Shall we start with the good news, the bad news or more good news? Well let’s start with Oakley, my once morbidly obese but now painfully think three legged cat who is back in Bristol. While we are away we have a professional cat minder Tim, a bearded young man who sends us photos of him and Oakley nuzzling up together and looking happy, hence his name, the “cat molester.”
The bad news a couple of days ago was that Oakley was again off his food, very lethargic and had been rushed to his £300 a night (with drugs) cat hospital. We waited nervously and there was a message about “managing the pathway”. But old oaks is a resilient chap and after being rehydrated and given anti nausea drugs he has been discharged.
The cat molester is putting in extra, non billable, visits and a small army of Bristol well wishers are popping in to watch TV with the old boy who is now on his food once again, and in high spirits. I fear that, aged 16, his best days are behind him but for now all seems well. But these near collapses are becoming more frequent. The writing is, I suspect, on the wall.
Meanwhile here in Greece, the wild kitten who I gave milk to at the Greek Hovel four years ago and who pops in now and again as a grown cat came back again last week. She sat there doing nothing about fifteen yards from me under a tree. And then I noticed… she had two kittens with her, playing in the rocks behind. I brought Joshua out and the Mrs and they stared, my friend the cat just sitting there proudly.
The Mrs decided that evening not to eat her supper in full but to bring back the meat for the kittens and cat. I tried to explain that, like Aslan, they will visit when they wish and that might not be for weeks and you can’t just leave the meat out as that will attract other, unwelcome, members of the wildlife diversity community. But that was to no avail. So the meat lies in our fridge, slowly degenerating as we await another visit which may be tonight or may not be for months…