Day: 10 November 2017

Avoiding a cat-ostrophe

You always hear funny stories about people moving house and having problems with their cats disappearing and finding their own way back to the old house. It’s pretty common and there are even movies about the topic.

Well… my friend Ginny was moving house and they have 2 cats. She was really worried about those cats doing something silly and getting lost in a new neighbourhood.

She did some research on the topic and found out that the general advice was to move the cats last. In other words – you move all your stuff and then when things are a bit sorted – you bring in the cats. Then you keep them in a room for two weeks. After that time you slowly let them out for a bit every day until they are used to the place and feel happy there.

Whilst this might work for some people – it is rather silly on many different levels. Firstly – when you move house you have to get out of the old house and don’t really have time to sort things out first. The cats have to come into the muddle and mess too. Also – you don’t always have a spare room to keep them in.

The vet recommended a product called Feliway Classic. It’s a bit expensive but it really worked. It’s a plug-in diffuser that contains pheromones. When cats feel happy in their environment they rub their cheeks on things leaving catmail messages which we are undetectable to you and me, but convey a good and happy message to other cats.  This stuff gave the same message to the cats. It lasts for a month.

It really worked too. She did keep them in a room, but only for a few days. They slept most of the time and were quite content. Then she let them out of the room and they walked through the house, sniffing everything. But their tails were up and they felt confident. That was the end of the room!

After living in a complex for years – they both sat transfixed at one window – watching cat TV. There are trees in the yard and they are full of birds fluttering around the place.

They are both very happy and have settled in well. Our animals are precious and we should ensure that they are safe and cared for at all times.

Lots of love

Sibo

Look where you are going!

The other day I had a bit of a crash whilst riding my bicycle round the garden! Thought mum would be very sympathetic but it turns out she wasn’t. She asked me how I crashed and I inadvertently admitted that I had not been concentrating properly. I’d seen a pretty bird fluttering around the place and was trying to check it out – did not see the hump in the garden, fell off and hurt my arm.

Instead of dishing me loads of love and tender words, mum yelled at me.  She said imagine if I was riding in the road and got side-tracked – I could get hit by a car.

I wanted to tell her that I’d never do that – but it was a bit difficult when I had already done it – although luckily not in the road.

She threatened to stop me from riding to school on my bike. That gave me a big scare. I promised to be ultra-careful in future.

My arm was sore for quite a few days and I realised how we mostly take our body bits for granted. I had trouble doing all sorts of things that I never usually even notice that I am doing – turning switches on, opening doors, writing, sleeping (it was the side I usually lie on), carrying my backpack, even eating properly with a knife and fork was a challenge.

I tried not to show mum just how sore it was because I was worried that she might have a hissy fit all over again and really ban me from riding to school.

There are 206 bones in a human body – and any of them would hurt like crazy if you broke or cracked one. Well, actually we are born with about 270 bones but by the time we reach adulthood some have fused together and there are 206 left. The crazy thing is – more than half of these bones are in our hands (54) and feet (52).

Luckily I did not break anything – just bruised my arm and a bit of muscle or something.

Bodies are precious things – we should remember to take care of them, eat properly, exercise (and look where we are going) and get enough sleep.

You can read “Sibo Looks Right” – the road safety book – on the website (www.sibo.co.za) anytime you want to.

Stay safe!

Sibo