The tale of Indiana

On this particular day we woke up to fog. Even the birds were quiet with just the occasional cuckoo calling and the baa of the sheep.

I head downstairs to let the dogs out for their morning ablutions and I reflect on the relief that I feel at the way the cat has now settled in.

He has always been a town cat and I was worried that he wouldn’t cope with all the open space but he seems quite happy. He is as noisy as ever - what else can you expect from a Havana/Siamese. Sometimes his ‘shouting’ can get on your nerves and he constantly wants to be cuddled. Maybe its the fact he has to compete with 3 dogs although when he was still with us in Bath for the 6 months prior to coming up, he was just as demanding

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The drive up with him was a bit traumatic for both of us. He hates being stuck in a cat basket and I had bought some herbal drops to give him to calm him down for the journey but when the day came I was horrified to find that I had packed them. 

I jammed his cat carrier into the front seat next to the fish tank and hoped for the best. I didn’t quite know what he was going to do if he needed a pee. I had a 7-8 hour journey with him to just beyond Glasgow where I had a room booked for the night. I had emptied out the fish tank and put the only fish into a carrier bag that was jammed behind my seat and fingers crossed that the fish would survive the ordeal.

We left Bath at around 08:00 and arrived just beyond Glasgow at just after 16:00. I think the cat was in a state of shock  - he had complained a bit but settled down if I ignored him. I learnt quickly that the noise intensified if I talked back to him!!

I unloaded him into the room I was staying in (which fortunately accepted pets) and put his litter tray into the shower room along with some food & water. Amazingly his bed was dry and he settled down quite quickly. 

The fish was still alive and having fed it I hung the carrier bag on a hanger in the wardrobe.

The following day I got going for the drive to Ullapool and the cat was quite put out that he had to go into the carrier yet again. I think he thought we had arrived at our destination - little did he know what was ahead. 

This time the noise from this small creature increased to the point that I had to stop and put in some earbud headphones & put the music up several levels to drown out the noise.  If I stopped the car he would stop but then restart when the engine turned on. I headed for Ullapool and the ferry as quickly as possible.

I have to be honest and say that it was a relief to have the 2.5 hour ferry crossing for some respite.

Needless to say, we all survived the journey. The fish has got a new friend and is happy back in its tank and Indi roams his new territory. He has come across 4 legged beasties that he has never seen before with their shaggy coats and load voices and the shadow of the eagle has flown over him, but he is still here to tell the tale.