Tao is a wonderful affectionate creature, but she is not keen on cats. This began in her Copenhagen apartment when Spjæt, who was something like a cat but moreso, broke into Tao's box and spent a week pretending to be a tortoise, wearing his best tortoise face (it was no different from his usual face). Tao eventually turfed him out, tortoise style.

Then she was introduced to the three Copkit brothers in their park. Little Grey followed the 'walking stone' everywhere, patting her on the shell to communicate his amazement at her. It was an important part of the thinking cat's education. But Tao was irritated by the whole cat thing and did not see what Eva and I see in them. Then, when introduced to the adult farm cats here, Tao suffered a scratch on her back leg by Tigerpuss, not the most curious of cats, who wanted to know what she was made of. So cats get the thumbs down from the magisterial tortoise whose anti-cat campaign slogan might read: TUSS NOT PUSS.....!

Nevertheless, Tao didn't mind the four kittens, who respectfully hid from her (Coco and Trisse) or ignored her presence altogether (Backwards and Septimus Stripe). It was interesting to watch and I still maintain that a kitten cannot be educated properly without the close involvement of a tortoise.