A fishy tail...

One fish; complete with scales, carpet fluff and leaf...

One evening a few weeks ago, I was chatting to my husband in kitchen when I glanced over at the corner near the bin. ‘What the flipping heck is that’ I said (or something like that!) Lying next to the bin was a large goldfish. It was a bit of a surprise as I don’t have any goldfish myself.  Quick as a flash my husband popped the fish into a glass and then we transferred it to my new mixing bowl. Straight away it started swimming round, although we could see quite a few scales floating in the water.

 

We knew there could only be one (or maybe two) culprits. Especially when we noticed the scales and blood on the floor - the poor thing had obviously been knocked around a bit. What were we going to do about this? We couldn’t just keep it - for a start I don’t like fish, unless they're served with chips!

I'm too cute & sleepy for fish battery!

We thought of a couple of neighbours we knew with fish in an outdoor pond and my husband went off to knock on a few doors. In the end we couldn't find the rightful owner so gave it to an obliging neighbour with a pond. She has 3 cats herself so didn’t judge us for it. Since then, there have been another 3 fish and I don’t know where my cats are getting them from! Short of knocking all the doors in the immediate neighbourhood of my house, I can’t find the owner.

I wuvs ooo mummy....
(my evil plan is working *evil laugh*)

On the evening of the 3rd fish, there was also a dead mouse and a live mouse which I had to rescue and my husband was away that night. I could have happily given my cats away to travelling gypsies (or something like that) that night!

Despite feeling cross and frustrated with my cats for being so mean to so many little animals, I know I can’t really be mad at them. Hunting is in their nature and if I wanted gentler pets, I should have thought about getting a guinea pig or even a goldfish maybe. My cats are lively, entertaining and incredibly affectionate. They bring me lots of joy that I couldn’t possibly get from watching birds or fish! So I  guess I will just have to put up with it, but I’ll continue to feel guilty about the tiny body count, as its crystal clear that Milly and Jason don’t!

Chaos & Carnage!

Err.. What birds?

 

Over the past summer, the bird body count in our house saw a sharp increase as our cats reached maturity at two years old. To try and even up the score, I added some rather loud bells to their collars. So while wily adult birds are off the menu, baby birds (post and pre-hatching) are sadly fair game.

Over one week in July, my two little rascals wreaked a trail of carnage through my house. This is a snapshot of these 5 days of mayhem....

Monday

On the living room carpet I spot an open egg, with some blood around the shell and spots on the carpet. No cats anywhere in sight.

Tuesday

 Late in the evening Jason appears through the cat flap, stands in the kitchen making a low yowling noise and coughs out an egg on the floor. Thankfully the egg just has liquid in it. He appears largely uninterested in its fate.

 Wednesday

 The living room floor is a mess of tiny feathers and a small wing  lies sadly on the floor.

 

Thursday

When chatting to my elderly neighbours (in their 80’s) they tell me that their  even more elderly neighbour (in his 90’s) has found two dead baby birds in his garden and is really cross with ‘that ginger one’ who has been spotted lurking nearby. Oh dear.  

Friday

My husband comes home to find a bedraggled baby bird on the kitchen floor. When he picks it up, it raises itself feebly and flaps its wings. After encountering a recorded message on the RSPCA website advising not to rescue baby birds, he rings our vets to ask for advice. Thankfully they work with a bird rehabilitation centre so my husband pops it in a tupperware box, takes it down to the vets and they take it off our hands. Job done.

You appear to have hidden my prey under this duvet!

All in all, this was a traumatic week but now its got colder the prey has changed - mainly mice but with one interesting variation. Read the next instalment for all the gory details!