Obsessive Pets

I was half listening to the review of the newspapers on Radio 4 this morning when a story about a cat caught my attention. Apparently a cat in England has become the first feline in UK to be diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder for excessive grooming. It may be the first formal diagnosis but I think obsessive behaviour is fairly common in pets.

Our dog Megan has an obsession about rounding things up, when we had a rabbit she would spend hours running round in circles to make sure that the rabbit didn't escape. We had lawn circles where she wore away the grass. Maybe crop circles have nothing to do with aliens, they are probably caused by demented border collies trying to round up rabbits!

Oreo the cat has an obsession with moths, he has declared the bathroom a no fly zone and he patrols the area to ensure that any moth foolish enough to fly in through the bathroom window is caught and eating in record time. That brings me to his other obsession - food! He will eat absolutely anything, he is like the Robbie of the cat world, he even stole and ate some wine gums the other day!

Dave the cat is a feisty character, but he also has his obsessions. He is very attached to me and whenever I sit down he is there within seconds ready to sit on my lap. He gets on well with Robbie too because Robbie feeds him, but if Robbie sits next to me or attempts to hug me, Dave appears and pushes himself between us to make it quite clear that that he is my best friend and Robbie should go away!

Moth Hunting

Dave the cat has been like a bear with a sore head recently, well to be more accurate he is a cat with sore feet. His pododermatitis has got worse again and he has an open sore on one foot. I hoped I could get it to heal up again but it is proving stubborn and I think we will have to go back and see the vet. He can still walk on his foot but he grumbles and swears and lashes out at Oreo if he gets too close, poor old Dave, he's a lovely cat.

Oreo has a new hobby – moth hunting. For some reason we always get a lot of moths in the bathroom, they don't really bother me as long as they don't try to get in the bath with me. They may not be as colourful as butterflies, but they have beautiful markings and they are fascinating to watch. Oreo also seems to find them fascinating, he loiters in the bathroom and leaps around trying to catch them. This morning I caught him sitting in the sink, he had obviously decided that he needed to be higher up if he was going to catch a moth. He is not supposed to be in the bathroom, but it is difficult to get cross with him when he looks so cute.