mew

We went to visit our local animal sanctuary yesterday – the house is entirely too quiet and empty, and we thought we could give a loving home to a kitten or two.  They said they were crowded out with kittens, but I think we are a mega fail in their view.

Firstly, we have no catflap.  They didn’t seem to care that we have a very safe and sound arrangement for the cats to get in through a window.  It’s not a catflap.  End of.  It didn’t matter either that if we had a catflap, we would have to lock it closed for small kittens, thus meaning that the other cats couldn’t go in and out.

We can’t have a catflap, because our only downstairs windows onto the back garden are double-glazed patio doors, and the landlord would not like us carving a hole in them, never mind about the draughts into the living room.  And what do you do if you live in a flat?

They also wanted a) a landlord’s declaration that we can have cats, and b)  a copy of the tenancy agreement, so they can compare the signatures and ensure that we didn’t forge a).  Now, we’ve lived here for ten years, and our landlord gave us verbal permission for two cats then.  He knows very well that the numbers have been rather more than that from time to time [cough], but I don’t really want to put him on the spot with a written declaration.

And so we have given up on rehoming a couple of rescue kittens, sadly, because I don’t suppose for a moment that CPL or RSPCA or any other rehoming organisation will be very different.  We came home in quite a disconsolate mood.

Then I started Googling, and and placed an ad for “kittins wanted” on Gumtree. This evening we are sallying forth to Cadbury Heath to view a pair of 8 week old boys, one blue and one black.  Gumtree has so far brought forth four responses, one of which is for a pair of 9 week old black girls, 1.5 miles away from Cadbury Heath, so I’m hoping we might be able to call round there if the black and blue (can we call them “bruises”?) aren’t suitable for any reason.

I shall be taking a cat basket and a blanket and a cat hot water bottle, just in case …