At last, I can sleep too.
We wake, as the door opens. Pops is paying us a visit.
‘I came to see how the two of you are doing here during the renovations.’ He strokes us both and talks to us. ‘I brought some tuna,’ he says, opening the tin. The delicious fish is gone in seconds. He leaves and I go back to sleep.
Cat Contemplation! When I wake, I do some serious thinking about Karen’s baby. How long will it take to grow inside her before it comes out? Everything that is Human is slow, so I guess it will be slow growing inside her – and what will it look like?
What will happen to us – to me. Will Karen still have time to feed and love me when the baby comes? Not knowing what will happen is not pleasant.
Oliver is usually more of a worrier and far more emotional than I am, but so far he has not said anything about the baby. Perhaps he doesn’t realise that Tony will have less time for him when it arrives.
The banging and loud, whirring noises continue incessantly. The human workers appear to be destroying huge sections of our house. When Karen opens the door to let us out for a quick run, we find new alterations. Oliver is unsettled and returns to the room with his tail down, but I investigate. The front room, which I assume is for the baby, is still a mess.
Stinking Rat’s Poo! We are locked into the back room again. We are fed up with this unfair, seemingly endless incarceration. Today, another two Humans with loud voices, heavy footsteps, and powerful body odours that we can even smell in our prison, arrive to fix the power supply in the house. They tell Tony to turn off the heat for the day. The house is plunged into icy cold again with no heat from the vents. We are both miserable and cuddle together.
The warmth is back. When Karen lets us out for a run, we find a soft carpet on the floor of the baby’s room. The walls in the room smell strange and shine with clean, brightness. The room is ready. It is now waiting for the baby.
Thank Cats! At last, all the workers have left. Our house is peaceful again, and we can run and play indoors.
We find that our house has changed dramatically. There is a new wall and heavy door in the larger television room with a big, high doorknob. When it is closed, the door creates two separate houses instead of the one we knew. The family’s bedrooms are on the front side of the wall and door. On the other side, is the new television room, the kitchen, our back room, and a room for Pops. The house is enormous now.
‘Why do you think they are doing this?’ I ask Oliver.
‘I think the door in the television room is there to lock us out of the bedrooms,’ he says.
Sometimes Oliver can be brilliant. The new door is a big Cat Door. When Karen’s baby arrives, they are going to lock us out. We will not be able to reach the front of the house.
Karen is slightly rounder now. She is hardly eating, and every morning she holds her head and vomits. She is irritable and becomes angry easily. My best approach is to keep out of her way.
The human baby inside her must be making her sick as it grows. I wonder how long it will take to settle inside her.
The cold weather seems endless. When will it be over? Last year it ended when bright green stems popped out in our garden, and the trees showed off soft, little flowers. Will it be warmer outside when the baby comes out?
At night I’ve missed sleeping next to Karen on the big bed. My important dreams were on Karen’s bed, smelling the perfume of her hair. Sleeping next to her is a beautiful memory now. Since we’ve been locked out of the bedrooms, I’ve had only a few dreams I remember. Last night while I cuddled next to Oliver for warmth, I had a weird dream.
I was in the baby’s room. There was a baby in the room that looked like a kitten. It was pink and hairless but it had kitten’s ears. It mewed loudly and was hungry all the time. I stood in the room watching it grow. It ate so much that it grew larger and larger and demanded all Karen’s attention, while I seemed smaller and smaller. Oliver disliked it and tried to bite it. It was an awful creature that was eating our food, taking over our house and Karen.
Just as well Oliver nudged me and I woke.
‘You’ve been meowing in your sleep. Everything okay?’ He said.
‘Just a nasty dream. I’ll go to the kitchen for something to eat and then I’ll be fine,’ I replied.
The image of the huge baby is still with me today, but I will forget about it. I know that Karen loves me and I must never forget it.
This morning a woman arrives to put hang curtains in the baby’s room. Yesterday a big parcel arrived. Inside was a small white bed with high sides.
Karen is still working, but she goes out daily between her appointments. When she returns she carries parcels. The baby’s room is changing again. Next to the white bed, is a white chair, and there is other white furniture in the room. She allows us into the room to smell everything, but we are not allowed to jump onto the small bed, or on any of the baby’s furniture. We mark the corners of the room as our territory, but we know that this room is not ours.
As Karen becomes fatter, our lives keep changing. We have new routines and new rules. When Tony and Karen go to sleep, they lock the big door in the television room to keep us out of the front of the house. During the day, the door to the baby’s room is closed unless Karen or Tony are with us.
Oliver is not concerned about the alterations, but I am certain they will bother him later. On the positive side, Karen and Tony sit with us at night to pet, and play with us.
Karen whispers to me, ‘I love you, and you will always be my most beautiful cat, my Bella.’
I will love her always.
Cat’s Alive! What in Catland is happening now?
Karen calls us into the baby’s room and plays weird, high-pitched sounds for us on the music machine. Our ears are back while we listen. We have never heard sounds like them. We agree that they must be human, calling noises. They do not sound like rabbits, mice, possums, rats or dog sounds. She plays the noises louder some days and softer on other days. We are becoming used to them.
Oliver says, ‘They must be baby sounds. Karen is teaching us the noises the new baby will make.’
‘I think you’re correct,’ I tell him.
When we enter the room today, there is something small, pink and new in the little bed. Karen shows it to us. It is plastic, slightly smaller than us, and rounder. It has a head, small body, legs and arms, and it looks Human. She holds it and strokes it. Oliver says it must be similar to the new baby.
Karen has big and small bottles, and new blankets in the room as well. She spreads liquid from a bottle onto her hands and allows us to smell her. She sprinkles white powder that smells like flowers on her body, and then lets us to smell her again.
‘She’s teaching us how the baby will smell,’ Oliver says. ‘I wish it would come.’
As Karen grows fatter, she buys toys and tiny clothes, and puts them in the white cupboard in the baby’s room. One of the baby’s toys I would like to play with sits above the tiny bed. It has fun objects dangling from it and makes tinkling noises when it shakes.
She is only working a few hours a day now and only calls me occasionally to help in the therapy room. She spends less time on her computer, but more time talking on her small hand phone.
Now Karen is so fat now that she can no longer bend. She is tired and complains often that her back hurts. She sits or lies on the couch in the television room most of the day and talks a lot on her phone. Oliver says that she must be in the final stages of waiting for her baby to come out.
I am sitting next to her and I put my head on her huge tummy. I can hear fine beats. I like the sound, purr, close my eyes and sleep. Suddenly a strong kick from inside Karen’s tummy wakes me. Karen laughs her happy laugh.
‘The baby will be coming out soon’, Oliver says knowingly.
Great Cats Alive! It is early morning. I am still asleep, when Tony grabs me and puts me into my carry box. He puts Oliver into his box too. Then we are in the back of Tony’s car.
Oliver cries loudly. He dislikes the sensation of the car moving and stopping. He is frightened.
‘Shush, Oliver,’ Tony says.
I am used to being in a carry box now, but Oliver is not.
The car stops completely. Tony opens the door, and takes us out. I smell the smell of the Cat Prison. Worse, I hear Horrible’s voice again. She was my jailor the last time I was here. I cry for the first time. Oliver cries louder.
‘Cat’s chorus this morning,’ ‘Horrible’ says.
‘Put them together in a big cage. It should only be for a day or two. I will let you know,’ I hear Tony say, as he leaves. He turns around, looking a little worried about leaving us, and goes.
Big, Rotten, Rats’ Poo! He should be worried about leaving us in this awful jail, with this dreadful Human in control. He is doing an unspeakable thing incarcerating us in this awful place, and moving us from our territory, and all we know. It must have something to do with the baby coming out. It has been living inside Karen for a very long time.
Horrible puts us in a large cage together. It has two levels, one for sleeping and another for food and litter. There is only one litterbox to share, but two bowls of food and two of water. Tony has forgotten our baskets so we have to sleep in dirty baskets where other cats have slept before us.
There are many types of cats around us in cages. We feel threatened. They stare and hiss at us, but at least they cannot touch us. This prison is as creepy as it was last time. At least Oliver is with me, but he continues to meow.
I try to calm him, but nothing helps. I explain to him that Karen and Tony will not leave us here indefinitely, that they love us, and will be back to collect us. I start the job of rubbing my scent on the cage wire. I call Oliver to help me to make the cage our own, explaining that once our scents are throughout the cage, we will feel better.
The kind young man is not here this time. Horrible is meant to care for us.
Stinking, Dead Rats! Why do we have to put up with Horrible? Surely the management of this prison must realise that she is useless at her job. I sense that she hates all cats. She should definitely be working elsewhere -with dead things.
There isn’t much for her to do here except change our water, litterboxes, and let us out for a short run. The food she gives us is poor quality. As bad as it is, there is not even enough of it to eat – a Cat Crime. What is she doing with it?
Does she think she can get away with stealing our food?
Other cats are complaining loudly. We are all hungry. Everywhere in the cattery unhappiness and restlessness is building. Another miserable night passes and a hungry day with only a short run. She has not turned the heating up high enough and we are all freezing. The disquiet in the cattery is escalating.
Oliver’s blue eyes blaze with fury. My fur bristles.
SssssKssssss! Enough! Enough! He says.
‘The time has come to do something about Horrible, to take Cat Action. The power of many can defeat her,’ I tell him.
I begin to yowl, Meeeeeeoooooow, meeeewooooooow, waaaaaaooooow, waaawowaaaaa.
Oliver with his louder, sharper voice joins in. He calls as loudly as his lungs will allow. Siamese yowls are powerful. The other cats hear us and follow our lead. The two Burmese in the cage next to us join in, then the Persian. Soon all the cats are calling, some softly, others louder. As there are about twenty of us in the cattery, the sound is overwhelming. Horrible has no idea how to stop the noise. First she begs us to stop, and then swears at us, but we all ignore her.
Humans outside hear the noise and knock loudly on the door.
‘Are you murdering the cats? I will report you to the RSPCA for cruelty,’ one shouts. ‘Poor kitties,’ another calls.
Others who dislike cats demand that something is done to stop the noise.
Eventually, Horrible calls the cattery management for help and an older Human arrives.
‘Shush, shush cats,’ he says over the din. ‘Everything will be alright...shush, shush!’ His voice is kind. He rushes to check what is troubling us. ‘It’s freezing cold in here and all your bowls are empty!’ He glares at Horrible. And you’ve been giving the cats poor quality food. What are you up to?’
He turns up the heating and collects new packets of food from a room at the back. Systematically, he fills each of bowl to the top with tastier food. The noise stops.
Thank Cats Above! He tells Horrible that she is sacked.
‘I will look after the cats myself until I find a true cat lover to look after them. People leave their beloved animals in our care. If they knew that they were hungry and badly treated they would be terribly upset.’
The man is caring. He talks to each of us, and allows us to run for long periods. We are all calmer and quieter. A day later, a young woman who smells a bit like Karen arrives to care for us. She has a sweet meow in her voice. She comes to our cage and talks to us. We let her stoke us and we both purr. Life in incarceration is improving!
We are now accustomed to the routine of our prison. Though the young woman is kind, and loves cats, captivity is unpleasant and stressful. The cats around us are unfriendly, and each complains that they deserve better.
Oliver and I become even closer. We chat, rub and lick each other. We are family, even if we are different, and we are pleased to have each other.
At last, we hear Tony’s voice. He has come to collect us. I am angry with him, Oliver is furious. Neither of us greet him with affection. We will not give him the satisfaction of knowing what discomfort and hurt he caused us.
‘What’s wrong with you two? Aren’t you pleased to see me?’ He asks.
He puts us in our carry boxes and takes us to the car. This time the journey does not bother Oliver. He knows he is going home, and that is all that matters.
Soon we will have control over our lives again.
Karen is waiting for us. She calls us in her sweet voice, but neither of us go to her. I turn my back on her and Oliver copies me.
Fat Rats! I am going to sulk for a long time.
I search the house systematically for any changes while we were away. The big door leading to the rest of the house is closed. Its knob is high, and harder to reach, than the other knobs on doors throughout the house. The intention I am sure, is to make it impossible for Oliver to open it.
Karen ignores our sulks and offers us chicken. We eat hungrily. I’m angry with myself for giving in so easily and eating the food. My Cat Scruples always melt when tasty food is offered.
My love for her dominates. After a few moments of indecision, I go to her. Oliver looks for Tony. When he can’t find him, he goes to Karen. She strokes and cuddles us both lovingly and tells us how pleased she is that we are home again.
There are some obvious changes in her. She is slimmer and smells of sweet milk, powder and lotions. I recognise the flowery powder and lotions she encouraged us to sniff earlier.
Then we hear it.... Wha Whawaaaah! Whawaaaah! It is an unmistakable sound. It’s the sound Karen made us listen to on the music machine before we were taken to prison. It has to be the baby crying.
Wha Whawaaaah!
I look at her questioningly. She lifts a small blanket and allows us to smell it. It has a strange human smell – the smell of the baby.
‘Come,’ she says to me. She leaves Oliver behind the door and I follow her into the house, to the baby’s room. It smells strongly of powder, lotions, and human poo.
‘This is our baby. His name is George,’ she says.
She picks me up to show me the wrapped, sleeping creature. He is the tiniest Human I have ever seen.
As she places a cover over the baby, she says to me, ‘I love you Bella and always will, but I won’t have as much time for you as before. George is like a tiny kitten. He has to be fed often and he needs a lot of my attention.’
Then she allows Oliver into the room and talks to him too.
All previous changes in our lives were minor compared to this one. It will have enormous impact on us
both.
Today, a cloudless sky, and rays of gentle sunlight welcome us again, but tomorrow rain and sharp winds may return. The branches of the half-tree are no longer bare but wearing green leaf buds. Grass covers the ground again, flowers pop out of the earth and our catnip is growing abundantly. We are enjoying being more active, sleeping less, and playing outdoors. Bugs, insects and mice are surfacing and we can stalk and catch them once more. What an excellent time to be a cat!
The birds are back, singing in the trees to torment us.
Our tiny bells tinkling to warn them of our presence continue to be an enormous frustration. We have not caught a single bird, and it appears that we will forever be denied of that pleasure. Karen is determined to prevent us killing birds, and she is winning.
Oliver spots a rabbit next door. At first, he thinks it is a cat with long ears, but soon he realises his error. He sits at the fence observing it.
Oliver is a fully-grown cat now. However, he doesn’t appear to understand that life is not perfect, and that something big or small could occur to cause him discomfort or disruption at any time. His complaints are about minor alterations in his routine, a rainy day, or if food is not exactly to his liking. Ability to adapt is an important aspect of Catness.
The inside of the house has its challenges. We object strongly to the big door, and to the form the house has taken since George was born. Being locked behind the big Cat Door every night is annoying and upsetting.
I try not to view the door as rejection, or lack of trust. Surely Karen and Tony don’t think we would intentionally harm George.
Bella Page 17
