Another Visit to NANNA

A few days after the departure of dear Mr Biver, we decided that we should get another friend for Ming as she seemed to miss him way more than Button missed Womble. So we had a look on the NANNA facebook page and then gave Petrina a ring. She suggested a very timid, scared and shy cat called Dottie who had been rescued from an industrial estate.

Dottie

She sounded perfect, although we were a little worried that Ming might bully her and she'd end up living behind the sofa. In the event we found her huddled in a corner looking very timid and shy but this only lasted a matter of seconds... then, all of a sudden she shot through the cat flap like a facehugger doing parkour while the lady who was with us tried to prise her off the ceiling saying 'Come on Dottie, you're not usually like this you silly sausage!'.

It didn't take us long to decide that Dottie, sweet as she was, probably wasn't the right cat for us. I'm sure if someone could take her and invest time into her she would eventually calm down and be a lovely pet, but I think she definitely needs a safe environment and to be the only cat in the house.

Milford

Another cat we saw was Milford, who was a lovely looking cat, but apparently he's not suitable to live with other cats so that was a non-starter.

Zena was quite friendly and forthcoming, but Zander sat at the back of the hut quietly hissing and Rose isn't overly fond of skinny looking cats so we moved on.

Winston and Yolo were a gorgeous pair of cats and super friendly, and they are used to being with other cats. Unfortunately they were already reserved, otherwise we probably would have had them both!

Ace and Kaeme were lovely as well, both very large cats and very friendly. But we did worry that they might overwhelm Ming a little bit, and decided that it would probably be best for us to just get one single cat to give Ming the best chance of accepting the new normal.

Ula and Quinita were suitable for our needs, but presumably they had already been reserved as they didn't suggest we looked at them. We did see them and they were extremely pretty, no doubt they already had homes to go to. From what they said they had re-homed 26 cats in the last week and due to the Covid restrictions they were struggling to get them out of the door.

There are apparently several more cats that are currently still looking after their kittens who will be eligible for rehoming in the next couple of weeks so we'll have another look then.

Mr Biver R.I.P.

Mr Biver came to us from the NANNA animal rescue centre in November 2017 along with (naughty) Ming. He started to lick his tail obsessively three months ago and at first the vet thought it was a problem with his anal glands (rare in cats, but very common in dogs). Unfortunately, after a third sedation, it was found that Mr Biver had an internal growth which was causing the problem. The vet increased his steroid dose and for a few days there was a dramatic improvement, but then he went downhill quickly and was clearly uncomfortable. Sadly we had to take him to the vets one final time.

Mr Biver was such a character, and so funny with his little ways... Rose and I are devastated to have lost him after only 2.1/2 years and only eleven years old. But as awful as it was to have to make the decision, it was the right decision. When the problem first started he was generally okay inbetween bouts of frantic tail licking, but he was clearly getting worse and we were advised that surgery was unlikely to provide a good outcome.

Beavis was such a lovely, funny boy, we are both going to miss him dreadfully. Today has been awful, but at least he's at peace now and though it was absolutely gutting for us, at least we know we did the right thing. Sometimes the kindest thing is the hardest thing.

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Rob's D.I.Y. Extravaganza!

Cut the hedge!

Cleaned the conservatory and cleaned out / fixed the guttering

Planted a conifer, which should eventually grow to three metres high

Strimmed the cat box and re-stained it.