Yesterday was three months since I last saw Tudie, and it is like an amputee who says they still feel their limb even though it is gone. If he is okay, I hope his harem is as big or bigger than his father’s but it never really seemed to me the tyke was interested in sex. Without Ginja either, my cats are now at six, and even that has been a tribulation…

Tipi, my little warrior princess disappeared for a whole day this week! Tipi is special from the time she was three days old, her eyes were yet to open, yet she went smiling towards the sunlight and I knew she was special, so it was no surprise to learn she looked like an Egyptian Mau – featured heavily in Catwoman, with Halle Berry.

I call her “Warrior Princess” since if there is a cat-noise she will go and investigate and/or fight and (usually) beat the opponent (another cat), but if it is a huge noise like a machine, she runs and hides, poor baby! When she finally appeared in the wee hours of Thursday, I wept and thanked God profusely, fed her tuna and yelled at Patch for trying to bully her from her food… I felt guilty about that, so I put him on the bed like a teddy-bear.

Now, Strypes is 12 years old, which means – as cats go, he can apply for a pension, and I realised he didn’t like you rubbing his left cheek and he was not eating dry catfood as often, losing weight and trying to nudge the others from their periodic allotments of soft catfood, as in tuna or Friskies Mixed Grill.

It seemed the poor guy had a bad molar, but think about this; would you ever try to brush a cat’s teeth? So, he had to get knocked out and my vet next door yanked the upper molar – which slid right out, but I have a feeling the below molar is going as well, he has not gained weight and still prefers wet to dry food. I really do not have the heart to see him put under again, but I am worried at his slimness, since he used to be like a brown Garfield but now you have a very hard time telling Strypes and Tipi apart! You know there’ll be more on these critters soon…