Over the weekend, following heated debate, it was ‘agreed’ that we would get a cat in an attempt to deal with our rodent problem. Although we’ve managed to eradicate all signs of mice from the house we seem to have attracted a number of rats into our compost bin.
Conveniently, for the rats, the compost bin is sited next to an old embankment which they have made their home. A home that I went to work on this afternoon with a fork … no not that type of fork, a gardening fork. Give me some credit! Anyway I digress.
So on Sunday the mrs was dispatched to find us a good ‘ratter’ from the local (meaning 40 miles away) SSPCA animal rescue centre at Bothwell Bridge. Having identified her animal of choice the mrs, so she informs me, had to answer some questions. Questions such as:
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Why do you want a cat?
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How will you exercise your cat?
Fairly simple and straight forward. So the mrs explains that we’ve been considering a pet cat anyway and now that we have a vermin problem it seems like a good option. Presumably she was never asked the second question as the ‘nice lady’ explained that all of their cats are ‘indoor cats’ and that they can’t go outside?! A cat that can’t go outside? Surely she was joking. No!! No cat then.
Being a determined individual, and now even more keen to get her pussy sorted out, the mrs leaped into her car and sped (slowly) another 20-30 miles to a different animal rescue centre at Milton … on the other side of Glasgow … in fact almost Dumbarton! There she found the perfect creature for our needs, and ho-ho-ho what luck! It was the last cat they had.
Why was it the last cat they had. Well, all the cats have had a virus and the cages needed to be disinfected. This poor pussy was purring with delight and was clearly, in the mrs eyes, the perfect ratter. Here’s some it’s attributes:
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It’s not the large tom cat we had agreed upon, it’s a wee lassie cat;
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It hasn’t been eating in the rescue centre;
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It’s only been in the rescue centre for six weeks;
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It’s had a broken pelvis;
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It’s teeth are … absent? At least in part, like the upper canine lacking the pointy bit;
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Half of it’s claws are missing, or have been missing recently;
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It’s seriously under-weight … jaggy bones sticking out everywhere;
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When it was found it couldn’t squat to toilet, so it’s tail was/is a mess.
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It’s got baldy bit all over her in fact, undoubtedly from ’stuff’ that had to be shaved off;
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It’s clearly had a serious flea/mite infestation at some point going by the state of it’s ears.
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When I took it outside (for a supervised stroll) she was terrified and had to be taken back in!
Aye, she’s going to be a fine ratter … maybe?!
On the bright side she is lovely! She seems to love the kids. The kids love her. And she’s really affectionate. She’s settled in really quick and is eating and eating … she slashed the dog’s nose yesterday - blood everywhere, hmmm, maybe she’ll manage the rats just fine. We’ll see!
Everyone, meet Beryl
Beryl, meet everyone!
