Eye can still spy

We heard from Dr Chloe today and the FANTASTIC news is that after much debate among the various eye specialists at Animal Eye Care in Malvern, they have decided I get to keep my eye for the time being. Woo hoo!

It's not the end of the road yet, though. We will still be monitoring it carefully for any change, but they reckon it can't be cancerous yet, because if it were I'd probably be dead already. (Sobering thought.)

So, we go back in February for another check up and see what happens after that . . .

Best weekend ever!

What a great couple of days! The only slight hiccup in my weekend of freedom came this evening when I chucked up my dinner in my bowl, so I had to wait for E to come home and feed me again. (Because, unlike some felines, I do NOT like to eat regurgitated foodstuffs if I can avoid it.)

But, otherwise, I had a fantastic time! There was the inevitable altercation with the evil ginger cat, plus I had some fun chuckling at White Fluffball, who's had his ears cut off. (I shouldn't laugh, I really shouldn't, particularly when I'm in danger of having my eye cut out! All we need is for Zimmy to lose his tongue and the driveway cats will resemble the three wise monkeys . . .) Anyway, I'd rather lose my ears than my eye . . . But I digress . . .

Home alone . . . no rules or regulations, no curfew . . . no noise to wake me up from snoozing. It really is a great life.

Now E's home though, I do rather like snuggling up and getting cuddles. It's the best of both worlds!

Cunning plan

I have a cunning plan to make Ellen stop feeding me diet rubbish food: pee on the floor! It's starting to work, I can feel it. My little messages of the past couple of days are having their effect!

Let me explain. I have been on a special diet for the last year or so, specially designed to prevent me from having bladder inflammation etc. (Enough said.) But by mixing the diet rubbish food with my special food, there's a chance it will stop having the positive effect, and I'll start having problems again. A sure sign of this is 'inappropriate peeing'.

And so my cunning plan is to make Ellen think this is happening! For the past couple of days I've left strategically placed messages, and now I can see her mind churn around . . . what's worse, a fat cat or pee on the floor? (I know which one she'll pick.)

Stay tuned for more news from this frightfully clever feline.

More alone time

A ha! Another five days of alone time. I'm gonna roam outside all night, get into fights, raid the pantry, pee all over the floor, catch rodents and leave them on the rug . . .

Sigh. Bliss.

A week of freedom

Well I never expected to be left home alone for an entire WEEK! That's what it was in the end. A whole week! Ellen never would have done that before I was five.

The talking food contraption whirred and spat out my food. The first few times I thought Ellen had come home because it played a stupid little message from her. It didn't take long however for me to have it sussed. Humans really do underestimate our intelligence.

The only living human I saw in all that time (aside from neighbours pottering about in the driveway) was Sarah, who came to refill the whirring food contraption a few times. Other than that, no-one. Nothing.

My feline flap was left open for the entire time so I roamed at large when and where I wanted. So aside from the fact that Ellen turned the heating off and the house was freezing, I was quite comfortable. And when it got too cold, I just crawled under the doona.

She came home yesterday and lounged about on the sofa all day while I slept on my cushion. The first thing she did was feed me. The second thing she did was put on the heating! It was very companionable.

Even though I am more than capable of looking after myself (so long as I am fed), it is nice to have her home.

You wanna know?

So I suppose you're all wondering what I've been doing? To tell the truth, I've been rather bored, because E hasn't been home much of late. It seems like she's always going out or getting home late. Bah, at least she remembers to feed me most of the time.

The weather is getting cooler now, so I'm spending more time indoors. I suppose I should be doing more exercise -- one of E's friends accused me of being fat the other day! Hmmph I don't think so!

Tonight me and E are sharing a companionable evening in front of the TV. It's nice when she's home, because I can snuggle up on her lap, or crawl under her doona cover. I absolutely hate it when she leaves me at home for a night on my own. But that hasn't happened in a while.

The other night she had one of those stupid party plan evenings. This time it was sheets and stuff. (I was eyeing off one of the rugs to sleep on.) The best bit was when a glass of wine got knocked over and splashed all over E's brand new doona! He he. They all scrambled to clean up the rug and the doona cover. But then she poured white powder stuff all over the carpet. Yuck!

So there you go.

Angelcat

Hey, whose blog is this anyway? I am still here, but if I choose not to post, then that's my prerogative.

If you must know, the reason I've been so quiet during April is because I've been so GOOD. Nothing to report, whatsoever. No fights, no holidays, no rodents, no blood drawn (well, OK, that's a lie. I've scratched Ellen a few times).

Clearly I don't need therapy anymore. Must be something to do with being five? I am now an angelcat. Perhaps I should start a series of angelcat tips now, just for fun? (Beth could do with some pointers . . .)

Check out those photos!

Ah yes, some delightful photos of ME below! You can see I really am quite at home down at the island. That deck is a marvellous place to go exploring -- the birds are really quite something.

Such a shame that Beth wasn't invited, though. I think her human was quite taken with me. (Witness all those photos she took!) We got along very well indeed, T and I. I think I only warned her against coming too close a couple of times, and I'm pretty sure I didn't draw any blood. We're now the best of friends -- she even fed me one morning when E was too lazy to get out of bed.

Maybe for my next holiday, I'll see if I can go visit T and Beth down by the swamp. I must admit I'm intrigued by some of Beth's tales, and I think such a well-travelled feline such as myself needs to go and witness such things first-hand. Some food for thought.

PS -- See, I said I didn't need to go on a diet!

sleep on the stomach

Damn and bother, I can't seem to get near Ellen's lap this evening. She's got her computer on her lap, so I have to make do with her stomach. I guess it's lucky that she's more or less stretched out!

I've had a nice day today, and I've just learnt that Ellen's going away yet again this weekend, so I'll be home alone again. It seems someone will come to make sure I have food. Probably her mum this time. We don't get along so well. I don't think she likes me too much.

Ellen's lap is actually quite comfortable. I don't suppose she'd be too happy to hear me say so!

New adornment

Maybe it was a complete coincidence, but on the weekend Ellen bought me a new collar. This one is pink with a fashionable design printed on it. Plus it has a safety release clasp (in case I get stuck and need to free myself -- as if!). Plus it has a BELL.

A BELL?!

Why the devil has she given me a bell? I haven't ever had a bell before. It's so damn annoying to hear a little tinkle every time you so much as twitch!

Actually, I exaggerate. She may think it's going to stop me from catching things, but the reality is that it's a poxy small bell that is pitifully easy to tame. I seriously don't believe it will curtail my hunting abilities.

And anyway, she tells me that she bought it because my old collar is worn out and about to break. This new one can't even fit my catdoor magnet, so I dunno what's going to happen when the door gets fixed.

I suppose it is fitting, now I am five, to have a nice shiny new collar. Aside from the blasted bell, it's actually rather attractive.

Exhausted

Ellen's home and the fun is over. What an amazing weekend! I confess I'm now rather exhausted after galavanting around for three days and nights.

Night adventures

Well, I must say this home-alone caper is loads of fun when I'm allowed to go outside all night -- and the nights have been so balmy. I managed to chase off that ginger cat -- boy was he surprised to see me out and about!

And I even got fed! E's left out the food dispenser, so I can eat as much as I like -- until it runs out -- and then Sarah turns up to shake the food down.

It's soo much better than having to sit in a car for hours on end. And I also hear that if I had gone this weekend, I would have to put up with the ever-effervescent Jeddah! That dog does my head in.

It's amazing what a difference freedom makes. Usually I detest weekends on my own -- they can be so boring! But not when the outdoors beckon.

Now what shall I do this afternoon . . .? I still have a whole day of freedom left!

Opportunity of a lifetime!

I've just found out that Ellen is going to the island this weekend, but I get to stay home. Even better, she's promised to leave the flywire screen propped open, so I have free range outside ALL WEEKEND!!

Words cannot express my joy. I am now planning just exactly what I'm going to do, where I'm going to go etc. She never would have done this before. It must because I'm five now.

Ooooh I can't wait!

Blog anniversary

As of yesterday, I am now a veteran blogger of one whole year! I never thought I would come to appreciate how therapeutic it can be to rant about my life and all its irritations. I mean, you can see why I'm a devilcat, can't you?

As this year draws to a close, I'd like to thank all my readers, especially Beth, my occasional guest blogger. Although she can be a pain in the backside, Beth's posts offer insightful observations on how to be a matron cat -- not that I'd advocate that exactly, but it takes all kinds to make up the feline world. And Beth certainly has the matron angle down pat. (he he)

So for 2008 you can expect more devilcat tips, more insights from Beth into the feline Psyche (although I'll make sure she doesn't give too much away), and more stories about ME!

Back to normal

It's nice to have Ellen back, even if she goes to work all day and clacks away on her computer all evening. It's comforting clacking. (Come to think of it, she also made an awful racket with vacuuming this evening . . .)

The weekend was dull as. But at least I had visitors to dispense my food and open the cat door in the mornings. I could have wished they didn't bother shutting it at night again . . . the least E could have done was allow me to roam outside all night if she was off having fun elsewhere. It's not as though I can go hang out with my friends, if I'm stuck inside! (I do have friends - truly!)

But I survived [sigh] and I even refrained from peeing on the floor inside. She would've hated that and it would have served her right! But I didn't. Maybe Beth is teaching me some manners after all.

Muse

Just so you know, I helped E and T write during the recent long weekend at the island. They couldn't have done it without me. I was their muse.

Whenever they faltered, I was there to make sure they kept those fingers clacking. Whenever they got hungry, I got hungry too.

It's hard work being a muse!

You'd have thought they'd be a little more thankful. After all, they say they got heaps of work done. And it's all down to me!

Getting used to the beach house

Back home again and happy about it too. Although I must say I'm getting used to the beach house. Even though I don't really go outside (and who would have wanted to with the dreadful weather we had), the house it quite big, so there's plenty of space to explore.

Ellen is really happy with me too, because I used my litter tray every time and she didn't have any cleaning up to do! (Except for my breakfast, which I spewed all over the floor.)

Gardening pals

Ellen and I played together outside this afternoon. She crawled around the lawn on her hands and knees . . . (To be honest, I'm not sure what she was doing. She kept jabbing and thumping at the grass -- very odd behaviour) . . . while I chased insects and played with her gardening gloves, which smelt really fantastic!

Back in the garden

Oh, JOY, rapture. Today is the most glorious day and I've been frolicking in my garden.

Happy to be home

Coming home is always wonderful. I couldn't believe it when we pulled up outside the house. I was itching to get out of my carry case, but when I did I couldn't decide what to do first!

Since it was dinner time, hunger made me eat as a priority, but after that I was free to run outside and explore the garden, and the front driveway, and every room in the house . . .

Finally I could go outside.

I did go outside a bit at the island, but these adventures were confined to the large upstairs deck from which I couldn't escape. But on the sunny days, it was very pleasant to lounge about and at least watch the birds, even if I couldn't chase them. (Anyway, they were too stupid to know that I couldn't get them, so I had fun terrorising them from afar.)

So now everything is back to normal.