March 20th

  Otis here!  Sorry I have not written recently. One of Mummy’s relations died and she has been upset.

I have two pieces of news for you.  Firstly, I am going to the Vet today to have “the” operation – I am a bit nervous but Slip says it will be OK and it is much worse for girls than for boys.

Now my BIG news!  I maybe in a film on television! A researcher from a film company telephoned Mummy and said they were making a document about aggression in cats. Mummy told her that I was nasty sometimes and bit and scratched. Mummy emailed some photos of me and they are VERY interested. Think what this could mean – parts in films, my name in lights, books, perhaps even a star  saying OTIS in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in LA.  I shall be on chat shows, I will have a fan club, tea towels will bear my name…the possibilities are endless.  Slip says I am getting carried away but she is just jealous. I will keep you up to date with all developments.

Now I must pack my bag ready for the trip to the Vet – little do they know they will be treating a future star!

March 10th

Oh my!!  I am in trouble again!  Today I learned how to turn the bathroom basin tap on. Mummy was pushing that horrid machine that sucks things up about and so I went into the bathroom for some peace.  I pushed on the tap handle and water came!  Unfortunately I also knocked the soap dispenser into the basin along with a face cloth.  I had a wonderful time patting the water but I realised that it was not running away – the basin was getting fuller and fuller by the minute.  There was far too much for me to drink. Mummy came to see what I was up to and was angry. She said I could have flooded the whole house and caused lots of damage.  And it is lucky that our water usage is not metered as I had wasted a lot!

Mummy took this photo before the flood incident – you can see the soap dispenser that I knocked down!

Now it is tea time – Slip and I are both having trout – yummy!

March 7th

Oh dear!  I seem to have blotted my copy book or, rather, the office carpet.  I was dying for a wee and was on my way back to my litter box when I observed a large wicker basket in Mummy’s office. Ah ha!  A second toilet for me. It was filled with paper – not my usual wood chip litter which I did think was odd. Buy, hey ho, when you gotta go, you gotta go! I crouched down….oooooh! the relief!

Some minutes later Mummy came along…….she saw a wet patch where my wee had seeped through the wicker floor of this basket. She was very cross and said it is a waste paper basket – not a litter tray.  She has now scrubbed the basket and carpet with detergent.

Mummy and Daddy are going out to eat tonight and Slip goes too. I shall be left alone in my pen. I am nearly strong enough to push the roof of it open now. I do not mind being left as they leave the television on – I like tennis and football!!

 

March 6th

Otis here again!

Today we had the curious incident of the laundry basket!  I had observed a large wicker basket in the bathroom – excellent for claw sharpening. I am not allowed in the bathroom unsupervised but Mummy left the door open today and so I went  in.

After a good claw sharpen, I jumped up onto the lid of the laundry basket and it somehow flipped over and pushed me into the basket and fell over the top so that I was shut in. After inspecting the contents ( some rather smelly socks and two face towels ) I tried to climb out. I could not push the lid up and, to make matters worse, Daddy had seen the door to the bathroom was open and had shut it. I was trapped!

To my horror, I heard Daddy ask Mummy if she was ready to go…..they were going out! As luck would have it, she said she needed to use the bathroom first. She came in and I cried out and she rescued me. She smuggled me out under her coat and quickly put me in my pen so that Daddy did not know that she had left the door open and that I had penetrated the bathroom. He is none the wiser!!

I am on a sort of hunger strike. I observed that most of my food comes out of little metal cans whereas Slip’s is cooked from whole animals. I refused to eat my breakfast today and see some chicken fillets in a box were amongst Mummy’s shopping this morning – I rather think they are for me!

Now it is time to play some football – Mummy throws the ball and I bring it back!

March 4th

Good afternoon from Otis!  I thought you would like to see the glitter in my coat. Mummy says I have more glitter than Jackson. I am turning into a very handsome cat!

Today we had the sausage episode….not the high point of the day. Mummy came back from shopping and went to make a telephone call. I could not resist peeping into her shopping bag. I found a pack of pink things – they looked rather like people’s fingers and smelt wonderful.  I managed to hook the pack out of the basket and took them into the bathroom. I ripped the paper off and ate two of them before I was discovered!  Needless to say, I was in trouble and , to make matters worse, I now have a pain in my tummy. These sausages were for Slip’s dinner – now she only has 6 as I have eaten 2 and so she is cross with me too!

It will soon be dinner time but I am not hungry! Think I will have a snooze!

March 3rd

Otis reporting back!  More trouble today. I jumped onto the table and my claw got caught into the lace of the table cloth and I pulled the whole thing off the table. There were loads of things on the table – pens, batteries, a stapler, tape, packs of wool, needles, papers and goodness knows what else.  They all fell off with an almighty crash and Mummy came running and was cross with me.  I know I am not supposed to sit on the table but I want to!

I had my first kill yesterday!  A spider ran across the floor and I caught and ate it – it was not very nice, rather bitter to be honest.

I observed a strange machine in the kitchen.It seems to fill up with water and make lots of bubbles and the things inside go round and round. It is fun to watch and I did try to catch the things but there is a glass door that prevent me from putting my paw in. I must see if I can work out how to open it. It does have one rather scary manoeuvre where it suddenly gets up speed and whizzes round making a loud noise. I backed off a bit when it did that!

Dinner time very soon – I am having venison fillets with salmon beer!

March 1st

Otis here! It is very windy today and, as you can see from the photo, I have been watching the leaves blowing by.

I was in trouble again last night. I climbed up the back of Mummy’s arm chair and onto the table where her lamp is. I caught my foot in the flex and it fell over. Daddy was very cross and said I could have set fire to the whole house. I kept a low profile after that!

Apparently I am going to stay at Timbers Cattery in May when Mummy and Daddy go to Scotland. I am rather worried about this as Slip says I shall be confined to a cell. She is going to Scotland and has been showing me her kilt and fishing clothes. I don’t have any clothes at all. I would like a knitted coat with matching hat to wear at Timbers – maybe Mummy will make one for me.

I have observed a rather interesting piece of furniture in the office. It has drawers that slide out and seem to have lots of things hanging in them. There are papers in these hanging things. I am just waiting for a chance to explore further.

Time for lunch – I am having tuna washed down with mouse blood cordial!

February 27th

Otis here!  Once again I was subjected to being wrapped in a towel and having that worm paste forced into my mouth. Ugh! It tastes awful.  Today was the last dose – boy, am I pleased?

I have been observing the outside world a lot. It has been sunny and it is nice to sit by the patio door and watch.  As far as I can tell, there are some creatures that vary in size and colour but they all seem to be able to lift themselves up into the sky. Then there are other things with fur that jump about and disappear down holes. I so wish I could go out and chase them but Slip says Mummy will never let me out because of what happened to Jackson, my predecessor.  Actually I did slip out of the back door yesterday but I was scared and so came back in immediately.

Yesterday Daddy dyed some feathers for his fly tying. Whilst he was doing this in the kitchen, I noticed that he had left his fly tying box open.  It was like a treasure chest – all manner of feathers, pieces of fur, rolls of thread – all sorts of things.  I had a good poke around and then suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my paw. Something was stuck in it. I yelled my best Bengal yell and Mummy came. It was a fish hook!  She was able to pull it out as it had not gone in past the barb…whatever that may be.  It did bleed a little and I made the most of it – holding my paw aloft for all to see.  It worked!  Not only was I not punished for routing around in the box, I also got a piece of chicken to comfort me.

Mummy was cross with Daddy for leaving the box open and also he made a lot of mess dying the feathers. She had to clean the work surface and the cooker top. Daddy bought her a bunch of flowers to make up for it today.

Time to go and torment Slip – I like to leap off the window seat onto her back as she walks by!

 

February 25th

My dears!  What a terrible time I have had!  Last night I heard Mummy telling Daddy that she was going to put the worm treatment in my breakfast today. Honestly! First fleas and now worms – do they think I am some sort of alley cat? I come from a line of champions!

Breakfast duly arrived this morning. I took one sniff……and refused to eat it. I did actually quite fancy it as it was mackerel and tuna but I held out.  Next thing I knew was that I was being bundled up in a towel – Slip said I looked like an Egyptian Mummy.  Daddy held me with just my head poking out and Mummy opened my mouth and squirted some foul tasting paste in.  And I heard her say that this has to be done twice more – tomorrow and the next day.  She did then bring me a new breakfast – shrimp this time. I have to devise a way to evade tomorrow’s treatment – maybe I can hide somewhere.

I had a lovely game this morning. Mummy turned on the cold tap in the basin in the bath room and I spent ages trying to catch the water. I got very wet but I did not mind that. I did not manage to catch it though.

Lunch now – rabbit and hare!!

 

February 24th

Hmm!  I am not best pleased!  Slip went to the vets – I decided not to go as I was rather tired.   When she came back she told me what the vet said.  She has a sore place at the base of her tail because she has been scratching too much.  The vet asked if there were any new pets and Mummy told her about me and…you are not going to believe this….the vet said I could have brought a flea into the house!  ME!  How dare she suggest such a thing? As if Bengals would have fleas!  I shall get my own back when I go to have my “male” operation..my claws will be well sharpened. It is much more likely that Slip got this flee from another gun dog when she went shooting last week. I know nothing about any fleas.

Anyhow, the upshot of all this is that the whole house has been sprayed with some foul smelling stuff.  Slip has to have tablets to stop her itching – I saw Mummy hiding one in a sausage. And she is over weight – she weighs 28.2 kgs. I only weigh 1 kg. Slip is not allowed any rich foods until she has lost weight – trout and biscuits are her diet.

I have observed that many things move by the windows when the wind blows – I do not think they are animals but it is fun to watch them whizzing by.

Now I have to go as the office has to be flea sprayed…….awful smell!!