Articles

Last time, Casey told you that we were going on holiday.  It was something we had discussed and thought, as Mum was having work done to the bathroom and there would be a lot of noise and disruption, that it would be a good idea if we went on holiday and left Mum to it.  We would come back when the bathroom was finished, and the noise and disruption would be over.

When it came to it, however, I chickened out.  I saw it as an ideal way to have Mum to myself for a while, so I ran upstairs and hid.  Casey went to the hotel resort by himself with Mum and Dad telling him that I would join him the following day.  It didn’t work out like that because I stayed under the sofa bed for ages until Mum gave up trying to bribe me.

In a way, I wish I had gone with Casey.  Every day there were men in our house and garden doing ‘stuff’.  You know my feelings about men – apart from Dad, that is – but Mum stayed with me in this office and because I could hear her tapping away on her ‘puter thing, I wasn’t frightened.

Mum got her new bathroom and I got a new door, just for me, with a new cat flap in it.  It was the first time I’ve ever had my own door.  I was chuffed and kept going through it just for the hell of it!

Once the men had gone for the day and Mum and I had had our dinner, we hung out on the sofa together, watching the programmes that she likes on the television.  I didn’t feel guilty that Casey was all by himself, because I had Mum all to myself.  That was the bestest thing ever in the whole wide world. We had four weeks of just Mum and me – what more could a cat want. I sat on her lap whenever I wanted to, even though she is still a bit of a wriggler, I could overlook that. It was just Mum and me, me and Mum.   

But then it all went pear-shaped, or Pete Tong, as some people say.  Casey came home.  At least, we think it's Casey.  This Casey kept weaving himself around her legs and crying every time she left the room to use her new bathroom.  He saw the toys in the front room and played with the catnip bag thing.  We have four, but three were on the carpet and he played with one of them for ages.  Then he sniffed all the other toys.  Then he played with the blue ring thing that has a yellowy ball that we have to push round the ring with our paws.  He had a right go at that for a while. Our old Casey rarely played with anything. 

Then this Casey sat – he ACTUALLY sat - on Mum’s lap and kept kissing her. And he stayed on her lap for simply ages.  And, AND – I can’t believe I’m saying this – he let Mum pick him up and cuddle him – FOR AGES!

I think the hotel resort where our old Casey stayed has replaced him with an alien.  Our old Casey would never do any of those things.  He wouldn’t dream of playing with toys, or sitting on laps, let alone being picked up to be CUDDLED.  He was so licky and kissy that quite frankly, I was disgusted with him.  Dogs do that kind of thing.  They have no control over their emotions and their tongues hang out of their mouths in that soppy droopy way, they bound about in bouncy boings and they are an embarrassment to the entire animal kingdom. 

Cats, as you well know, are ALOOF.  (The old Casey loved that word – Aloof).  We don’t ‘do’ soppiness or great displays of unbridled affection.  Everything we do, is on our terms.  Ask for a kiss and you’ll see our bums as we walk away.  If we want to kiss you, that’s another matter.  Then, no matter what activities you might be engaged in, we will move in and give you love like no other loving. 

I had to leave the room after witnessing all this alien kissing stuff from this different Casey.  I stayed under the sofa bed in the office for the rest of the day.  But I missed my lap time with Mum and I know she missed me because she called me a few times.  So, the next day, I decided to swallow my pride.  The new Casey was in his old spot next to Mum’s thighs, so I chanced a leap onto her lap.  It felt good.  Mum made a fuss of me, like she always does, and the new Casey didn’t bat an eyelid.  

Perhaps things will work out with this alien.  I’ll keep you posted.

Till next time

Love Gibbs xxxx