Piper nigrum

Garden writer Marianne Wilburn has shared her two other cats with us - Tiger Lily and Daisy.

Now it is sweet little Pepper's turn. She was recently profiled on Marianne's blog by her dog, Mungo.

Mungo said, "I’m a Jack Russell Terrier. I know it and they knew it way before there was any talk of bringing me into the family. That doesn’t mean good things for cats.

But as a bonus, it doesn’t mean good things for rats, voles, moles, groundhogs, skunks (That was, upon reflection, a mistake.), and various other varmints, critters, and freeloaders that roam the land in search of an easy food ticket.

They like cats – though They didn’t have any at the time. So, it was decided that I would not be allowed to spend my puppy-dom basking in the one-on-one attention that puppies deserve, and instead I would get the raw deal of sharing it with a kitten.

That kitten was Pepper.

The Girl picked her out of a litter of five other black balls of ‘pick-me-I’m-so-freaking-cute’ because she had blue eyes. They brought her home and we stayed on opposite sides of a bathroom door sniffing each other for a week. I had her number from the very first sniff. A people-pleaser and all around goody-two-shoes.

As soon as that sneaky cat felt safe she changed the color of her eyes – total bait and switch – and my cat purgatory began in earnest.

She’s one of the Three Untouchables now. I cannot tell you what it does to the self-esteem of a proud JRT covered in cat-smell (not cat-blood) when he meets other terriers on a walk.  Like I said – A Raw Deal.

As cats go, she’s pretty chill. She knows just what They want – soft fur (whatever), sleek coat (again, whatever), and the ability to sit in front of a ball without twitching (wha…nevermind).  She hangs out at parties and gets to sit in laps that will have her and I don’t see her getting pushed off the couch in the middle of the day.

That’s petism, if anyone cares."

Mungo and Pepper