We’ve just graduated from having been sitters with TH for the past 12 years to owners. My husband has posted travel jottings which he sends to friends during every sit but his latest “epistle” deserves to be shared with you all !!!
Hope you enjoy ,…………………
I had a dream.
I dreamed that I was staring into the Black Hole of Calcutta - hot, sweaty, dark, menacing and smelly.
I awoke in a panic to discover to my horror the vision was still with me - my cat’s rear end looking me in my face.
Five weeks ago J and I adopted an 12 year old abandoned cat. This was not a spur of the moment thing, and we had prepared in advance with what we thought was military precision:
* Installed a cat flap in our balcony door (professional supply and fit @ $175.00)
* Bought and self built a cat tree and scratching pad ( $130.00 and 5 hours labour as instructions too small to read)
* Bought 3 cat bowls ( wet, dry and treat food) $5.00 each
* Bought 6 cat toys including a mouse (pretend) ($12.00 total)
* Bought Fur lined cat basket ($45.00)
* Bought Cat litter bowl and 2 bags clay litter, 2 bags paper litter and 2 bags TOFU litter ($180) To be trialled according to our new cat’s toilette preference
* Ransacked our laundry room for a “ comfy” Comfort blanket
* Bought cat nip herb parcels (to calm a stressed cat @ $3.00 each)
* Cleared out Coles, Woolies and IGA of cat wet and dry food, Dreamies and other assorted culinary treats ($ @ a moveable feast rate, but more expensive than
human shopping).
* soft shell vet carrier with fur lining (@$75.00)
Thus prepared we fetched our new boy from the cattery, who immediately shot under a bed, not to be seen for 3 days.
Since then, our meticulous planning ( more complex than for the D day landings), has been supplanted by a cat routine that has redrawn the rule book and forced J to consult daily with Chat GPT on feline behaviours.
Bobby now known s “BB”, or “Pweetty Putty Tat”, or “You beautiful boy”, or “Darling” (not to be confused with my term of endearment for J) is now firmly in charge.
We have enticed him to use the cat litter tray (Tofu) and the cat flap by bribing with Dreamie biscuits ( the feline equivalent of cocaine) and he deigns to join us on our balcony for evening cocktails.
His daily routine is - sleep, eat, poop, meow, eat, sleep, meow etc. A bit like my own!
Next week he is off to the Vet for a flu jab, flea treatment and a medical once over including a thermometer stuck up his bum and a check on his (missing testicles). Reminds me of my days at boarding school when Matron lined up the boys for the “cough” test.
This parable may seem to be a tale of doom and gloom, but the reality is BB has filled a gap in J and my lives and we cannot imagine life without him ( except if he jumps over the balcony into the canal, as I will not be jumping in to save him as he has 9 lives and the Fatman has only about a quarter of a life
J and I are off on a 3 week holiday in August ergo we’re now in the process of posting our first sit as owners….. no doubt at the end of our holiday we’ll have to grovel all over again to receive just a little purr ………
