around his face so that he’d look his best for the photograph.

“Why don’t you choose a collar while I go and get my camera?” said Mr Pearce.

Jodie held a red and a green collar next to Felix, then chose the red one. She was carefully putting it on him when Mr Pearce came back with his camera.

Felix just loved attention. Everyone in the shop was watching him now. “How about this?” he purred, looking over his shoulder, his tail up straight. “Or this?” he miaowed, rolling on his back and looking up at the camera, his blue eyes wide. “Have you ever seen anything so sweet?”

“I think he knows he’s being snapped,” Mr Pearce said, grinning. “He’s posing like a model. He thinks he’s one of those supermodels.”

Supermodel? Superkitten, more like, Felix thought.

Chapter Three

“You’ll have to try to keep Felix off this sofa, Jodie,” Mrs Taylor said a couple of days later.

Jodie had just come in from school and was sitting watching TV, with Felix on her lap.

Mrs Taylor dabbed at the sofa with a damp cloth, then frowned at the grey fluff she’d gathered up. “Dad sat down wearing his new suit and got it covered in grey hairs this morning,” she went on.

“Sorry,” Jodie said. “I’ll try and brush some of the loose fluff out of Felix’s coat later.” She was going to make do with an old blue hairbrush until the special comb arrived at the pet shop.

Tutting a little under her breath, Mrs Taylor went over to the vacuum cleaner in the corner. “And this old vacuum cleaner of ours is hopeless!” she added.

“Shall I have a go with it?” Jodie offered, feeling guilty at the extra work Felix’s fluff was making for her mum.

Mrs Taylor shook her head. “It’s much too heavy for you to lug around, love. It’s too heavy for me, come to that!” She plugged in the big old machine and switched it on.

Felix, who’d been snoozing, sat bolt upright. What was that horrible roaring noise? He jumped down and made a dash for the stairs. Pale grey fluff hung in the air as he ran . . .

It was Saturday and Jodie was taking her time in the bathroom. She didn’t have to rush to school this morning and could play with her new kitten all day.

Felix had decided to keep Jodie company while she showered, and was perched on the edge of the bath. He bobbed from side to side, dabbing his paw in the drops of water. “Why can’t I catch these little round silvery things?” he miaowed sharply. It was very annoying!