Well, you wouldn’t believe what a busy month we’ve had here at Syros Cats. Christmas is always a bit chaotic, with lots of people. My mum always collects greenery and makes decorations for the house. We older cats know to leave them alone, but for the younger ones, it’s great sport trying to get them down.

Hailey has been especially bad. She’s always neurotic and a bit scheming. She gets really upset if something is different or any of the outside cats get into the house. She knows exactly who is allowed in and who isn’t. The rest of us, we don’t really care, so long as we have our usual food at the usual time and our sleep routine isn’t disturbed.

About three months ago my mum rescued a tiny sickly kitten. She was at a beach hotel, which was just closing for the winter and was in a bad state. She had pneumonia, very bad teeth and didn’t smell good. We weren’t allowed to get too close to her, so she lived mostly in a big crate in the house. She was so sick she didn’t want to play and slept most of the time. She had lots of medication to try to make her better.

After a while, she moved in with a volunteer who was living in the house and her breathing  got a bit better. But when Olivia came out of her bedroom, Hailey was furious. The rest of us just hissed a bit if she got too up close and personal but Hailey behaved very badly…

First, she jumped around the house, acting in a crazy way – knocking things over, making a noise and generally being a nuisance. We all told her to behave, but she didn’t listen. Then she started to spray. Only male cats do this usually and we all know it’s very bad manners to do it in the house – she wasn’t very good at it either and my mum was furious, putting her outside whenever she caught her.

Slowly the baby moved in. She got more confident. She wanted a friend now she was feeling better. Frosty stepped in to help her and let her curl up with him and sleep. Olivia was happy, but Hailey wasn’t.

When Hailey was a kitten, she was so shy after her traumatic experiences – I think I told you about them before, she spent most of her first year in the guest bedroom and our manager looked after her. So she was extra furious, when the volunteer who was caring for Olivia decided to move them both into the guest room. Her room! How dare they?

None of us cared that much and Hailey got so mad, she decided to do something drastic herself. So one evening, she went into the bedroom and chased Olivia under the bed. Of course, Olivia was terrified and started breathing badly again. The volunteer was furious and threw her out, closing the door tightly, so she could comfort Olivia. But Hailey is clever, she can open most doors. She waited a bit until everyone thought she had gone away, then threw herself at the door – she’s a big heavy cat – and crashed it open. Immediately she chased Olivia under the bed where no one could reach them and went in for the kill, with fur flying. The volunteer got so mad, she wanted Hailey banished from the house forever. But of course, my mum wouldn’t do that, it’s her home, even if everyone is mad at her.

Anyway, the volunteer left in a huff – Olivia moved into another house with different carers and Hailey has a smug grin on her face. The humans are not too happy though and Hailey knows she’s in trouble, She keeps checking all the rooms to make sure Olivia isn’t back and doesn’t sleep much. She’s hyper and we’re all leaving her alone until she calms down. She’s claimed sole rights over my mum’s bed, we don’t want to be near her at the moment. It’s a shame because I like sleeping there, but she’ll get over it eventually and I know things will get back to normal.

Tiraa everyone – Happy New Year!

Junior