A "new" family - part 2

For 3 months it was just me & the Dog Monster with the Assistant. I was getting used to it & rather enjoying it. The Assistant had said she wasn't looking to get another cat & was even considering a second dog. In her dreams! As if the Dog Monster would allow that!

Ever since the Dog Monster came to live here four years ago, he had been visiting a friend in Walney Island. Betty had a cat who liked dogs & they got to know each other. This gave the Assistant confidence that she could get a cat - me! So, in a way, I owe Milo (for it was he). 

Milo was already 8 when he chose Betty at the PDSA when she was looking for a companion. He lived very quietly with her for 6 years so is now 14, just like Thomas when he first came here. Sadly Betty became very ill & at the end of October it was agreed that Milo would come here. 

At first I tolerated him & the Assistant was able to send some lovely photos to show Betty how settled he was. This made her very happy. She passed on at the end of December so now the Assistant is Milo's main person.

I started to want to play fight the way I used to with Thomas. You will remember that Thomas & I were friends in our foster home with Keighley Cat Care so we knew each other well. Milo didn't get the game in the same way that Thomas had done & he turned a bit nasty when I jumped on him, lashing out & miaowing loudly. This in turn brought the Dog Monster running to break us up! It was all most unnecessary -  it was a game. Dog Monster appeared to think he was the referee - pffft!

Finally, just this week, the Dog Monster got it & he has begun to join in playing with us. The penny seems to have dropped with Milo too so, hopefully, we can have a decent time playing as well as sleeping & eating together. If you ask me they have both been a bit slow on the uptake.

We still sleep together & sometimes Milo will come & get me in from outside the way Thomas used to do at night. We think he has settled in & he seems very happy. He has won the battle for who will sleep with the Assistant. He was very determined & stubborn about that. I was never that keen, being quite happy to stay in my basket nearby, & the Dog Monster has given in gracefully. The two of them share her in the evenings until the light goes out & then Dog Monster retreats to his own, very comfortable, bed in the next room.

So, it seems to have come together pretty well now. I still go out lots. Milo is more of a home cat & the Dog Monster continues to be a dog as only he can. We get tuna days now, sometimes as many as two a week. The Assistant complains she is run ragged by us all but she enjoys complaining so that isn't an issue.

Hope to speak to you all again soon.

Lots of love

Jason / OJ / Othello

xxx

A 'new' family - part 1

Hello everyone, I'm back after a long gap.

At last myself & the Assistant both feel as if we have reached a happy place where our family has come together once again. We did go through a bad patch when Thomas left us at the end of July last year. Here we all are together. The Dog Monster is showing himself off as usual - "airing his bits" they call it. 

Not so long after Thomas left  I came home one morning struggling to breathe. For once the Assistant did the right thing & took me down to the vets at once. I had to stay in & have a chest x-ray. They discovered I had a piece of gravel lodged in my trachea - as if I had inhaled it. They had never seen such a thing before & no-one knows how I managed it but they had to get it out. A specialist was sent for & by 1pm was working on me. It took him two hours to get it out as they had to be very careful of my airways. Every time he hooked the stone it slipped off until, magically, the last time he brought it out. Phew!!

I had to stay overnight at the vets & everyone who worked with me fell in love with me (of course). It took a few days for me to recover at home but in no time at all I was right as rain again. The Assistant grumbled a bit about how expensive I had become but she didn't really mind, she just likes to grumble. It brought us a lot closer as I realised she does care & looks after me as well as she can. 

So, for 3 months in total it was just me & the Dog Monster, with the Assistant. At first I missed Thomas hugely & was a bit of a 'lost soul' without him. Gradually, I got used to it being just the 3 of us & the incident with my breathing brought us closer. 

Then, one day, the Assistant went out for a long time & when she got back she had Milo with her. I will write about Milo in Part 2 of this blog.

See you soon

lots of love

Jason / OJ / Othello

xxx