Askamum love my blog, ooo-errr how exciting!

Has anyone else got a bloody cat like mine? I often wonder but I think he’s actually one on his own if I’m honest! Ok, so part of the problem might be because we live in the upstairs flat of a converted terraced house and he doesn’t have his own garden but boy does he make a meal of it! So we got this cat, Bollo is his name, when we first bought our home having previously been in rented and not been allowed a pet. I was desperate as have always had cats and feel a home isn’t quite right without one but then I’d not met Bollo before you see. I’ve loved cats ever since my first one went to live with a nice old lady by the sea. What? He did! I still like to think of George frolicking in the sand. My previous cats, 3 of which still live at home with my Mum and 4 I have lovely memories of had all been quite nice really. Easy going, fairly self-sufficient and well, cat-like really. No trouble, pretty much what you’d expect from a cat. You feed em and let em in and out when convenient for you right? Wrong if that cat’s Bollo! He was so sweet as a 4 week old kitten that it’s hard to believe he’s grown into the juvenile delinquent Tom cat that he is today… So what’s wrong with him?

Well, firstly and the most irritating of his nuances is that Bollo throws himself at the door of our bedroom to be let out in the middle of the night. He actually throws his whole weight and body slams it. We then let him out the window on to the flat roof and five minutes later he’s rapping on the window with his paw to come in again. And when I say rapping I mean with the insistence of Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory when he knocks for Penny. Bollo all but shouts ‘Ruth & Jonny’ in between each knock – if he could, I’m sure he would! The solution we have found is to put an old box from a stair gate in front of our door which is really annoying as we have to negotiate it when we want the loo and use it as a shield to stop him running in. He sits in front of it awaiting the first opportunity all night and once the cycle of in and out has begun you just can’t stop it. He keeps us awake just as much, if not more than a new-born baby given half the chance. And that’s not the only problem, no Siree!

So he thinks he’s a mighty warrior (apart from with my neighbour’s cat who bullies him and chases him full pelt into our window) and picks fights with foxes, dogs and other cats whenever he can. Our pet insurance excess has risen to £60 now because his vet visits are so frequent! The first time he was ever in and it would have cost £1,400! (Thank goodness for the insurance). He had another cat’s claw embedded in his back and it had got infected – damn animal! And he’s in and out of the animal hospital almost as much as he’s in and out at night! Which brings us on to another problem, he hates the vet! Well, he’s often there having horrible things pulled out of him you see but he hates the vet so much that he turns ferrel! Like a wild animal he gnashes and fights and even with thick gloves all the way up their arms the vets now won’t see him without full sedation. I once went in and said ‘What can I do for my cat’s sticky eye?’ and they said ‘Oh bring him in and we’ll take a look’. ‘I don’t like to’ I said ‘you see, he can be a bit vicious at the vets’ I was met with this sentence, from a veterinary nurse I had never met before, in a HUGE practice which serves most of Essex as well as East London and sees hundreds of animals every day, ‘OH, are we talking about Bollo by any chance? Yes perhaps it IS best you don’t actually bring him in’! The bloody vet’s hate my cat!

And he doesn’t leave his viciousness there I’m afraid. One minute he’ll be all nice and friendly, (well not to me, he hasn’t looked my way since we had Florence and my main affection deflected to her) he’ll be purring then he’ll suddenly lash out! Very often he’s sleeping, you walk past and as you do so he gets your legs! Bites them, scratches them, clings on and growls… He really is the very pits sometimes! He does like Jonny, which is quite ironic really as Jonny has never been keen on cats but for some reason they just hit it off and they have a sort of bond together. Saying that Jonny can’t pick him up and put him in his cat box because he’s too scared Bollo will lash out. It’s down to me for that job which just makes Bollo love me even more. Florence, who like most toddlers, loves cats, really isn’t that fond of Bollo (says it all really) which is just as well because he keeps a wide berth unless she’s asleep then he’ll happily snuggle up next to her. I don’t mind so much now (although I do worry he might lash out) but it terrified me when she was littler and I found him snuggled up next to a warm baby Jimmy the other day, using my baby as a heater! That is just NOT on and if it were down to me alone the cat, dare I say it, would be GONE! (To live with my Mum in Norfolk – not just abandoned).

We actually have to take breaks from him and he has to go and stay with my Mum. The longest I’ve got her to have him for was 6 months but she put her foot down recently and made us take him back as he was irritating her just as much as he irritates us. But he’s our cat, we have to love him. We can’t get rid of him for real and that’s just the way it is. Perhaps he’ll calm down one day? But we’ve been saying that since he didn’t calm down after being neutered. Oh well, Cat net for the cot it is then!

In a more opinionated voice than just being irritated by my cat I ranted about why I like the Asda Christmas advert earlier in the week. I had a lovely time at their wine tasting evening too, just click on the link to see my post.

MY LIFE WITH 2!

We have had a difficult week. Yet again because of sleep! Jimmy has two tiny teeth now and two more are most definitely on their way in. My placid, happy (he’s still happy lots but cries more than he used to) and sleepy little boy hasn’t been the same since he had his sickness rotaviris bug which the teething crossed over with. He’s been in our bed, feeding all night, not wanting to be put down and reminding me quite strongly of Florence when she was a baby… That’s not a bad thing, she’s brilliant and always has been but it’s a whole lot less work with a baby like Jimmy when he’s his usual self! Ironically she’s sleeping really well and even goes back to her own bed after waking up for a wee wee and she’s not even been making a fuss every day for milk milk… She’s still having a feed every couple of days but the nightly one she was still having is no longer daily!

I’m hoping once the teething stops he’ll go back to normal but I do wonder if being ill and being held all the time is the thing that changed him? I heard that as of next year all babies will be vaccinated against rotaviris which is brilliant, just a shame it wasn’t in time for us. I know he’s built up his own immunities but boy I could have done without that whole horrid episode and so could he and Florence! Jonny and I have been tetchy with each other which always comes with tiredness and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for better sleep soon! C’mon teeth! Make your appearance snappy and as painless as possible! I know the poor little thing must be in oodles of pain with them and we’re trying to Calpol and teething granual him up so it is as comfortable as possible. Luckily he hasn’t had a sore botty with it which I know can happen but we’re prepared with our Mamma Baby Bliss Botty Bliss cream which we have been reviewing for a while now.

We have still managed to do some lovely things despite our sleep deprivation and writing my review of Ice Skating at Somerset House was a real pleasure as we had such a lovely time there as a family! It’s really got me in the Christmassy mood already and I’ve started to think about presents now! I’m obviously going to talk about our favourite toys for the festive season over the coming weeks and my first recommendation has got to be for the new Pillow Pet Hats! We tried one out this week and love it, see here what we made of it! We also had a great time trying out all the new toys and products at the Chicco 2012 launch and now have even more bits and pieces on our Christmas wish list!

This coming weekend sees the start of Birthday season for Florence and lots of her friends as they all start to turn 3 and the parties are in plentiful supply! Hers won’t be until January and slightly after her birthday but we’ve loads to go to before then. Jonny will be taking her to one this Sunday as I’m going to my friend’s yoga class all day and I’m looking forward to it. I’ll tell you all about it next time but in the meantime follow me on Twitter @rocknrollerbaby.

Some of my favourite pictures from the week!

(All opinions and words, apart from those in green, are my own. I have not been paid for this article although I did receive some products to keep after I had reviewed them.)

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