Saturday 7 August 2010

Bloody Second Hand Cat



I have inherited a cat. I never wanted a cat. I have had an empty fish tank sitting in my hall for two years because although I love tropical fish and kept them for years, since we moved into our last flat I seem to be the kiss of death to them. I cannot deal with the guilt. Also I am very lazy. There are 101 things I would rather be doing at any given time than standing elbow deep in fish poop cleaning a filter. Yeah, I know - amazing! Also, due to the fact that I have spent the last two years carefully training my neighbours to leave me the hell alone, keeping all interaction to brief pleasantries when we happen to be taking the bins out at the same time, I have no one to feed said fish when we go away. But despite all this, I can't bring myself to get rid of the tank because deep down I still harbour a longing for it to be full of scrummy, wriggly little critters with brightly coloured tails and lush plant life.

So I find myself slightly stunned that I have ended up with a cat. A bloody second hand cat. I have known this cat since it was the family cat, but now it is my cat. That means it looks to me for all its feeding, watering, grooming, lavatorial, and entertainment needs. I can barely do all that shit for myself! It follows me around the house, even when I go for a wee. It is waiting for me when I get up in the morning and when I get in from work at night. It stares at me expectantly all the time I am home, its yellow eyes boring into my very soul. It meows at me. It headbutts me. It trys to beat me up the stairs and trips me up, getting itself toe punted in the process. What does it want from me!?

At this point I should mention that Mr. Pinkwood is highly allergic to cats. He is currently under referral to the local hospital to see about getting allergy shots. He is munching his way through the SE London reserves of antihistamines. He is wheezing, itching and generally miserable. Poor, long suffering bastard. It reminds me of this:



So aside from the neediness, the litter tray cleaning, the expense, mild anaphylaxis, the morbid fear that it might get ill or run over while in your care and the need to facilitate a relationship with ones neighbours with a view to asking them to feed the damn thing so you can leave the house for more than a day at a time - what is the downside to owning a cat you might ask? Well, there's the increased need for housework. Hoovering. And life is just too short for hoovering. And there's the snags and pulls in everything I own from clothes to upholstery to carpets. Nothing is sacred. I am slowly coming to realise I cannot ever expect to have nice things EVER again. Only shredded, tattered, hairy things.

Bloody second hand cat. It's a good job I love it.

6 comments:

Hollowdoll Padackleshump VonAcklecorn said...

That is so funny future wifey! My cat Max(Maximum Overdrive) is the same way and he was a stray my friend found. He is always walking in front of me so I am constantly tripping over him. It's like he's my bodyguard. No pictures, no autographs, nothing to see here. He is always sitting by the door when I come in and he howls and howls. Max has to be in the same room as me. He looks just like your cat! The movie Cats Eye weirded me out as a kid. I loved reading Stephen King Books.
Just as an FYI... Renee = Hollowdoll

Pinkwood said...

Oh honey! I didn't realise it was you. What a doooofus not recognising my own wife! :D

Maximum Overdrive. I like!

Pinkwood said...

And btw - I think our cats are brain twins too!

Hollowdoll Padackleshump VonAcklecorn said...

It ocurred to me after my earlier posts that there is no way you would! Duh!! A2J2's site is like the one place I go by Renee. For some reason I started posting that way and then I thought if I changed it people would be confused. :-) I thought of putting Renee/Hollowdoll for a while, but thought maybe that silly. NOt that I've given it to much thought or anything. Me? NEVER. I am a text book Libra. The brain never shuts down. It's a blessing and a curse! I'm so excited I'm going camping and tubing down the Apple River tomorrow. Wootie Woot Woot! The pic is of Max. He is much bigger now, but's I love that pic. It's the first one I took of him.

Pinkwood said...

Ha! That's an AWESOME pic! I also love that your first 'music like' is Pat Benatar. I can only presume that the karaoke sessions in our camp are going to be earth-shatteringly EPIC :D

Have a fab time in the great ourdoors wifey! Watch out for Wendigos ;)

Hollowdoll Padackleshump VonAcklecorn said...

You have no idea! My friend has a karaoke system set up in her basement. Which of course leads to a 5 hour karaoke marathon. During which I am video taped singing Chef's song from South Park, No Substitute. It was quite rediculous but so much fun! If I'm not back online within 48 hours send Sam and Dean! :-)