Now I know Kaja is driving me insane with sleepless nights of late but I wouldn't want her to catch on fire either. She does insist on lying right at the base of the fire box as the tiles are very warm. I opened the box to put another piece of wood on when an ember fell onto Kaja with a poof of smoke and burnt hair. I frantically patted and rubbed her down to put her out. She was totally oblivious of all the cary on and wondered why she was being so rudely woken. Luckily she has a dense coat (as well as brain). This is the second time she has caight on fire, the first time she walked infront and stuck her tail in the box. Both cats seem to gravitate to the fire when you put more wood on.

That's if you can get to the fire

My first cat used to like to sit on top of the wee gas boiler in the kitchen which supplied us with instant hot water. She had a permanent scorch mark on her tummy and it never seemed to bother her. Neither did it go right the way through her fur - it was all on the surface. The current batch of cats shoulder the Deerhounds away from the fireplace in winter and we have had the occasional cat shoot out of the cat flap in the kitchen window in flames and a filthy temper when they've stuck their tails in the fire. I reckon their coats are just about as thick as they are.

Poor cats, they are daft! When I have my open fire my 4 cats lay as close as possible, fighting to get a space with Elsie Grey & Daisy May! All you can see is a pile of fluff and when the one on top gets too hot, they role over and another cat is then on top of the pile So far, no burnt cats, but Elsie Grey worries me, as the daft brain tries to stick her fat head over the top of the fire guard