My little baby is poorly – no not Callum or even Stuart but the furry one, Lotté.
I’d noticed she wasn’t eating and she was having unusual toilet habits (don’t worry, I wont go into detail here). I also noticed her tummy was looking a little swollen so I took her to the vet yesterday. Sure enough, they confirmed there is fluid on her tummy.
They have taken bloods and have eliminated anything to do with her liver so they have taken more to check for feline infections and cancer and have sent off a sample of the fluid in her tummy. She has been sent home for the weekend with antibiotics and hopefully she will make it through the weekend to see what the test results come back as on Monday.
She is 17 so getting on a bit for a cat (some are lucky enough to live in to their 20s but 17 is considered old for a cat). We discovered a couple of years ago that she has an overactive thyroid and heart murmur which she is on medication for already but otherwise has been pretty healthy throughout her life. Even with her thyroid problem, the Vet commented how healthy she was looking and was almost a perfect roll model for a cat with such a problem. She responded well to medication, put on weight, she was still sprightly and well groomed. All good!
So, to now find out she is poorly, and really poorly this time is a shock and very upsetting.
Some may think it is silly to get so emotional over a cat but I question how anyone can detach themselves and not feel emotional about such a thing. Especially a pet that has been in the family for such a long time – she is a member of the family!
We got Lotté when she was just 2 (and I still lived at home with my parents). Although she started as a family cat she was always kind of more my cat. When I moved out of home when I was 17 and my parents moved to Hampshire, she came with me and was my lifeline. She stopped me going insane in those lonely days. At least I had a little ‘being’ to talk to rather than just myself and the walls. She gave me someone to care for.
This was the 3rd of many more homes she has lived in during her years and she has adapted to each one so well and without complaint. She must be one of the worlds most travelled cat.
Lotté and I lived in our little flat in Southend (house 3) for about 9 months then found a new flat back in Rayleigh (house 4) with a flatmate. Despite the lease saying no pets and my new flat being allergic, she still welcomed Lotté in with open arms and adopted her. Unfortunately, she got a little too fond of Lotté and used to kind of bribe her with treats all the time behind my back. Lotté instead used to sleep on her bead (or back) every night instead of mine. Lotté became a little maddam like a spoilt child. I had to have words in the end and my flatmate confessed that she wanted Lotté to love her like an aunt and perhaps spoilt her more than she should. Then my flatmate decide to get her own kitten. Never an easy job introducing an adult cat that is used to getting all the attention and not used to being with other animals to a new playful little kitten and it didn’t go well. It was only a small flat and Lotté found her domain shrinking by the day to avoid the kitten, whereas the kitten just wanted to play with Lotté. If Lotté smelled the kitten on you she’d attack you biting and scratching. What was worse, her new best friend (flatmate) had deserted her for a newer, younger model and had no time for Lotté anymore. It wasn’t fair on her and I wasn’t liking what the change was doing to Lotté or her behaviour so I made the difficult decision to move her to live with my Mum and Dad (house 5).
Not long after, I decided I wanted to buy my own house. I bought a little one bedroom starter home in Leigh-on-Sea (house 6) with a lovely 37ft garden. Apart from one incident where she went missing for a week in the summer when I thought I had lost her for good, she seemed happy enough there. But, I was lonely. My friends were all off in Uni or lived in or close to London. My family were in Hampshire and Dorset. I was struggling to afford an interest only mortgage. I’d split from my boyfriend of 5 years. I loved my little house but, for my sanity, I decided it was time to sell, move to London to be near my friends and to do what young people were supposed to do. I was 21 and felt about 40!
I moved into a flat in Balham with a friend and once again, the lease didn’t accept pets so back she went to live with my parents – who had also moved to a different house (house 7). Then, when my friend moved out to live with his girlfriend and two more friends (a couple) moved in, we agreed to get Lotté back to live with us (house 8). It was too built up and busy outside and we were the top floor flat so she became an indoor only cat which she wasn’t happy with and, in reflection, probably wasn’t fair on her. It was probably quite selfish to have her back with us but I had missed her.
I met Stuart while living in that flat in London and we decided we wanted a place of our own so we moved to a house in Wimbledon, and Lotté came with us (house 9). Now she had a garden (and a pub garden) to explore. Much better than just the inside of a flat. We used to go to the pub next door and sit in the garden then hear this familiar meow. She would then ignore us and, being a stroke-aholic, flirt with the other punters in the pub garden and taunt the dogs that also lived there! Unfortunately, she wasn’t entirely happy because the neighbour had 2 big dogs that used to be left outside in the garden all day and often used to escape into our garden. They tormented poor Lotté until she was scared to go outside.
We lived in that house for about 18 months and then Stuart and I decided we wanted to get on the property ladder. We loved Wimbledon but to afford a reasonably sized property and thinking ahead to the future and where we would like to raise a family we moved out to Godalming in Surrey (house 10). When we viewed the property, the vendors had a cat almost identical to Lotté but male (and missing a leg). It was lazing in the sunshine in the back garden. We love the property and we saw that as a sign. We had to have this house!
Lotté has never been happier in any home than when she was there. Her coat was always soft and glossy and no more did we have to hack out big furry knots from the back of her legs. She had her little domain and she was happy to defend it. She got to chase the odd bird, sit on windowsills and do all the stuff that cats love to do.
But, unfortunately for her, our life was to change again and once more, poor Lotté would be on the move again!
Stuart and I decided we all needed a better quality of life, especially Stuart who had had enough of commuting to London every day, plus we missed being near to family especially while raising a family. We made the decision to move to Bournemouth.
Maybe sensing her life was about to be upturned again and she was being made to leave her little spot of paradise on the day we moved she ran away. We looked everywhere for her, called her, even cooked her fish in the hope she would return but no, she was gone and didn’t want to come back. So we had to move without her. Thankfully, our friends and neighbours kept a lookout for her and let her back in our house when she showed up. So, off Stuart had to go back to Surrey the next day to pick her up.
Not being familiar with the area, despite my family living around the area, we wanted to rent for a period of time before we bought. So, we moved into the home we are currently in (house 11). Its a small 2 bed cottage on a plot of land which houses a block of flats and other cottages but we don’t have our own garden, instead there are communal gardens. Lotté has to share this green space with a couple of other cats, foxes and squirrels and, for a short period of time, had to live next door to a very large and very barky Alsatian.
Now, we have found a house to buy and will soon be moving again (house 12). Its got a lovely garden and backs on to a massive park to explore, on a quiet road. We think she will love it. But maybe all this moving around has taken its toll! The question now is will she live to see it – will she live long enough to be happy again in her surroundings. If she does, will the stress of another move at her age be too much for her.
Poor thing, she has been on quite a journey in her 17 years and covered some incredible miles for a cat! The above only mentions the long-term addresses and has excluded catteries and a short holiday at my aunts.
Please Lotté, be OK – we are so sure you will love your new home when you see it, with all its space. Please get better. We love you x
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