Sunday
I spent the morning in my office, checking email, networking and browsing the Web, punctuated with the odd game of Solitaire.
Then I worked on some post material in the afternoon, before preparing dinner. An ordinary enough day for a Sunday really.

Then we heard the news that a very old family pet was going to be put to sleep, as the owners were going into sheltered accommodation and cats were not allowed. Not even a beloved and faithful 21-year-old cat that could barely walk, let alone cause any trouble.
Without hesitation, Anita said that we would take her.

I thought she must have taken leave of her senses. This could very well turn out to be insanity of the worst kind. You know, where you do a good turn and end up really regretting it.
We already had Merlin, a very large cat and a right bolshie character to boot. He was not going to like this new arrival one little bit and I knew we were heading for trouble.
I felt compelled to express my concerns several times. That it would be cruel to subject an old lady to such upheaval…that they may fight like the proverbial, or our monster may leave home. (He had already done that once before) That ‘old’ usually meant copious vet bills, that’s if she didn’t take one look at our brute and die of shock!

I obviously wasn’t very convincing, for later that evening Lulu was deposited in my office. She came complete with bed and bowls and was so pitifully frail she could barely walk, but she had already stolen several hearts, just leaving mine to toe the line. She was white with funny beige patches and the cutest face, but I held on to my emotions, knowing we were in for a rough ride.
As if on cue, our brute waltzed in to investigate, took one look and started roaring like the lion he obviously though he was. She promptly hissed at him. Well, Lulu might look as meek as a kitten and be at deaths door, but she obviously had hidden balls of steel and was not about to take any prisoners.
Merlin promptly backed off and sulked in the kitchen. Lulu ignored her bed and staggered under my desk, finding what she thought was a safer place.

At this point, my misgivings were jumping up and down like crazy and alarm bells were ringing. This could not end well. She was too old a lady for all this upset and upheaval.
It might have been kinder to take the easy way out, for would you like to be uprooted from everything you loved and dumped in a scary house full of strangers, not to mention the monster from hell?

Monday morning arrived and I fully expected to find her dead, but she was still breathing, glaring at me from under my desk. I noticed that somebody had used the litter tray; hopefully it was Lulu and not Merlin.
Breakfast was offered with a certain amount of trepidation, which turned out to be unnecessary as it was scoffed in record time. Nothing wrong with her appetite then which could only be a good sign. She still wasn’t moving very well, and I worried she might be in pain from arthritis. This was reinforced by the amount of hisses I received when I attempted to stroke her.
Turned out to be just me she didn’t like, for Anita could stroke her all day without the sound effects.

We decide to play a waiting game, hoping we would instinctively know when a visit to the vet would be required. She certainly loved her food, so that was all good.
I spent most of the day editing my book ‘Nine Lives’ with one eye on the frail old lady nestled not far from my feet.

Tuesday was an odd sort of day, at least that’s how it felt. Tried to be constructive, but only seemed to skim over problems, rather than solving any. Lulu didn’t seem to be having a good day either, which was worrying. Our beast was sneaking around like a scared rabbit and was refusing to eat. Probably because Lulu hissed at him on sight. Some tough guy huh?
I decided that today I would try and clean Lulu up a bit, her eyes and nose were stained and had been dripping, long overdue for investigation. As for the rest of her, I dreaded what I might find. She wasn’t looking any happier and that was worrying

When the time came, I wrapped her up in an old towel, fully expecting a violent reaction. But she just stared at me. I cleaned her face gently with some special wipes and she continued to stare at me. Didn’t need any words to know what she was saying.
She felt like a lumpy bag of bones and I suspected that what I had originally thought was matted fur might well prove to be something else. It was becoming increasingly clear to me that a visit to the vet was more than likely. And the expression in those sad old eyes was agreeing with me.

Wednesday
Merlin decided to quit fooling around and actually eat something, which was a relief. Two sick cats were not what we had signed up for, not at the moment anyway.
I thought Lulu was looking livelier today, definitely moving around with a lot more enthusiasm.
For the best part of the morning, I quite forgot she was there, not far from my feet, as I tried to sort out the paperwork for renewing our driving licences. Wondering why it was so hard to do something that should have been simple. It’s the same with making telephone calls these days, by the time you have listened and selected all the options, and then repeated this several times, you have completely forgotten what you were calling for in the first place.
We are scheduled to be featured on several websites in October, and I had been working on our presentation pieces and the fact that we didn’t have any decent photographs of ourselves was becoming a problem. I had tried to take some but the results were awful, so decided we could get some done professionally when we picked up the ones for the new driving licences.

Didn’t quite work out that way though, best laid plans and all that, and I promptly went off the idea, again. Didn’t solve the problem though, we have to have them.
Later that day, I decided to tackle Lulu’s lack of grooming. I figured she was over the worst of the shock and wouldn’t mind too much. You never know how a strange cat will behave when you advance on them with intent and I have been clawed and bitten in the past for my trouble. That’s why I wrap them up in a towel before I start. Needn’t have worried though, Lulu seemed to welcome the attention, and handling her didn’t seem to be anywhere near as painful. But the pain in her eyes was still there.

Thursday
Today we were supposed to have our photographs taken, but something made us stay at home. Probably caused by how awful we looked in our driving licence pics. Couldn’t seem to summon up any enthusiasm to try and take some of our own either, which was beyond frustrating, for we still needed them. In addition, my knee was playing up again and I could feel a deep depression descending.
The weather didn’t help either, all grey and miserable – enough to drive you to drink!
Then the sun finally came out and everything seemed doable. Of course I could take some decent photographs, and what’s more, I would do it before the days end!

I spent the next hour with the camera, experimenting with different angles and locations before uploading the results onto the computer. Then I sorted through them, discarding all the ‘Oh my God, not that one’s’ before liking some I took a few weeks ago. I tell you, you couldn’t make it up. Why does nothing happen the way it should?
In the middle of all of this, Lulu took it into her head to go exploring, strolling down the hall as if she had been doing it for months. Very far from deaths door at the moment!

Friday
The end of the week has arrived and nothing much has changed. No dramas on the furry front, although I still think one might be imminent. Lulu is just too old with too many things wrong with her to last much longer, but she may well prove me wrong.
I seem to have fallen behind with all the blogging, editing and catching up that was planned for this week and will have to pull out all the stops this weekend. Not a great fan of feeling that everything is out of my control, much better if I choose to be lazy. That way I only have myself to blame…

This is Jaye signing off, blessings to everyone…