This photo is pretty much the end of the cat palace. I might be back there tomorrow just to help haul some bits. But…
It’s a sad day. Izzy is on the floor, looking up, a fluffy affectionate pudding. Tessy is aloof as ever, proud and liable to bite hard if you are unwary. Neither of them know the disruption to come.
For weeks now, Lou has been hoovering and scrubbing her flat, de-Maoifying it. She has been preparing it for the arrival of the Tessy. The cat palace is being packed up. The cat owner is returning to LA. Everything is in upheaval. All the things are being packed up and packed off. It’s the end of an era. But Tessy can’t fly. She has a heart condition.
Back in December she almost certainly would have died if she hadn’t had some serious emergency vet-work. She eventually recovered though. She was given only a few months to live. The consensus was that putting her on a plane could finish her off, so Tessy has gone to live out those final months or years at Lou’s. I provided the car. We were trying to get it done fast for minimum disruption. Lou is pretty chilled out, so she’ll be a good energy for a convalescent cat.
It’s only a two minute drive from the cat palace to Lou’s flat. Tessy was upstairs and out of the carrier in record time – a good thing. She cries piteously whenever she’s in the carrier. On release, she immediately vanished under the sofa.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a cat like her who has lived inside one flat her whole life and suddenly finds herself in a totally new home. She’s downsized… Like moving to a bungalow cos you can’t manage all them stairs.
Under the sofa has become her base – she immediately found the one place in the flat where we just can’t get at her. And it takes the sofa out of play because it’s held up with books and string so we could easily crush her if we sit on it.
From her dangerous and private launch point she has begun to venture on bold forays around Lou’s abode. She’s taking in all the smells and finding all the hidey holes. We were disproportionately worried about her on arrival. But as I write in bed she is directly beneath me, burrowing routes through whatever is under me. Earlier on she encountered her first ever close-up flight of stairs. I think she’s going to be okay in this flat. It’s not the cat palace. But it’s comfortable and the whole place has been redecorated with her in mind. It’s ridiculous. She is the most pampered cat in the world. She will shortly be running Lou’s flat and demanding 5am goat’s cheese. The chairs are all taken up with her toys, everything is festooned with rugs that smell of her.
It’s pleasant though, to have a creature here. I’m fond of creatures. I’d surely have one myself by now if I didn’t want to be able to sod off to beautiful places at a moment’s notice…
AlBarclay 