THE PERFECT KITTEN-CAT

Hi Everybody,

I want you to meet L'il Ed, the most perfect kitten-cat in the world.

L'il Ed, say hello to our readers.

I've been fostering L'il Ed for less than a week and in that time he's been neutered and had his first vaccination. I learned something about him in those two trips to the vet -he doesn't travel well. Threw up in his cat carrier both times before he got there. Oh, and I'm calling him a kitten-cat because he's only about 6 months old.

Let me tell you what else I've learned about L'il Ed in the short time I've had him.

He likes affection. A lot of it and he'll let you know it.

He's fine with other cats.

Even if they squash him into a corner.

He likes sleeping on a bed and most mornings I've woken up with him on my pillow.

He'd suit most homes as long as his new owner likes the sound of the description I've just written.

And he's available for re-homing now.

But wait, you ask me, if he's so wonderful and loveable and friendly (which he is), then why aren't you keeping him?

Well, basically the answer is that I'm living in a smaller house than I used to and don't want to get overrun with cats which would be very easy to do so I'm limiting myself to three. There's the two I brought and there's Fifi who I started fostering but decided to keep because she needs a bit more special care. She's very friendly with people but scared of the other cats and will only eat tuna or tuna-based cat food and needs to be with an experienced owner. (I think I mentioned this in the last post.  L'il Ed, however, would fit in happily anywhere (though he doesn't like dogs).

So, if anyone is interested in re-homing him (and I'm also open to a show of interest in Fifi), call me on 0191 5142850 and we'll talk.

WE'RE BACK

Or, more accurately, I'm back. No, too egocentric; the blog is back. That's better.

I've been moving house, having split up more amicably than anyone would believe from Susan Hardy who kept seven of our nine cats. Apart from being incredibly busy settling in to my smaller (but lovely) new home with large garden, I swapped over from Virgin to Sky which resulted in three weeks without Internet access. I think the withdrawal was more agonising than when I quit smoking sixteen years ago. It was also incredibly frustrating as I couldn't email or blog, never mind accessing my favourite websites.

The cat above is about 6 months old, currently being fostered by me, and is being neutered tomorrow. On Monday he'll get his first jab and three weeks after that will go to our re-homing centre. I would not recommend him to anyone who doesn't like a cat which: demands a lot of affection, cuddles up to you on your bed, likes to be made a fuss over, sits on your knee, is fine with other cats, and purrs loudly. I do but I'm still not keeping him.

I am, however, keeping one year old Fifi (seen on my front kitchen window) who I'm currently supposed to be fostering.

Fifi is a finicky cat. She doesn't eat much and only (so far after two weeks) tuna-based cat food. She is incredibly good at hiding -twice in her first week I became convinced that she'd got out despite being careful only to find her behind the bath panel and then behind books on a bookshelf. She's scared of other cats, even unaggressive ones like my Lotus and Lily. She is, however, very affectionate. She now spends all her time upstairs in either my book room or my bedroom. Fifi needs an experienced cat owner so she's stuck with me.

On the re-homing front, they are going from our new re-homing centre (see previous posts) at an average of one a week which is okay but could be bettered. There are always more waiting to come in once they've had their second jab -another two next Monday.

Here are some of them.

This is a shy but friendly boy who's found a nice home.

This pretty and affectionate ginger female (yes, ginger female, not all gingers are boys) had a difficult time settling in to her new home but is fine now. Unlike-

-this lovely friendly girl who was so unsettled she messed all over the place so as there was a small child in the house she had to come back.

This is one of a pair and we have a policy of not splitting up pairs as long as they get on.

So there we go. Hopefully this post means things are getting back to normal and there'll be more posts soon.