The past two years or so have been rather eventful in relation to the residents of this house.

A good 6 or 7 years ago, I bought my cat (with my own £15!) Barney. He has moved with us from house to house and has never been any trouble, really. However, ever since we moved here, and we’ve settled in more than we settled in at any of the previous houses, he seems to have developed a reputation amongst the cat society here in this part of Exeter.

About 18 months ago, or maybe more, our old neighbour bought a kitten that she named Bo. He was quite mischievous and we’d often see him in the kitchen, eating Barney’s food. At the time we didn’t think much of it, and generally used to chase him out into the garden. Not long after he started sleeping on the couch in the living room, and even upstairs on the bed, despire our efforts to scare him away. Eventually I think we accepted that Bo wanted to live with us, and Bo considered this house his home. Barney wasn’t all that impressed, though. They would fight all of the time, which could often be quite comical. When you see a cat jump out in an attempt to lynch the other cat just as he has come down the stairs, you can’t help but watch. The neighbour realised too, and I don’t think she was bothered. She bought another kitten; a small, grey, cute thing. Unfortunately, not long after buying it, my neighbour found it lying dead near the road. After that I think she gave up hope on owning a cat, and didn’t bother. She moved out a few months after as well. Maybe she thinks we are cat thieves.

Everything calmed down after that, besides the frequent outbursts of cats attacking eachother in a frenzy of hissing and fur. The occasional cat would come in and attempt to eat the food, but it would run away whenever you went into the kitchen, so that wasn’t really so bad.

However, things didn’t stay quiet for long. Just a few months ago four kittens started coming into the house. We have no idea where they came from, as they didn’t belong to anyone close. Two of the four kittens didn’t stay long, and I didn’t see them after a week or two. However, the other two were often found in here, eating and sleeping. The female of the two would often be seen in the gap between the two cushions of the sofa, avoiding the male cats that seemed to be patrolling my house, trying to get some.

They’re not around as much anymore, although I still see them occasionally. Bo is here to stay though, and this morning I found him sleeping in quite a comfy cat position.