The Cattery Experience

We went on holiday for a week in October and left our “babies” in a local cattery for the week.

When I’d enquired there about boarding kittens they said that they “loved having kittens” and that the kittens would “have a blast”, so I reckoned that they knew what they were doing. We’d also visited and seen the runs and they had said that they only fed high quality cat foods.

I dropped the cats off the Friday evening before our holiday. The person in reception at the cattery was surprised at how small Rolo and Monty were, but offered the option of allowing them to socialise, and as Rolo and Monty love running around, I agreed that they could socialise, mainly because I expected that it would give them more room.

I had never taken cats to a cattery before, and of course Rolo and Monty had never been, so we were all a bit unsure. Monty is the more adventurous and came out of the cat carrier and got put in a holding cage, but Rolo didn’t want to come out of the cat carrier. There were other cat owners waiting and the reception staff hurried me along to drag Rolo out and push him into the cage with Monty. I was told that they would be moved forward to their run when there was more time, so I never actually saw where they were to stay for the week.

I phoned the cattery up on Sunday and enquired how they were doing and the person on the phone hadn’t actually seen Rolo and Monty, but said that nothing was written in the book about them, so they were doing just fine.

So we relaxed and had our holiday and came home looking forward to picking up our cats. As the cattery doesn’t have Saturday evening opening hours, we had to wait for Sunday morning, when we arrived with our cat carrier. Rolo was waiting for us, probably having heard us coming, and he looked in good condition. The staff told us that Monty was very thin. Before seeing him, I assumed that as his parents are tall thin cats that yes, Monty would be thin. Monty had to be found as he was asleep and we put him in the carrier along with Rolo, paid our bill and came home.

When we got them out of the carrier, it was apparent that Monty wasn’t just thin: his little bones were sticking out and his flanks were hollow! He fell on the food we put down like he was starving!

Bother cats were subdued and didn’t play like they normally do; and Rolo turned out to have an upset stomach. Within 36 hours, poor Monty started crying and threw up copiously, and also had diarrhoea. I phoned the vet for advice (it was about 11pm, so I got the duty vet) and the advice was to feed Rolo, who was hungry, but not to feed Monty. He should have access to water, and we should assess the situation in the morning. I also got up during the night to check on him, and he seemed OK although quiet.

In the morning, because of his extreme thinness, I decided to take Monty to the vet; and as Rolo, although outwardly in good condition was also having diarrhoea, I decided that he should go, too.

The vet weighed them; and Monty had lost virtually all the weight he’d gained since he was last weighed when he’d had his booster shots. At the time, both cats weighed 1.6kg, but Monty was only 1.63kg three and a half weeks later! Rolo, by contrast, was 1.93kg. The vet did comment that Rolo looks like growing into a larger cat than Monty, but this was still a huge difference considering their identical weights less than a month earlier.

The vet gave them half a worming tablet, as they’d been in a cattery and mixing with other cats; and although neither had a temperature, she decided to give each a precautionary course of antibiotics. Monty’s stomach was really sore from his puke-o-rama, so he also got Zantac liquid; and both cats got prescription bland food until their stomachs were better, when I was directed to reintroduce their normal kitten food. I was also advised to withdraw dry food until their stomachs had recovered, which was good advice, as they needed liquids, but was hard for Monty, as his normal diet contains mostly dry food.

Within a day or so, they found a bag of dry food and clawed their way into it for an illicit feed. At least they picked Royal Canin Kitten 36, which is supposed to be hypoallergenic, so I let them get away with it. I wanted to start moving back towards their regular food by then anyway.

Both cats were very good about their pink pills, and I didn’t get scratched or bitten at all during the time I was administering their pills. Rolo wasn’t too impressed about the procedure, but by the end of the week, Monty was treating it as attention and was purring through the whole procedure. He is such a lovely little cat, even if he is turning into a dear little pussy cat in both senses of the word!

Everything is now back to normal and we have our two playful little pussy cats back. I think that if I were to do things over again that I would not agree to socialisation. They wouldn’t get as much room to run around in, but they would have less contact with other cats and less chance of picking up an infection; and they would also not have to compete for food. I had assumed that even if they were socialising that they were being fed in their own enclosure, but maybe that wasn’t the case. Monty, with his preference for dry food, could have been losing out in competition with other cats if they had communal dry food. Of course, Rolo and Monty should have been getting dry food formulated for kittens, but I would suspect that somehow Monty was missing out. The cattery said that both kittens ate a lot, but somehow Rolo did well (although not brilliantly) there, while Monty did not do well at all.

I think we’ve certainly learnt some lessons over this. I don’t think everything is the cattery’s fault, although I didn’t like the way I was hustled out when checking them in and did not see the enclosure where they were to live for the week. I also wonder whether they should have advised against allowing socialisation for kittens that age. That certainly would have reduced the risk of cross-infection and removed some of the competition for food which I suspect that Monty was subjected to.

The Bed

Monty reclining on Stephen's Clothes

We tried to keep the kittens out of the bedroom, but our resolve has been slipping – and they have been getting better at slipping in!

Here Monty is reclining on some of Stephen’s clothes.

Rolo in the middle of the duvet

Rolo has found himself a spot right in the middle of the duvet. The very nice Catherine Lansfield duvet, to be exact. I think it suits him, too!

Rolo evaluates Quilted Velvet

Rolo considering the qualities of Quilted Velvet

Both of our kittens have a fascination with the downstairs loo and will slip in there any opportunity that they get.

Here Rolo is on the cistern inspecting a roll of Quilted Velvet. I doubt whether he would know how to use it for its intended purpose, but he’s bound to think of an alternative use for it.

The strangest picture I’ve yet taken of Rolo

Rolo with the oddest expression

Rolo and Monty enjoy climbing up under the central heating boiler. We’ve more or less stopped Rolo from doing it, because he isn’t much of a jumper and we’ve taken away his “stepping stone” articles, but Monty is an excellent jumper and can still reach these places.

Here is Rolo on an occasion when he was up there and was walking along the top of the microwave. I’m not sure whether he was mewing or just had his mouth open, but this is certainly an odd picture of him!

Rolo being his kittenish self

This one, however, is Rolo being his usual photogenic self.

Rolo emulating The Sphinx

Rolo emulating The Sphinx

Rolo is certainly a good-looking kitten. It’s pretty difficult to take a bad photo of him. Here he is, sitting very Sphinx-like on the hall carpet.

Rolo playing with trailing leads

Rolo playing with a trailing power lead

In well-run households, pets don’t get near trailing leads, but ours isn’t a well-run household and Rolo has found something to play with here!

A slumbering Rolo

Rolo asleep on the sofa

Rolo asleep on the sofa with a grin on his face

Rolo asleep on the sofa

Rolo in repose can be very cute. He curled up on a cushion on the sofa, partially obscured by a large envelope, and the parts of him that remained exposed exhibited a very large cuteness factor.

I think the top picture is the cutest, but I do like the grin on his face in the second picture, and who could resist the little pink pads on his paws in the third picture!

The fleck of hot pink on his coat is not a fault with the camera. I was just about to take the Rocket Blower to my sensor when I realised the pink dot was only appearing on pictures of Rolo, so I investigated him a little more closely and found a very small piece of a hot pink feather boa on his coat. He obviously doesn’t know that boys aren’t supposed to like pink…

Rolo, our “little lion”

Rolo, our 'little lion'

Rolo is a fun kitten. He just relaxes into you, purrs continuously, and loves having his tummy rubbed. You can do this without getting scratched and he just looks ecstatic.

When he sits up and looks, he’s got a definite “lion” look about him. I’m not sure that I’ve quite captured it here. It’s undoubtedly something to do with his colouring, though.

Rolo and Monty are becoming distinct personalities

Rolo and Monty on the sofa

Rolo and Monty like curling up together, and they have taken a liking to “Mum”’s place on the sofa. It isn’t unusual to see one kitten almost on top of the other, as in these pictures, where Monty is the kitten on top. Monty will also do this if Rolo is on my lap and Monty wants the spot. He doesn’t do anything drastic: just sits on Rolo until he moves a bit and then gradually takes over the lap position until he’s in his favourite position along the channel created by my thighs. This is a position which is safer when I am wearing a skirt: if I go to sleep on the sofa with Monty in this position and my legs flop apart when wearing trousers, Monty is apt to get deposited onto the floor!

Rolo and Monty on the sofa

Monty is still the silent kitten. He can make himself heard if he wishes to, but generally he doesn’t wish to very often unless he strongly disagrees with something, like the day when he had something unspeakable on his back paw and I decided to wash it off for him! He had plenty to say about that – and also has a great deal to be said about being confined to the cat carrier.

However, it’s Rolo who has the more frequently used vocabulary. He’s been doing a purry chirp almost ever since he came to live here. It seems to be a call to Monty. Occasionally Monty makes the same noise, but it’s usually Rolo.

Rolo has also perfected the tiny and pitiful meow. This has to be loud enough to be heard, but soft enough to give the impression that he’s small and defenceless and probably neglected! I’m occasionally the recipient, but Stephen has been getting it when he shuts himself in the back bedroom where his computer is. Rolo and Monty are not allowed in there as there are things in there which they could damage, and they therefore badly want to get in there. They know Stephen is in there and Rolo turns on the little mews until Stephen can stand it no longer and emerges to see what’s the matter with Rolo.

Monty is the smart kitten. As well as knowing how to make Rolo move over for him without Rolo realising that he’s doing it, Monty is the one that understands the finer points of litter tray etiquette and how you need to turn around to where your bum was before starting to cover up. Rolo still hasn’t quite got the idea of that! Peeuuuw!

When it comes to food, Rolo prefers moist food, although he will have a bit of dry food. Monty is getting through a lot of dry food, and sometimes walks away when offered moist food. One of them drops IAMS in the water dish, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s Rolo. He’s the one that picks his food up to eat it outside of his feed bowl. It’s odd that it’s mostly IAMS that ends up in the water dish. Maybe its 4-pointed star shape is harder to manage than the shapes of some of the other dry foods. I’ve stopped offering IAMS for the moment. I don’t need to, as there are plenty of other choices available – and many of them are in this house, as our pussycats seem to be getting nothing but the best. They are dining on a choice of Hills Science Plan, James Wellbeloved, Royal Canin and Purina One. Today, they had cleaned up practically all that was down for them – and it was a not inconsiderable amount. Their capacity is definitely expanding!

Busy Weekend

Garden of Remembrance, Biggin Hill RAF Chapel

The weekend just gone was London Open House Weekend. I had lots of plans, including some of the places with connections to Napoleon III, who lived in Chislehurst, but in the event, my plans were bigger than my capacity for carrying them out.

On Saturday, we visited the Oakley Hotel for Cats, where Rolo and Monty will be taking a holiday while we are taking a holiday in Wales. We wanted to have a look at where they will be staying. It comes very well recommended and they look after the cats very well there. I think that Rolo and Monty will prefer it when they get back home, though – although one never knows: they might enjoy the chance to socialise with other cats!

Then I delivered Stephen to the Harris HospisCare shop in Biggin Hil and I went to the pet shop in Biggin Hill for some dry kitten food. I stopped off in the library as well and selected some library books. I still haven’t finished reading the Michael Jecks book I bought at Polhill. It’s a hardcover book with a pristine dust jacket and I don’t dare chuck it in my backpack or it won’t stay pristine. So I really need some reading matter for the train.

I then decided to visit the RAF Chapel of Remembrance. It is a participant in London Open House, but it turns out that you can visit at any time. Anyway, I was going right by, so I turned in and found it to be very interesting. The picture at the beginning of this entry was taken in the Garden of Remembrance, where there is a rose garden planted completely with one variety of yellow roses. There is also a huge wisteria there. I will have to make a return visit in the spring, when that will be absolutely gorgeous.

Altar and honour rolls, Biggin Hill RAF Chapel of Remembrance

Having strolled around the garden, I went inside, where the caretaker had no objection to me setting up my tripod, although he did tell me to take care of the floor. I ensured that the soft feet on my tripod legs were screwed down! There was lots of interest in the chapel and I will make a return visit at some time – possibly when the wisteria is out in the Garden of Remembrance – as I didn’t photography nearly everything of interest.

As you might expect, the predominant colour scheme was red, white, and Airforce blue. There was also a lot of Spitfire and Hurricane symbolry to be seen. The caretaker told me that the large candles on the altar were a gift from Australia. There is also a memorial to American airmen who volunteered to fight in the RAF before America entered WWII.

The stained glass in the main chapel is themed, with windows of matching colours on opposite sides of the chapel. I only photographed one of these windows, but may return to photograph some more.

There is an area to the rear of the chapel where a display was set out, where I found out that several Biggin Hill streets are named after women who were decorated during WWII. I also found out that the Spitfire and Hurricane replicas which guard the chapel are 20 years old and showing their age and an appeal has been launched to replace them. There is some stained glass in the rear area which I would like to go back and photograph: in one window, women radio operators are depicted, while in the opposite window, parachute packers are shown.

I spent so long in the RAF Chapel of Remembrance that I didn’t have time to go back to Chislehurst before Stephen was ready for collection from the Harris HospisCare shop, so I returned to the High Street and went into Waitrose to pick up some shopping and Stephen met me in the car park. We went home and spent a quiet evening with Rolo and Monty.

The Sunday agenda involved a car boot sale in a field on the outskirts of Biggin Hill. We were rather late arriving and ended up splitting up and doing the boot sale separately. I came home with 6 paperbacks (I’ve got plenty of train reading now!) for £2, some plastic cooking utensils (Stephen wanted to know why I bought them and I said it was because I could never find a clean utensil when I wanted one so we obviously needed some more ) and a small one-cup black cat teapot which can join Jessie’s teapot collection. My carrier bag also had a few things that Stephen found. Stephen seems to find larger items at car boot sales than I do. He lugged a couple of briefcase-sized items back to the car!

The car in question was the VW Golf, as Stephen was having some 4-wheeled driving practice. We need to start making sure he goes out in it as near to daily as possible. He should be ready for “finishing” by a driving school soon – provided that he takes his theory and hazard perception tests. I would have thought that as he already holds a motorcycle licence that those could have been dispensed with, but apparently not.

We returned from the boot sale via a garden centre where we stocked up on yet more dry kitten food. On arrival home, we flopped on the sofa. Stephen ended up with Monty and I ended up with Rolo. Eventually I left the sofa and cooked two of the three beef escalopes that I bought in Waitrose on Saturday. Stephen had microwaved vegetables with his, but I had a salad with mine, and the salad took longer to prepare than I had anticipated and the steaks therefore ended up a bit more well done than I’d intended. There’s a third steak left which Stephen can eat. I have a load of smoked fish to keep me fed for several days. I succumbed while I was in Waitrose, and it’s making a tasty kedgeree-type meal for me.

Rolo has learned how to do a tiny but definitely audible and very pitiful little mew. He was using it on Stephen when he was shut in the back bedroom where there are far too many things for little paws to get into for Rolo and Monty to be granted access. I think it may sometimes mean “I’m hungry” but I’m not altogether sure. Sometimes it might just be a call for attention. He does have other calls. He’s been using a vocalised purr-type chirp almost since we’ve had him. Monty can do it too, but Monty is usually silent until he is angry about something.

And on that note, I’d better say a final goodnight to our two little hooligans and take myself up the stairs to bed, where I should have been at least an hour ago!