a catty Christmas

Over the last few years we have become adept at looking after homes and pets for people in the Grenoble area. Normally this is a win-win situation. We have free accommodation and the owners can depart on holiday reassured that their homes and animals are well cared for. So far we have experience of tending to dogs, cats and stick insects. And up until this year, everything has been easy, the biggest problem being obese cats who live to eat and stalk the kitchen during the night for any food items.














So we arrived at our temporary home, just outside Grenoble, with views of both the Chartreuse mountains and the Vercors, and a semi rural feel, with original stone buildings and fields and generally a lovely ambience. Except for one thing: the cat. He had been described as being very vocal and very affectionate. Maybe we should have read more into that than we did. We hadn't anticipated that 'very vocal' meant he would cry... and cry... and cry. Initially we put this down to owner separation anxiety and assumed he would settle. Once he'd had a few cuddles from us, and snuggled up on the sofa when we watched movies in the evenings, everything would be fine. Except that he didn't really want to snuggle up.




We made sure he had plenty of food and water. Nothing worked. I have seldom felt murderous towards an animal but this time I found myself considering throwing it out of the window, or worse. We emailed the owners for advice. They told us to shut him up in the bathroom where his food and litter tray were. He only cried more. Even with earplugs, it was impossible to escape the sound. They suggested we put him in the garage, with a blanket, but it was too cold for that.

Returning home to our generally silent little cats, we are still in awe of the fact that they only occasionally cry, for example, when they hide in a cupboard and then can't get out, or very rarely, if they are hungry, or we have forgotten to top up their water.

Jeff, (name changed to protect identity), brought out my worst side. I'm not proud of the horrible feelings I had about him. I suppose the only learning from all this is to check more carefully about the emotional state of any animals we undertake to care for in the future.

Fortunately, we were out and about most of the time and had a great holiday.

Miaowingly yours


Jane