Why?

Fing was Fractious last night.

He sat and started at me from the side of the bed and refused to come and get on his pillow. He eyed me with disdain and stalked off fair bristling with annoyance.

I don't know what prompted this peeved demeanour but peeved the little bugger was.

He first woke me at 3 by attacking Tutz who was sound asleep on her scratchy pole and who really didn't deserve it.

He then sat and carefully streched to rattle my jewellery in its box, for which he was a rewarded with a warning 'Fing....' He turned and looked at me through slitted eyes like I was something he'd trod in and still had the residue on his paw, then turned and sat and watched me. I fell back to sleep, only to sit bolt upright in bed moments later when he pushed my National Geographic to the floor. He dissapeared through the cat flap in the bedroom door.

I tried to go back to sleep and was releived when I heard him slither back through the cat flap and jump onto the bed. At last! I thought, he is coming to bed. But no. He stood next to me and glared down into my face, then carefully turned round and sat down perfcetly aligned for his furiously lashing tail to switch across my face.

At this point I got up, defeated, and went downstairs to put some food out, but the boy was not to be appeased and spent the rest of the night stomping round the house upsetting the other pets and annoying me with his scraping.

I sometimes wonder what we have done to deserve our pets?

Take Trotter.

Trotter has taking his penchant for barking to a new stage and has decided that he doesn't really like it if you are sitting down and so stands and barks at you for long protracted sessions.

This has been bought on by Marth having some time off with her flu and having to lay on the sofa because she was too poorly to do anything else.

This has unsettled Trotter who is unused to seeing Martha prostate, so he is sharing his angst with continous barking, mainly directed at the table, the mop bucket and one chair. The barking usually lasts for an hour, after which he has taken to humping shoes for a short period before finally settling down behind Martha with his dinner bowl to recover.

I hope our new neighbour is a dog lover.