However when we got home last night he was limping heavily and his paw and leg were starting to look swollen so it was off to the emergency vet where he got a couple of injections, an anti-biotic to fight any infection and an anti-inflammatory to help with the pain and keep the swelling down.

He was a bit groggy when we got home so we pulled his bed into the living room, and put his food within easy reach. He had a wee nibble at some of his food and then fell asleep.

We were told to try and keep him calm and not let him go out for the night, which wasn’t a big issue as he ended up sleeping through until morning. He will be back at the vet later today, but he was up and about without much of a limp this morning.

Until I return, here is a picture of Oll-E doing what he does best and what I’ll manage little of in the coming few days.

We also have a very dusty cat.

Whilst part of me knows that cliches are such because they are, usually, true, there is no doubting the fact that curiosity is very much in the nature of a cat. I think he’s explored every single inch of the stripped out bathroom that he can reach, including clambering up onto the windowsill to stick his head up the gap where the pipe work disappears into the loft and if he’d been able to I’ve no doubt he’d have clambered up in there.

He’s obviously a little stressed too with men in the house all day, thumping and crashing about, not to mention all the new smells and that big climbing frame that is currently in the hall (the stack of boxes containing tiles, sinks and other bathroom parts).

Oll-E does two things when he’s a bit stressed, he sleeps a lot and becomes a right wee sook *.

Whilst most nights he’ll sleep, well anywhere he wants really, including the occasionally venture onto the foot of the bed, last night found me lying on my side with a small black furry creature, purring loudly enough to wake the dead (but not Louise) curled up in the gap between my stomach and the edge of the bed.

Which is very cute but makes rolling over a tad tricky!

There is some pleasure to owning a cat, beyond the occasional dead animal and scratch mark here and there, as they are quietly affectionate in an aloof kind of way. Ollie is very much a people cat, and whilst he won’t sit on your lap he does tend to follow you around and stay in the vicinity, like a slightly disinterested guard dog.

Not growing up with a cat I still find his behaviour a little curious at times. What IS the fascination with walls about? He’ll happily sit there for 5 minutes staring at the wall, glancing around as if watching a fly when there is nothing there at all.

Ollie has a bed in the living room, raised up with scratch poles underneath it, he also has another bed which is floor level and a bit like a tent. He uses both. As well as the sofa, windowsills, the chair in the spare room and our bed too (black cat hairs on my pillow, very easy to spot!). He has a routine for such things, so whilst early evening he will be on his raised bed, he will slope off that onto the nearby sofa for a while then go out for a wander. When he returns he usually sits on the kitchen windowsill and at night if he’s not on the bed at our feet then he’s on the chair in the spare room.

He’s hell bent on tripping us down the stairs, and on getting himself kicked as we walk from room to room, he still nibbles at your fingers to get attention and thinks that tiny red dot from the laser pointer is the most fascinating thing in the world.

Yeah, the bugger is quite fun to have around.