Moving on.

Grizzy - our dear old cat

I thought I would comply with this suggestion as posted on anyresemblance.

However my post is with a difference. This is the last photo I will take of our dear Grizzabella on our deck. She has gone to a better place after being the family cat for nigh on 13 years. A place where she can be in peace and no longer be prodded and poked and chased by the latest toddler.

And she really was a family cat in every sense of the word. Initially my sister's cat for several years she was passed to my mother until 1998 when Grizzy came with my mother to live with us. Upon my mother's departure in 2000 Grizzy or Dizzy as she was known by Elliot has stayed with us hence.

Until her move to Brisbane in 1998 Grizzy had lived on the Sunshine Coast. We all considered that her move to Brisbane would not go well given that she also had to learn to share a home with our dog Buddy as well. Surprisingly she proved remarkably resilient and even weathered 3 more moves until today when I believe she has had her final move. She and the dog though not the best of friends have worked out their boundaries.

Wife Swap is a reality television show the premise of which involves a mother temporarily swapping her family life with another mother's family life. I loved the show - I wonder where it actually went and when it is coming back. It may seem that I have totally lost track of the post about our dear cat but fear not Grizzabella has not passed on she has merely been moved on yet again. However this move comes with a twist in return for giving up my cat I am now the owner of a new cat - Sylvester.

Why would I swap my dear old cat - I suppose it sounds quite heartless. But really I did it because I love cats and couldn't bear to see Sylvester in distress.

My friend F has been coming to work for weeks and relating the trials and tribulations of their life as the owners of Sylvester.

Sylvester is a male cat of a mere 4 years old and quite the wanderer and recently decided to be quite territorial with F's neighbours who live behind them. Sylvester felt threatened by a cat he could see there and decided that seeing as the neighbours would leave their doors open that he would visit and intimidate their cat and leave his calling card under their dining table - a huge puddle of urine. Naturally the neighbours were upset about Sylvester's behaviour and complained to F.

F took Sylvester to the vet and he was prescribed anti-depressants unfortunately the drugs were of little assistance. Sylvester and F's neighbour continued to have a few run-ins involving hoses, water and bad language and not just with the cat.

F and the family went on holidays and while they were away the incidents escalated until finally the neighbour wrote a letter complaining about the problem and stating that they would simply not be closing their doors.

F had her mother who lived around the corner take Sylvester away to live with her. F's three boys were naturally quite upset but knew there was little choice. Unfortunately it didn't end there and after two weeks away Sylvester escaped and returned home. F hoped that the two weeks had broken his bad habits and went to tell the neighbour that he had returned and they would try living with him again. Unfortunately the neighbour informed her that Sylvester had stopped around and left his usual calling card prior to returning home. So it was back over to F's mother again for Sylvester. Unfortunately staying at F's mother's place meant being locked up under the house and not actually being integrated with the house as F's mother had her own cat as well. This meant that Sylvester spent most of his time there trying to escape and crying.

F's mother's neighbours were starting to complain.

My cat Grizzy has been giving me some trouble of late. She has taken to scratching the new rug in my sitting room and leaving really really deep claw marks throughout making the rug tuft and even removing fabric. I found it very frustrating and annoying particularly as I would never see her do it and I also knew I would have to retrain her and buy her a scratching pole to make her stop. While I found this annoying I knew that if necessary I could deal with changing her behaviour. However, Grizzy had also had a run-in with Gabriella and naturally Gabriella had come off second best with a scratch above her eye. So while I am usually quite vigilant about where Grizzy is in relation to Gabriella I have to be even more so as I know that Grizzy is not amenable to very small children particularly the type who chase her around and are inquisitive. Things between Gabi and Grizzy could only get worse given that Gabi has started walking.

How did it get raised that we would swap the cats? It was the strangest thing. I rarely as in almost never read my horoscope, I simply do not need to. By chance I read my horoscope last Monday a magazine was opened on that page and I was bored and read it. My horoscope told me I was getting a new pet. The thought of swapping the cats had briefly crossed my mind particularly whenever I tended to my cat clawed rug most days - maybe not exactly cat swap just my life without a cat at all.

F came to work and mentioned that Sylvester had returned for the third time and this time was highly distressed and now she had to keep him locked in her garage or her bathroom the entire time he was home. He spent a good deal of his time crying. F was at her wits end as her husband was not handling things well either. She was not sure who to have put down - the cat or her husband.

I mentioned the horoscope to F and the idea of swapping the cats then it became a reality. Its not like we were putting down our cats we thought we would trial a swap and all going well it would stay that way. So I am now the temporary owner Sylvester as he is with me on the proviso that if he causes me the same trouble he caused F he goes back, if her neighbours move he goes back, if F moves he goes back.

I think it should work we don't have neighbours behind us and the neighbours either side of us don't have cats. I hope it will only take two weeks for him to settle in dog and all. We will have to take it slowly to integrate him into the house.

He is crying at the moment in my back bedroom but has been remarkably good considering, he purrs when I pat him and has shown signs that he quite likes me.

Anyway fingers crossed - there are not many choices left for Sylvester.

Meanwhile Grizzy has gone to a more expensive suburb in a beautifully renovated Queenslander in fact she has upgraded. She lives with a family where the youngest member is 8 years old and they all adore cats. She will get lots of attention and be quite spoilt I am sure she will be quite happy. Though I really will miss her.