I'm Really Angry ...

Now, I'm not normally one to let off steam via my blog, but today I am ... so, here goes ....

As you all probably know, I have a cat called Bambi. We got Bambi as an 8 month old last September, and kept her inside for about a month and a half, in order to properly familiarise her with us and our home. I was hoping that she would remain an indoor cat, but having been a stray, she had already experienced "the big wide world". When we first let her out, it was very tentatively ... on her part and ours. It would only be for a few hours at a time, and we would constantly go out looking for her. Of course, she would be inside from dusk until dawn.

These days, she is still inside all night ... from dusk until dawn ... and is still really timid first thing in the morning when she wants to go out ... she won't even consider going out unless it is totally daylight. She sticks her little nose out the door, sniffs the air ... and if anything doesn't meet her satisfaction, she puts herself in reverse and comes right back again, only to try again an hour or two later. Well, this works fine for me ... she feels safe inside. She seems to prefer going out into the backyard, rather than the front yard.

Anyway, on to the reason I am so angry .... The neighbours over the road have a white cat called Max, who they have had for a number of years. He was a real nuisance with our old cat, Ratbag (who was a male cat, and very, very tough ... nothing four-legged could come on our property without being beaten to a pulp !!). I lost count on the dollars we spent on vet bills, when Ratbag came home with another cat-fight abcess. We lost Ratbag about a year before getting Bambi (he had lymphatic cancer ... he was 16 years old). During this time, perhaps Max took too many liberties, and felt safe visting our property ... there was no cat to beat him up !! We tried to shoo him away constantly.

On with the story ... This morning, Bambi did her sniff the air thing, decided it was safe, and went out the front door to do her thing. Being Sunday morning, I went back to sleep and dozed off. About 20 minutes later, I awoke to an awesome yelling and growling and screeching from a cat-fight. I jumped out of bed, ran out the front door calling Bambi, and chasing Max away (all this in a t-shirt nighty !!). Bambi came running inside ... poor little thing, she had peed herself, and reeked !! She appeared uninjured ... hope she gave Max a beauty, though !! She sat herself down to wash herself ... eeewww !! Poor little cat was terrified of everything for a good long while afterward. She is OK now, no injuries, and is outside playing again.

This rotten cat, Max, is constantly on our property ... I am always shooing him away. The owners don't give two-hoots about him ... all they do is feed him. He is never allowed inside (it is a rule here in Melbourne these days, that cats are to be locked inside at night), and is always looking dirty and scruffy. He seems to be stalking my poor Bambi ... not fair, really , that she can't feel safe in her own garden.

I got a female cat, this time, thinking that it would ensure no cat-fights, and no urine spraying. Who could figure that a male older cat would want to pick a fight with a young female ... don't cats live by the rules we humans do ... men don't (or at least shouldn't) hit females ??

My beef, really, apart from the fact that this Max is stalking my gorgeous Bambi (isn't she a cutie !?!) is why they even have a cat, when they don't pay it any attention. Pets are meant to be given love ... that's why they give us love, cause they know we care about them. I feel really sorry for Max, as he so obviously needs some loving care ... but it's not up to me to give it to him ... I have Bambi, she is my priority. I need to keep her safe and well. I can't do that properly with Max around all the time. I feel like locking her in the house, to keep her safe from him, but that would be cruel ... she loves being outside, and why should she be punished.

Some people out there shouldn't have pets ... it's as simple as that.

There you go, I've said my piece. Let's change the subject ....

Hope your weekend is going well. Mine is plodding along ... I have been fiddling with my blog template (changing text color on the side bar, mucking around with the header, trying to put a picture background in the header ... no success yet, but will keep trying !), doing some scrapbooking, washing, reading (I finished a great Jonathon Kellerman book this morning), and generally having a relaxing time.

Take care, everyone ...

MEOW

PS... I have added some music to my blog ... "The Dance of the Sugerplum Fairies" ... I thought it was cute. I really wanted "What's New Pussycat" by Tom Jones, but couldn't get it to upload. Please let me know if this one is reaaaallly annoying !!