Outnumbered by Cats now in Etsy shop

Outnumbered by Cats

Outnumbered by Cats, Buster collars and tablets for cats

I usually say that my cats are a distraction and inspiration in equal measure, not so when they have injuries however, when they become pure distraction. Not only down to a need to take them to vet appointments and administer medication, but also because sitting down to write when I'm worried about their welfare is just a bit too hard.

So what have they been up to...?

Well there's Captain, who's on eye drops, and now shuts one eye every time I go near him, so that the only way I can see if he's opening it normally is to view him from a distance, when he's distracted by something else. And while he's fairly accepting of the eye drops - putting a Buster collar on was a step too far. The Buster collar is a hand-me-down from his mum, who only wore it for about 30 seconds, and it's more likely to biodegrade than ever wear out from actually being worn by a cat...

Bumble, not to be outdone, came in sporting a large lump on his neck. It was an abscess, most likely from a fight, and after a trip to the vets, he ultimately burst it himself, and then carried on as if he hadn't noticed that there was a hole in his neck. He did rather enjoy his medication though... The vet suggested emptying the antibiotic capsule and mixing the powder with butter, then spreading the butter on Bumble's leg, as a cat hates to be dirty and would wash it off. I got the butter mixture ready and was just about to start spreading it on Bumble's leg, but first I offered it to him to eat off the spoon - he loved it! He licked the spoon, and then the bowl I'd mixed it in and it became his daily treat, I think he was quite sorry when his medication came to an end.

Boxes - it's a cat thing...

When book characters meet outside of their books

This is what happens when the characters from two different books meet...
Mitzi from Outnumbered by Cats and a sheep from But I'm Not Sleepy.

Cat flap troubles - you've been warned...

Cat flap troubles

When we bought our first cat flap, it was one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time. It came with full instructions about fitting and measuring. And I don’t just mean measuring the door and the flap, it also suggested measuring the distance of the cats’ bellies from the floor. We dismissed this as a ridiculous, not to mention dangerous idea – we had Gizmo at the time, one of our more feisty cats, who wouldn’t have put up with such behaviour without dishing out severe retribution...
And so naively, we showed the cats their new door and wondered why it wasn’t an instant hit... it seemed that cats would rather have a door opened for them in time honoured fashion than push themselves nose first into the house. Although as time went on the full implication seemed to dawn on them – they could now bring their prey into the house and finish off their hunting games in comfort... sometimes this turned into weekend manoeuvres when they lost a mouse under a closed door, the most memorable one resulting in a mouse scurrying off under our bed in the middle of the night. Cleo was quickly let in to remove the mouse, which she did very efficiently after a quick rummage under the bed.
Another escapee had more luck, and it set up residence in the pantry. That one was only discovered by its own untidiness; it had shredded a plastic bag, and gnawed on some vegetables, then set up home in a vegetable rack.
from Outnumbered by Cats by Anne M Stephenson

Cats and boxes - if a picture tells a thousand words... enough said

The first box is empty, so Kryten gets his box...

If  picture tells a thousand words... enough said.

Book quote of the day

'Pictures started to go flying off the sideboard as it became part of a circuit, of sideboard, bookcase, table.'

from Outnumbered by Cats