Some years ago, Mr S and I together with our cat, Percy, were long term house sitting for a friend who
was abroad. Part of the deal was that we were to look after the two cats of the
house, Olga and Jessie. They were
outdoor cats but Percy was very nervous and preferred to stay indoors, which
suited us all.
One day, however, Percy took a bravery pill and decided to
go out for an adventure with the other two. Not a good idea as it turned out as
he got into some difficulties, the details of which are another story!! While Percy
was in the process of being rescued from his predicament, Mr S was not
impressed by the crowd of local felines who had gathered round to watch the
fun.
He suggested that I should perhaps take Olga and Jessie into
the house (an attempt at crowd dispersion) so I grabbed the two of them and put
them indoors. Shutting the door behind me, I went back outside to assist with
the rescue of Percy, shooing away the other cats as I went.
When Percy had eventually been liberated from his situation,
we took him inside for a bath as he was absolutely filthy. I opened the front
door and we all nearly passed out from the stench wafting out, the unmistakable
smell of Entire Tom Cat!!!!
We ventured cautiously into the house, completely puzzled by
the stink because Olga and Jessie were, as their names suggested, both
female. As we entered the sitting room
we saw Olga, a large black cat, finishing off the remains of the cat food. When
she spotted us she got up, sauntered past us and wandered past us through the
open front door. A second later, Jessie emerged from under the bed and scooted
out as well, giving us Looks Of Death as she went. Mr S and I exchanged confused glances and then
realisation dawned –“That wasn’t Olga” I said - “No, it wasn’t was it?” said Mr S.
Slowly, the penny then dropped - in all the excitement
outside with Percy, I had picked up the wrong black cat!!! You just would not believe the smell that was
left behind as a thank you from the interloper!! It was a small flat and he had managed to spray
everywhere it was possible for a cat to spray plus other places! I spent the
next few hours on my hands and knees, at cat’s bum level, with disinfectant and
a scrubbing brush!!!
The cheeky cat must have thought it was his birthday as not
only had he decorated our walls, he had also emptied all three of the cat food
dishes and had even made use of the toilet facilities!
The real Olga returned home later that evening with Jessie
and I have to say the pair of them were somewhat disgruntled. I dread to think what Jessie thought of being
locked in the house with the other cat and often wonder what she had told Olga,
who was most unimpressed about me shooing her away with the cat rabble! It took
lots of cuddles and tuna to get them to forgive me and from that day on, Percy
was kept strictly indoors!!
