Happy Autumn!

"Hi Minnie! It's very nice to meet you. Thanks for being our Cover Girl for this issue of Tattle Tails. With your classic good looks I think you are ready to break out and become a star!

So tell us a little about yourself: How old are you? Are you a purebred Coonie, or mix? Do you have any nicknames, or maybe a longer name? What is your color?"

"Hello Alice, it’s lovely to meet you too. I’m very excited to be a Tattle Tails cover girl. I’m from the UK and was born in June this year so I’m 5 months old.

My people are Rebecca and Steve. Rebecca says I’m getting bigger every day. I’m a purebred Maine Coon and there’s lots of champions in my family tree.

Rebecca calls me Minnie and says that this is my nickname. I learnt it very quickly and it’s a lot easier to recognize when she’s calling me for my meals than my long, pedigree name which is Moonencia Minerva.

You’re a lot bigger than me, Alice, and I love how luxurious your beautiful, black coat is.

That’s the kind of look I’m aiming for when I’m grown up. I’m a tortie tabby. My coat is very soft and I enjoy keeping it in tip-top condition. Dad is a red tabby and Mum is a brown tabby so I’m a mixture of both of them."

"How did you come to live with Rebecca? Did she choose you, or did you choose her?"

"I was born in a house where there were lots of other cats. Rebecca says it’s in Barnsley in Yorkshire. Lisa looked after us there and she gave us lots of good food and games.

My Mum lives in the house and there’s a special building in the garden where my Dad lives.

It’s very clean with places to sleep and you can climb up onto platforms to watch what’s going on. There’s always lots of cats about.

"What is your favorite way to bond with your people? Is there a special game you play, or place you like to snuggle?"

"I love to watch what my people are doing. They do some very interesting things with food in the kitchen and I try to join in whenever I can.

Rebecca isn’t very keen on me eating the people food and I can’t understand this because I love eating.

Trying new things is exciting. I want to try all the different food they eat as often as I can get my paws on it.

My special bed is in the utility room. It’s made of wicker with a comfy lining and I love to snuggle into it. Rebecca has put it on top of the boiler so it’s high up.

It’s cosy and warm up there. I have a great view of my people when they come into the room and I can watch all the goings-on in the garden through the big window.

My people feed the birds so I have lots of things to watch when they’re flying about near the bird table. I’d like to chase them. That would be really good fun."

"Do you have any super-funny quirks? Anything that puzzles or annoys your people? Life as a cat has to include some mischief! Tell us how you stir things up!"

So I worked out a fantastic plan to scratch my way in through the back of the cupboard to get to the toys.

I’dd been working on it for a few days and it was going well. I managed to get the back panel away from the sides.

Then my people noticed how well it was working. They've set me a new challenge now by wedging a piece of wood against the cupboard so I can’t get to it as easily to do my scratching work.

I’m looking forward to solving this new problem. I’mm determined to open up the back of the cupboard so I can get the fishing rod toys out whenever I want."

"Anything else you'd like to share?"

"I’m really looking forward to seeing Tattle Tails when it comes out, I’mm so excited to be a cover girl. Rebecca is very proud of me and can't wait to show it to her friends."

"Thanks for your time, Minnie! It was wonderful to meet you!"

"Thank-you Alice, it’s been lovely talking to you."

To visit Minnie's own page on Maine Coon Cat Nation and leave a comment for her or Rebecca, visit Minnie Minerva!