Moving house

Charlie has been a bit stressed recently. Because we are all moving to Spain, we have been living in temporary accomodation whilst he has been back in the UK, we have only seen him twice in a month! But yesterday he got picked up by a company that specializes in delivering pets to places in Europe. It is much less traumatic for him than if he were to go by plane, they knew what they were doing and were extremely helpful to talk to over the phone.

This is why we have been unable to update the blog recently. We came back last weekend to see how he was before he got picked up, and did a bit of jumping with him. He was so out of practise! But after a couple of tries he was fine. Poor thing!

When he arrives here then we will take photos and put them up here. Thanks!

Caption Photos!

I was looking through a couple of photos of Charlie yesterday, and thought os some hilarious captions for them. Enjoy!

1. "Erm, I don't think so."

2. The solution if you can't be bothered to jump today:

3. "This town ain't big enough for the to of us,"
There were more, but that will do for now!

Charlie is doing very well in himself, however. Although yesterday I thought he hurt his tail because the shed door banged, and when I looked around I saw him belt across the lawn with his tail like a squirrels! But it is fine, and he has been jumping quite well recently. More of what Charlie has been up to soon!

Charlie Update

Charlie is doing very well at the moment, his cough has come back a tiny bit, I think it is just hayfever and his coughing is just hurting his throat. Nevertheless he is having some of his medicine again!

He was trained today, although he only popped over the jump three times because he got too hot in the warmth. He has some new kitty treats so he was as eager as ever! He did annoy me earlier, though... I was painting, and he just sat in the middle of where I was working, and knocked my water pot over! Honestly...

The Pre-holiday Escapade!

Well, the morning of our departure for Tuscany, Italy, was an absolute disaster. Charlie always seems to injure himself prior to our family going away, and this one was no exception. It was 6am when the rain was poouring heavily, the end of our heatwave, and we were all wide awake, rushing to get the washing in which had been drying overnight. Charlie had been on tablets for his throat, so I gave him that, then went upstairs to try and get some more sleep, for we weren't going to leave for the airport until 10am. Charlie went into my sister's room.

Suddenly, there was a bang outside. Sophie ran downstaris and opened the front door, then ran back upstairs yelling for mum, stating that Charlie had fallen out of the window!! We all ran outside, thinking the worst, and we saw him on the flowerbed looking a bit shocked. At this time I was thinking that if his back leg was bust, that would be the end of Charlie. :-( But mum picked him up and balanced him on his three legs, and he could stand, thank goodness, so now the worst injury would be if he has broken his toe, which would mean cage rest.

We brought him inside, and he was badly limping on his back leg, so I thought he had broken one of his back toes - but he managed to jump on the sofa and fell asleep. By this point we had phoned the vet, and he was going to go in at 8am, when they open. I was sat beside him as he slept, tears pouring down my face as we didn't know what was going to happen.

He went to the vets, where he was sedated and had an xray. They phoned us afterwards to let us know that nothing serious was wrong at all, and so my step-dad and I went to pick him up. We saw the Xrays as the vet talked to us about what she saw. We looked to, and saw that nothin at all in his leg was broken, however what we did saw was that he had arthritis in both his hip and joint in his leg. She said that when you see arthritis like that, it takes between three and six months to form, so he has either had it for three to six months, or he has had it for years, and he has not been feeling any pain at all. Obviously, because he has been limping, it just shows he has bruising. He recieved new medicine for his leg and that was that.

we managed to leave for the airport and all was fine, despite us worrying about Charlie the first day, it was all very tiring and emotional. The lady who came in to look after Charlie was excellent and texted us every other day to let us know how he was getting on. After two long weeks we returned back to WET UK, where we saw Charlie coming down the stairs as we entered the house. He was himself again, no more coughing and he wasn't 'limping' at all!

So all is well, just a bit of a silly adventure Charlie took. When he had his four legs (about seven or eight years ago) he has walked out of Sophies window before and onto the roof, but it was sunny back then, and he had more balance. Silly old boy!

Charlie Cat Replica!

I was searching for a cat replica of Charlie, and a lady in charge of the Equorum company, Helen Moore, kindly did one for me! I asked Helen just out of curiosity a few weeks back about whether my idea would work for one of her cat models to have three legs, and she tried and tested and all was well... A few weeks later she waved her magic wand and performed a miracle! I am so chuffed to bits, all my family thinks the little thing is a darling too. I gasped when I opened the box!

Markings copied exactly, and the right leg amputated! Thank you so much Helen! I hope everyone enjoyed the pictures I have shared. :D

Hot hot hot!

It has been very hot recently outdoors, perfect cat weather! Charlie has been spending these last few days lounging in the bushy shade. I put out a bowl of water for him, but he wouldn't drink until I had walked away - I think he probably feels vulnerable or something, if people watch him!

He still isn't good though - he is acting himself, however his meow has gone, his purr sounds strange and he is still coughing. He is on steroids, and the vets are adamant that nothing is wrong exactly, but to be honest, there is. I don't think it is life threatening, and the vets said that you might not see any effect of the drug for three months, but it isn't looking hopeful...

Speak soon!

Vet Trips

Charlie has been busy concerning the vets recently... It was only two months ago when he had caught lung worm, and went seriously downhill. Lungworm has been particularly more common recently, and considering that we live in a rural area and the fact that Charlie is constantly in the meadow opposite and catching mice and rabbits, he was very vulnerable to getting it. He went to the vets and had to take wormer with a syringe. That didn't go down to well as he failed to swallow it and would shake his head, resulting in the wormer going everywhere. Oops!

But a couple of days ago he started to return back to going downhill, and it did become worrying. After having phoned the vet, he got an appointment for an X-ray for the day and for the vets to work out what was wrong with him exactly. It was very worrying and lonely whilst he was away for the day, but they phoned up after the X-ray stating that all is fine, he is in pristine condition, only his throat was very inflamed and sore. He is now on steroids and recieved special food from the vets which was very mashed up so he wouldn't hurt his throat, yet it absolutely stinks! We started to use it, and are now resorting to mashing up his Felix really well instead.

He is starting to recover really well now, his voice has also returned and is not coughing and gagging as much - in fact, I haven't heard him cough up since his vet trip, which is a good sig. He isn't being trained though for a couple of days, to help him recover, and his treats he gets in reward might scratch his throat, and I don't want him to be uncomfortable at all. :-)

These training pictures of him are from last week, he was having a good jumping day. I hope you enjoy them.

More from Charlie soon!

How He Lost His Leg - The Story

Yep, Charlie has three legs. Here is the dramatic story to how it happened, no ordinary accident...

The summer of 2003 was hot, suffering from a heatwave that hit Britain. The meadow that we live opposite looked like the Plains, as the cattle grazed upon the ill-looking grass. Everyone was in their shorts and thin tops, trying to shelter from the sweltering heat. Our cat was loosing his fur, trying to mault, so he could be cooler.

Our houses' colour was looking white and flaky, and as we walked past a painted in our nearby town, we had given in, and asked him if he could paint out house. He came over the next few days and started work. It looked great at the start; it reminded me, and still does, or rich vanilla ice-cream, excluding the black bits.

Whilst the painted was around painting our house, Charlie kept leaving out house longer and longer each day, to chase all of the rabbits and mice in the field. He sometimes wouldnt come in until early morning for half an hour, before trotting on outside again. We barely saw him.
It came to a friday, when my parents came down the stairs with some posters. I asked what they were for, as I was puzzled, and couldnt work out why it said 'Missing' and a picture of our beloved cat on it. They explained to say that he hasnt been in and touched his food in four days. We all hadn't seen him since a tuesday evening.

It took time to sink in - I mean, how could our cat be lost? He usually always comes back, he isn't that sort of cat.

The time flew by, as we were worrying more and more each day. On the following sunday, me and my step-dad, Paul, went for a walk around the whole of the village, whistling him (we have a special whistle, that everytime we do it, he rushes to us, because it means food!) and called his name, but no reply was heard...

However, day eleven reached, and as wesat at home, we lost hope. We didnt know what to do really. You never know how much you love something until its gone... We were talking about getting cute, white fluffy female kittens, with bright ble eyes to die for. But it wouldnt of been the same... But a man, came legging it up our driveway, and when he reached our door, he was out of breath. He had found Charlie! At first, we dismissed the idea - he wouldnt be alive now... But he was.

We ran as fast as we could back down to the man's house, and into the garden. He led us over to his flowerbed, and under a big tree. It was the most awful sight. It was absolutely horrible. His back left leg was trapped in a ginge trap (one of those traps that catch rabbits and foxes, they have been illegal for over 30 years). No one knows how on earth it had gotten there. His leg was completely shattered, and his other back leg nearly had a hole in it from the stones he was lying on. Also, the whole of his body was beeing eaten alive by maggots.

Since it was a sunday, we still phoned the vet. He was so good, he came in from his sunday roast, and at the vet, they were trying to work out how to get the trap off. After ten minutes, it broke free. Charlie's leg was as good as gone. He still got up and walked around though, even though there was nothing of it, he hopped.

We didnt think there was any way to save him, but there was - he sacrificed one of his legs. We didnt care, we all just wanted our baby back. But the operation was a success. They had to shave from halfway up his body, down to the tip of his tail, to rid of the maggots. he was such a sorry sight.

He stayed in for two more days, and when he came home, he would not leave our side. This story is bringing back painful memories to me. The moment he saw me for the first time, he meowed and meowed and came running over, hobbling on his feeble back leg. I cried and cried and hugged him, never wanting to let go. he didnt want to either!

We bo ught him lots of toys, and he got up and down the stairs easy peasy. Every night was hard, we wouldnt let us go or anything. After quite a few weeks we let him outside for the first time, which he loved! His little stump looked like a Cornish Pasty as he jumped about, pleased to be outside again!

His fir grew all back eventually, and now he is as good as ever, catching birds, and mice, scratching his scratching post... He doesnt care he only has one back leg. Infact, he is as happy as ever, and I doubt he misses it!

His story is famous around all of our village, he is probably the most pleasant cat you have ever come across, too. I love him to bits, even if he is a bit of a freak! :-)

Who Is Charlie? Introduction!

Charlie is our cat, who we have had for all of his life. We rescued him early 2000 from the Blue Cross Centre in Hertfordshire, where he had brothers and sisters, but Charlie was the one cat that stood out and came to meet us, instead of us meet him. He was originally called TJ, but we changed it...

We brought him home, where he stayed in the kitchen for most of the first day. He was obviously scared, therefore leaving him to his own devices was the best idea. Somehow he managed to snuggle underneath our dishwasher!? He soon came out, and we showed him around the house.

We had to keep him in for six years, where we fussed and played with him non stop. He was only a kitten when we got him, half grown to a full cat. When it was time for him to venture out for the first time though, mum had to hold him, shove him out of the cat flap, then go outside quickly herself, grab hold of his belly and make him walk around, then shove him back through the cat flap!! Funny to see!

He has had an exciting, yet tough life, as you will find out in the next post. He is at the moment nine years old, yet full of life. :-) I hope you enjoy this blog and follow his progress on his every day life.

Lots of love,

Charlie