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Dear feline friends, and friends of felines, what a couple of weeks I’ve just had.  I am frazzled beyond words.  Even my whiskers are tightly coiled with the stress I’ve been under. OMC (Oh, my cats!) I need a holiday in the sun, lying on a nice comfortable lounger, with grilled kippers for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a catnip bar to imbibe and let my fur down.  Let me ‘splain.

One day, a few weeks ago, Mum and Dad were gone for absolutely hours.  Gibbs and I were quite worried whether we would ever eat dinner again.  When they returned home, Mum helped Dad into the house, and led him into the front room.  He sat on the sofa and Mum fussed around him, wrapping him in a blanket and making him dinner and drinks.  Gibbs and I like having Dad around as he’s good fun and it’s handy to have another lap to sit on.  Although, remember, I have intimacy issues and don’t ‘do’ laps, but I do sit next to thighs and I’m often to be found wedged in between Mum and Dad’s thighs.  

Anyways, the next day, Dad was still here and he was looking a bit shaky.  Mum made him sit on the sofa with all the cushions behind him and she wrapped the fluffy blue snuggly blanket around him.  She smoothed a corner of the blanket out and said to me: “Casey, this is your bit of the blanket.  I want you to look after Dad for me.  Will you do that, please?”  I looked at Dad, I looked at the blanket, I looked at Mum and then I sat on the blanket.  I kneaded it a while and then turned around and around three times and snuggled right up to Dad’s leg. 

We both went to sleep for a couple of hours, I was purring Dad better.  Mum checked in on us a few times and I opened an eye just to let her know that I was looking after Dad and she needn’t worry.  I had everything in paw.   

The next day, Dad could drive his car, so he went back home.  He seemed ok after a few days of resting in his own house and when he came back to visit us, he thanked me for looking after him.  “It’s no big deal,” I told him, “that’s our job.  To look after you humans.”  He smiled, stroked my fur and then tickled my chin.

Barely had I finished licking myself after he did all that, then my next assignment began.  Mum got up on Sunday morning looking inside out.  Her face was so white, I could see inside her skin.  She has to keep something called ‘biotics’ in one of the cupboards so she started taking them, but she was very pawly indeed and in a lot of pain.  I went to the sofa and pointed to her corner that she sits in and she came very slowly to sit next to me.  She was making some very strange faces and some equally strange noises but as she’s Mum, we’ll let that pass. 

I know now when she’s feeling pawly as she often goes to sleep on the sofa wrapped in the blue snuggly that she put round Dad’s shoulders to keep him warm.  And another thing – and this is quite shocking.  She didn’t get dressed for two days!  I know!  Shocking, isn’t it!  Don’t tell anyone!  She wore her nightdress and her old blue dressing gown (it’s seen better days, but it’s so comfy that she doesn’t want to get rid of it) and just flopped on the sofa, looking inside out and making funny faces, and strange noises. 

It was my hardest assignment so far.  At least looking after Dad was a doddle – he slept all the time.  Mum couldn’t get comfortable on the sofa because she was in so much pain and she wriggled about so much, that I gave up in the end and went and laid on the floor.  I could keep an eye on her from where I was lying.  I wasn’t neglecting my duties if that’s what you’re worried about.

Casey keeping an eye openGibbs poked his head round the door and asked if everything was alright.  He looked at me stretched out on the rug and looked at Mum looking inside out and everything and decided I was managing very well without him, so he left the room.  

Thankfully, after a few days, Mum’s colour returned to her face and the funny noises and strange faces disappeared.  She still walked slowly because of the pain, but she had a bath, washed her hair and got dressed.  She said she felt more human now.  To be completely honest with you, she scared a me a little bit.  We cats are here to take care of you guys, to be the best that we can be, and to help you manage your lives so that you can live them to the fullest.  But seeing Mum in so much pain and discomfort Gibbs and I discussed whether we should have taken her to the vet and have her put to sleep.   What a fortunate thing (for Mum) we decided to wait and see!

Till the next time,

Love Dr Casey xxxxx

 

A Morning Kiss

A morning kiss, a discreet touch of his nose landing somewhere on the middle of my face.
Because his long white whiskers tickled, I began every day laughing.

Janet F Faure