I love cats, really I do!

However our front garden has become, well not to put too fine a point on it, a lavatory for what would seem to be all of the cats in the neighbourhood. And, without being too delicate about it, from the state of what they leave behind I have to conclude that a) some of them are not really all that well (or are being fed the wrong food) and b) that basic cat training seems to leave out the part where they are supposed to bury what they leave behind. Not that, frankly, it would please me much more.

Now when we had cats (more of this below) ours were house-trained pedigree Persians. When I say “house-trained” I don’t just mean that they were trained when in the house to use a litter tray; oh no, it went further than that. If our cats were out in the garden and they needed to “go”, they wouldn’t simply look around for the nearest flower bed and make it their convenience; they would come inside and use the litter tray, just as they had been trained.

So we have been trying to eradicate the ongoing front garden issue, by using special granules (which need to be put down every couple of weeks, more frequently when wet) and other proprietary brands of cleaner that cats don’t seem to like! But after a tidy up recently and a trip to the local DIY shop to buy even more “b*gger off out of my garden” granules, we discovered a relatively inexpensive sonic deterrent that activates when there is movement (sorry about that pun) and emits a high pitched sound that cats don’t like. And do you know what? It seems to be working and our cleaned up front garden is now no longer the local feline lavatory.

That in itself might be enough reason to write a blog, but my real reason for writing about cats is that today is the fifth anniversary of us losing the first of our two Persians, Peaches; her sister Pebbles outlived her by some six months or so.

Here are a couple of pictures of them. Rest in peace, girls!

Peaches

Pebbles