10 Day Friend Challenge: Day 3 The friend you have the most fun with

I think the most fun times of my life were probably my university days. Particularly before I became unwell, as after that I have never been the same or been able to be as care free, but I have still had some very fun times since.

There are two contenders for this one....although I do have loads of fun with a fair few people, I think the top two are Lauren and Alessandro.

Freshers year, Lauren and Me

My Disney 21st. Katie, Han, Me, Helen, Jen, Lauren

In my first year of university at Liverpool I lived at a student halls campus Carnatic and it was brilliant! You got to know so many people so quickly and so well from all living in a little neighborhood. I am so glad I did otherwise I would have really missed out. 

I was friends with a lot of the boys, as I think we were outnumbered and also I find them easier to get on with sometimes, but I think we all felt that way as besides us the other girls in our halls (Morton) didn't seem particularly pleasant. So I became close to four girls in the first year - Lauren, Helen, Katie and Hannah, and then the next year Jen, when all six of us moved in together.

2nd year Carnage: Helen, Jen, Lauren, Me

Kt & Me rocking out in Lozza's room

 We got up to plenty of mischief and Lauren, like Karen is one of the funniest people I know. When she was drunk she was much more likely to do silly things with me, I didn't need much encouragement as I had got over my very shy stage. We also had much fun winding up our friend and block buddy Russell (all in good humour) such as trying to get him a Russian bride. There were many drunken adventures. Katie was usually involved too or would be my other partner or crime, or Laurens.

Lauren, Me, Katie A night out

Me & Katie

 

 I remember Katie and I going to Tesco in our pj's at 4am one night (which may be common for some scousers but wasn't for us) only to find it was closed, and going clubbing in our pj's to raise money for charity.

Lauren is someone its so easy to feel comfortable around and we can have fun just jumping around the kitchen to cheesy dance or trance music eating peanut butter on toast as well as random adventures into other blocks (Morton had 6 blocks) or getting drunk and being silly. Just talking to her is fun as she has a great sense of humour. I really miss her these days!

Me & Lauren - a meet up after our uni years

Alessandro was in our neighboring block. In the first year I spent most time with an ex friend called Connor who was so much fun and a great friend, until the next year when he got into drugs and turned unstable and into a really nasty piece of work.

Dave, Me and Sandro on a night out, last yr of uni

The last two years I then spent alot of time with Sandro and he is the funniest guy that I know. He comes out with the most ridiculous things and as I hung around with the boys a lot, there was always pranks going on, which I did love as I still loved to embrace my inner child!

No nasty or over the top pranks, just pretty harmless things. He was also a great friend.

A meet up 2 years after uni, my 24th birthday. Raj, Me, Sandro

I don't get to see my university friends very often now, as we all live in different areas of the country sadly, and I really wish we were all just down the road from each other like we used to be. They have given me some great memories. I only hope to have the chance to have some more.

                                                           x - X - x

My Birth Story

On Tuesday morning the 26th of July, I woke up early (like I had been doing every morning due to needing a wee - my poor squashed bladder), with what I thought must be braxton hicks, quite strong ones, like bad period pains.

I'd had some similar pains before on the two previous Fridays, one night was very painful but both had turned out not to be anything as the next couple of days I would have no signs, until weak period pains would return about 48 hours after each occasion.

Due to this I assumed this was just practice again, although with it being almost my due date and the regular weaker pains I'd been getting - like a build up, it did make me wonder if it could be starting. I got out of bed when Ashley had left for work as it was too uncomfortable to sleep. I went about a normal routine, having breakfast, writing a post on here, all whilst getting these pains. After a while they then seemed to have mostly worn off so i went back to bed for a couple hours later on thinking they wouldn't come back. I'd even told my sister I'd speak to her the next day after my sweep, as nothing was going to happen in the hours between then.

I was very wrong!

I can't remember when the pains started again, but I'd been getting on with household chores and had been planning to make Butternut squash risotto (after being on the Hipp site and thinking i could freeze most of it for ready meals for when baby came). I didn't realise how much of a challenge sorting out butternut squashes would be! It was hard, especially due to being a massive 40 week pregnant whale and I began to get back ache.
I assumed it was because I'd been stood up too long doing it all, but after I'd been cooking for a while, the backache started to get worse and I was getting cramping pains, and it was getting really hard to do it.
I still didn't think i was in labour though! It was in the back of my mind but I was slightly in denial.

I think it was about 8 in the evening when I realised I was getting regular contraction like pains and I was kind of excited but also thought that they'd wear off just like the other nights (but then they'd not been so convincing as this). When I noticed they were coming every 10 to 15 minutes and they were getting quite painful, it started to kick in that it was pretty likely that i was in labour. I hadn't showered or painted my nails during the day like I planned and I didn't want to go in a mess (which may sound silly) so I realised I had to go get that done. I told Ash, (who was busy playing on his xbox) I was doing so, just in case we had to go to the hospital ....so I was still not 100% convinced - I think I knew but I just couldn't believe it was actually happening. Its hard to describe how I was feeling.
It turns out its not so easy shaving your legs with contractions!! Then when Ashley saw I'd done my make up he laughed.

After then they were getting closer and closer in a very short space of time and stronger so I knew it was labour and called the delivery suite. It was about half ten by then (I think). They were 5 to 6 minutes apart but it was confusing as I would get two or three in a row, which i think is why I'd been unsure since 8pm whether it was real labour, as i never knew you could get more than one contraction at once (always thought it was just one and then the minutes in between then the next and so on).
The midwife I spoke to told me I didn't need to go in until they were 2 - 3 minutes apart and to try paracetamol and a have a bath. I was quite upset then as they were getting pretty painful and it was hard coping with more than one at once. I told Ash he may as well go to bed as I was thinking of my friend Mel who had been up all night in pain until she had progressed to that point, so I thought I would be the same and not be going anywhere until the morning.
He said no though, as I think he thought we would be going to the hospital soon. So he knew better than me!

We started timing them and he was trying to help me get through them and they were 3 minutes apart within no time at all. I couldn't believe it at first, and the multiple contractions were still confusing me, but in quite a bit of pain I then rang the hospital and they told me to come in, it was actually happening!
I'm not too sure if i was excited anymore by then though, as I had already been crying because of the pain and because I knew this was by no means the worst of it! 

We had to get a taxi in as neither of us drive or have a car (yet) so that was fun sitting in the back trying to keep completely composed during contractions! I didn't want to freak the taxi driver out and make him think I was gonna give birth in his car!

It was about midnight, just after when we got to the hospital and delivery suite. I was put on a little ward area when we got in, as they don't let you go into a delivery room until you're in established labour, although in the end i went in before that.

She checked me when we got in and found i was 2-3 cm dilated already, although  because of the pain and wanting something for it, I was hoping it would be 4cm, but it could have been worse! If it had been 1cm dilated I think i would have lost my mind! I didn't realise or had forgotten you couldn't have pain relief until established labour (and I can't have Codeine as I'm allergic) so I was upset as the contractions were very painful now and she told me that getting a few in a row was normal and called coupling. Its bloody awful. I guess everyone probably gets that but i had no idea!

Putting it into perspective they hadn't got that painful until i started throwing up because if how much it hurt. She said its because of your stomach being close to your contracting uterus but I'm so sure it was the pain!

Anyway as they were so strong and coming constantly my midwife got a bath run in one of the delivery rooms (the baths are great, so massive) and so I was off the mini ward which was a relief.

After the first examination she'd said she'd check me in 4 hours, I was horrified, 4 bloody hours, to see if I was in established labour, and before I could have any pain relief.

So we were left in my delivery room and i was in the bath and my contractions started to get horrific, she'd taught me to breath through them, but some were so bad i actually had to kind of scream. Only a few times, but i kept telling Ash I couldn't do it and said it was the worst experience of my life and to make it stop! He was so good looking after me though. He'd helped me sort myself out when I'd been sick a few times on the ward and was holding me and stroking my hair and helping me as much as he could by comforting.

I ended up getting out the bath, I couldn't take the pain and I was a bit hysterical I think. I begged him to get the midwife to take a look at me because I really needed at least gas and air and needed to know how far gone I was, I was sure I must already be pretty well established. So after a bit he got her for me (using the and she checked how far i was which KILLED as it set off another majorly strong contraction, I'd just had one before that had made me scream.

She was very shocked and told me I was 8cm gone already!

She finally gave me gas and air but the pain was still awful, and even though I'd got through almost all of it with nothing I begged her for diamorphine (Leeds don't do Pethidine anymore) or even an epidural (which i had been adamant about not wanting, but i was desperate and hysterical i think....otherwise I'm sure i wouldn't have asked).

She wasn't gonna give me any with being 8cm but the Dr said it was ok, but I don't think they realised or had I by then that I needed to push (and how soon my I'd be giving birth), so I had started doing...I couldn't stop it, so i must have gone to 10cm if lightening speed but i didn't know so didn't click I was now starting to push my baby out.

My body was starting to make me push really hard, so hard at one point all this fluid came rushing out, but I didn't know if it was my waters or i'd wee'd lol, turns out the latter! 

Ash briefly left the room not long after...I don't know why as the Dia morphine made me practically fall asleep in the time between each contraction (such a relief). I think he needed a wee too haha! In that time my waters actually finally did go.....right last minute. I then was pushing really hard again and then thought I'd poo'd myself! I asked to go to the toilet and then I hadn't so was confused, I hadn't realised that the feeling was my babies head popping out into the birth canal, the midwife didn't realise this either ....and after a bit looked and said...you're baby is right there! She thought it might take a while to push out but after a couple pushes she was coming out, but the midwife told me I had to stop pushing (which felt almost impossible) and just breathe her out, as I was tearing.

And then really quickly she came out.

She made a little cry but then stopped and she looked blue, they had put her on my chest briefly but then took her right off because she wasn't breathing. It was terrifying.

 A load of doctors came in and took her over to this area in the corner of the room and were trying to get cries out of her and doing checks whilst I had to deliver the placenta. My midwife (Juliet - she was wonderful) was going to pull it out using the umbilical cord, but that snapped so she was asking for someone else to come in and assist (besides the other person who had to be present at birth) but then I pushed it all out that second so shocked her again! It was huge, i'm sure almost as big as Grace.

The doctors had her for a while and I was so so scared and kept asking if she was ok, even though they told me she was. It was because I'd delivered so quickly after the diamorphine which they weren't expecting. I eventually got her back which was such a relief and she was a normal colour and I had my baby girl in my arms!

Shortly after they had to do my stitches, so Ashley held Grace. I had a 2nd degree perineal tear and a couple of other lacerations. However I can't remember feeling any pain pushing her out (that had been the bit I was most scared off ....I just couldn't see how it was possible) and even though the pushing sensation is so strong, it is such a relief from the contractions! 

I think the girl who did my stitches was still a bit unexperienced as it took her ages and another midwife had to help at one point and seemed a bit annoyed at her. I just wanted it to be over!

Here are some of the first photo's after Grace was born:

Grace Lily Olivia Dykes 7lb10 oz Born: 27/7/11 4.03am

Holding my baby girl properly for the first time <3

Proud Daddy <3

Later on that morning they did quite a few checks on my heart because I'd been having more palpatations and tachycardia. It all seemed fine, but then we had to stay in hospital overnight as the paediatrician detected a heart murmor in Grace that afternoon in the post natal ward.

I was very upset about it and that we had to stay in. Ashley had gone home to get some sleep but came back and my sister and my nephew came over and were the first people to meet her. 

The murmur was still there the next morning so we were told we would have to take her for a scan in about 6 to 8 weeks. She still has it but its an innocent one thank god, so she is perfectly healthy.

She was so well behaved in the hospital. All the other babies were screaming on the ward but she just wiggled a lot and whimpered a lil bit if she wanted something. She didn't have a proper screeching cry at first, like the other babies on the ward, just this cute little wah sound, which finally came out when she had her first bath! Before then it had just been a one off noise, not continuous. However now, as every baby she has a very loud cry when she is not happy about something.

If you are due to give birth for the first time, don't be scared. I used to be terrified of it before being pregnant, but then was less scared when I was as I had the baby to focus on.

It was very painful, but I was lucky and had a relatively short labour (although I do wonder if I started dilating a couple weeks in advance) and despite the pain and having to cope with stitches for a couple weeks after, I would do it again. It was the best experience of my life giving birth to my baby girl and we are so lucky to have her.

 Everyone says you will get through it, and you may doubt it but they are right and it will be one of the happiest times of your life. Good Luck to anyone expecting.

• • 
    

    
    

                                          x - X - x

Theo's Story - Part One

Whenever I used to walk to my sisters house down a particular road, or during the two years I lived at hers, I would often see two fluffy/scruffy looking black cats who seemed to live there. Both were very friendly and would mew a lot and follow you to be stroked, or maybe just because they wanted food.

One day, the more sociable one of the two followed me home and seemed very hungry so I gave it some food. It was a lovely thing, incredibly fluffy and affectionate.

However quite a few months down the line (after a freezing winter) I realised I hadn't seen that one of the pair for a long time, and the quieter one seemed to be about less too. When we came across the other one, it came to say Hello and we were stroking it and realised what awful condition it was in. Its hair was matted and falling out, its skin was bad and its spine was sticking out dreadfully and when picking it up later it was as light as a feather, just like a bag of bones :(

When with the cat and realising its condition I asked some of the local kids playing out if they knew who owned it and what had happened to its sibling. It turned out the other one had died over the winter. It was upsetting and if its condition was anything like this one's it was no wonder!

They didn't pinpoint the owners, so we let the cat follow us home (just round the corner) and gave him/her something to eat. The poor thing was starving and very thirsty too. It also had a very strong odor due to its bottom being dirty and its tail fur being matted up with dirt, as well as having runny eyes and having a tooth missing, so eating very messily.

Even though not as confident as its brother/sister, this cat too was extremely affectionate and wanted attention as well as something to eat.

I think it was the next day we fed the cat properly and my sister met it and saw what an awful state it was in and she was horrified. She took some photo's as evidence of animal cruelty as it was evident we were going to have to call the R.S.P.C.A to help this cat if it was going to survive and not suffer anymore from the neglect from its owners. However at this point we weren't sure if its owners were still around here or whether they'd just left the two cats to fend for themselves.

I took a couple of pics myself at this point, but mainly as he/she was so cute.

You can't really tell from my pic what an awful state he was in

Skinny and Starving

 I was the one to call up the R.S.P.C.A and report the state of the cat and try and get him some help. The reaction I got however was disgusting and I will never be using their services again or donating to them.

They basically weren't the faintest bit interested unless he was unconscious and were going to do absolutely nothing about it. I was so angry when I got off the phone.

We weren't sure what to do at first, but then thought we would have to try the animal shelter that I had been volunteering at, the Humane Education Society in Wilmslow.  So we gave them a call. I explained the situation to them but currently they were full, however when I said how urgent it was they said they would try and get him a place as soon as possible but he would have to be checked for cat flu first as to not put the other cats there at risk. 

Click here for their site

We took him to the vets to get him assessed. They told us that the cat was a boy - we hadn't known yet and Morgan (my nephew) had given him or her the temporary name of Starblade.

The vet thought he was in awful condition and said he wouldn't have lasted many more days if we hadn't started to care for him. So basically if we'd left it in the hands of the R.S.P.C.A he would have been dead.

He was extremely underweight, extremely matted and in bad condition but the vet tried to assess a rough age and estimated 11, however the next vet to see him a week or so later estimated about 14, so he was an old boy. He took tests for Cat Flu and then for the next week or so we were to care for him until a space came up.

We decided since we knew now it was a boy, to come up for a name for him. So me, my nephew and my brother wrote a list of names and then whittled it down using a dice. The final name was Theodore, which I think suited him so well. Despite him being such a mess, he was a beautiful cat, with massive eyes and a very cute high pitched meow. He was incredibly affectionate and wanted to be with someone all the time. 

Beautiful Cat :)

He climbed onto my map for a cuddle the first day

Even though it was upsetting and scary caring for him due to his condition, it was also lovely and we became very quickly attached to him as he was so loving and sweet. We just couldn't understand how someone could treat any cat like this, let alone one so lovely. There wasn't a nasty bone in his body and he was so calm and placid and seemed to want nothing more than to be loved.

We got the results from the vets and the good news was that he was flu free so was ok to go to the shelter.

The sanctuary finally had a place for him, which was great news, so we took him in, although it was sad to say Goodbye, we knew he would be well looked after.

We missed him a lot and a couple of times went to visit, he didn't seem quite himself though, but everyone had fallen in love with him just like us, due to his gentle sweet nature. He also had the incredibly cute habit of putting a paw up to ask for food or pawing you ....also if he wanted a cuddle......which was often.

They had groomed him and removed his mats, so he was looking a bit bald and very skinny but at the same time a lot better. He had been cleaned up and treated for worms and flea's etc and was being slowly fed up, although he was occasionally having tummy troubles.

The bad news came though, when the other tests results came back that the vets had done ....his Liver function tests, which showed him to have Liver Failure. This meant that he was not going to have very long left. We couldn't believe it :(

Due to this and the fact we had been missing him a lot, my sister made the decision that for his final time, however long he may have, we would take him and look after him ourselves.

So we went out and brought him a lovely cat bed, some grooming brushes and some bits and pieces including a separate litter tray so as not to upset Bella, my other cat, and my sister paid the adoption fee's and we brought him home :)

A bit blurry - when he first came back home

My next post will be about how he surprised us all and managed to get healthy and last a fair few months longer than the vets had suggested and the lovely memories we have of him. There were a two horrible scares before the final one, in which it was his time to go :'( but during his time with us we had an amazing adoring pet, a privilege for us all to have experienced having him and how we managed to make the life he had left so much better for him. He truly was the sweetest creature I have ever come across.

                                                    x - X - x

*If you live anywhere near Wilmslow and are thinking of getting a Pet, Please consider adopting from the shelter mentioned above. Their name is linked to their site. Or if you would like to make a donation feel free. They are a fantastic organisation and depend on donations and they provide wonderful care for the animals there and helped us so much with Theo.

Bella - Part 2

This post is a bit about Bella with some of my favourite pics of her dotted through the post.

Likes:

• Cuddle Time .....having attention lavished on her and being stroked and ticked, especially her head and neck and tummy.

• Bobbles - one of her favourite 'toys' ....probably why i have lost tonnes of them.

• Custard - she is a fussy eater but human food wise, she LOVES custard!

• Muller Rice ...she also likes the rice pudding.

• Getting under the duvet with me to have a cuddle or a sleep

• Cat treats ....she demands them.....naughty cat!

• Boxes ....drawers ...anywhere she can jump into and explore or nap in.

• Bits of string/ribbon/ties - her favourite for a while was a piece of ribbon that held some tea towels together when i brought them. She often prefers the string holding a dangly toy to the actual toy. However she has a mouse that squeaks that she loves.

• Hunting even a speck of dust makes her happy, she's never been a successful hunter until recently :( but she's always watching and sometimes chasing after things I'm sure aren't even there. She's a good fly catcher though.

• Being Vocal about how she's feeling - she has many different meows...ones for when she's telling me her food bowl is empty, one for when she wants treats, one for if I'm trying to sleep and she thinks she's being ignored, ones for if she wants to play, or is bored and disgruntled, its her own version of moaning or sighing its quite funny, one's for if she's annoyed and ones for if you are another cat!! 

• A freshly Made Bed - I'm sure she thinks it gets done just for her.

• Sleeping Anywhere and Everywhere - as you can see by the pic below! 

She's even slept in the plant pot to her right ...see memories below

Dislikes:

She chose to sit here

• Other cats - she doesn't try and fight with them, they just really upset her if they come anywhere near her

• Being put somewhere she's not decided to be - she was better when she was younger but now she's more into doing what she wants when she wants - she is very good natured, never hisses or scratches but will just run back to what she was doing

• Noisy houses full of people or people stomping around - when we first had her she was very jumpy and on edge but is so much better now but houses full of people intimidate her so she will run off to/stay in a quiet place, as will she if someone comes stomping past her

• Baths - she's only had to have one from when she got herself covered in paint but my god the poor little thing was so upset, and at one point was hidden behind my sisters legs like a tiny drowned furball shaking, whilst my arms were scratched up. Not because she had scratched me, but she'd been trying to drag her way out of the water whilst crying and yowling her heart out.

 Memories:

• Finding her in my uni bed under the covers, only her ears sticking out at the top ....i had a pic until my phone broke :( 

• Having a bath and putting my lunch by the side...a mini pizza baguette ...only to here a big crunch noise and to look down and see Bella had bitten into it ....very funny/cute

• Her climbing up on my shoulder like a parrot when i was half sitting/half laying in bed and then her lying on my chest under my chin and rubbing her face against my face when i was crying. She's very affectionate.

• When she got a temperature and was very lethargic and not herself. It was scary and I know my cat and I knew something was wrong. Luckily it was just the starts of an infection and we got her sorted out straight away :)

She  never scratches people

• All the times she will use her paw or arm to pull your hand up to her face to stroke it, or will meow if you stop stroking her and wants more, she is a lovely natured cat.

• When my sister was having some doors built between two rooms in her house....they had areas without glass in which Bella used to perch on. Unfortunately she didn't notice when they'd had glass put in and launched herself off the sofa to jump on to the ledge only to hit the glass and bounce back. Funny but aww my poor kitty!

• Finding her Christmas present before she was supposed to ....I had gotten her an amazing triangle hut like bed and found her asleep in it on xmas eve. She loved it until a couple of months later, an naughty kitten from across the road, who liked to wind her up, started invading the house, went in and got her sent on it and put Bella off :(

• Finding her asleep in a small soil filled plantpot.

• Seeing her trying to stop one of the intruder cats at this house trying to get through the cat flap......a lot of cat yowling/screeching was going on and banging noise.....only the see the cheeky evil black food stealing kitten trying to get through the flap and a very upset Bella screeching and smacking the cat flap repeatedly in its face! 

Bedtime Reading

• The funny/cute things she does without even realising.....like when she scales round a room on her back two feet as she wants to sniff higher up or reach for things, or when she will sleep with her head on the pillow or will position herself like she is reading a book or watching TV. 

• 

  Watching TV in front of the fire

  
  

 Some more favourite photo's:

'Oh Hai!'

Napping on my Knee

Cuddling a a doggy teddy

Chilling Out

Having A Snooze

My next post will be about Theo, a cat we rescued from the street, who unlike Bella, was in an appalling condition. He was the sweetest animal I've ever known and even though he passed away at Christmas I still miss him very much.

                                                    
                                                      x - X - x

Bella - Part One ....how she adopted me

Bella strolled on into my life right through a kitchen window in Summer 2007 and has been a part of it ever since.

Bella is my four year old (turned 4 this month) female tabby cross who thinks of me as her mummy cat and means the world to me.

Ginger Kittens at the Shelter

I'd always wanted a cat.....well specifically a kitten ....my dream was to have a ginger tabby who I would call Muffin. I don't know why that name, but that's what I came up with as a child. My brother would have a silver tabby called smokey and my mum would have a tortoiseshell cat. That was our dream, but as we didn't have the money or the space we never got them.

I moved into my third and final home in Liverpool at the end of August in 2007. The first year we had lived in student halls before I moved into a house with 5 of my female friends the next year. We were there for two years, although I missed most of the second year due to having to defer after becoming very unwell and not being able to cope anymore. This meant I'd be in Liverpool a fourth year and luckily one of my flat mates would be too, so we moved in together. This is where I met Bella.

We had to move in by a certain point, and also as I had a lot of exam revision to do which i found hard to do at home, I moved back to Liverpool a couple weeks before uni restarted. Being in a new house all on my own was pretty lonely and I had been suffering from depression and finding life difficult ever since I became ill at 19 just before my second year started. However I'd only been there about a day when I heard a mewing in the back yard. I opened the back door to find a kitten demanding something, I didn't know what. I was very patient and quiet and she came to me and was very friendly and seemed to love attention once she knew she didn't need to be scared of me. She wandered off after a bit and I got on with things. Later on she came back, so I figured she was a local cat, but then the next day she returned mewing outside the kitchen window really wanting to get in, seeming really hungry. I gave her a tiny bit of milk as she seemed hungry, but I also knew that dairy milk is bad for cats so I didn't want to make her poorly.

Besides the distraction of the young cat, once I'd organized my stuff, I had revision to get on with, but at one point feeling a bit down and tired I had fallen half asleep on my notes. Half awake I was suddenly aware of footsteps coming up the stairs, which scared me, but my brain didn't have time to rationalize that they weren't loud enough to be human, as I lifted my head up to find this cat standing over me on my bed and wanting attention. 

The intruder ....

Making herself at home already

It was seeming like she didn't have a home, but I wasn't sure and just thought it was really nice to have a friendly neighborhood cat who came to visit. However when inspecting the back yard a couple days later I found a cat food bowl and water bowl. It was starting to make more sense why she seemed to think this was her home, it looked like she had been left behind by the previous occupants. 
Some of the boys came over one night before Jen moved in and were trying to figure out whether the cat was male or female. Raj who was cooing over her like a baby had a feeling she was a girl. Bella was so good natured and let them pick her up and fuss around her and she didn't get annoyed at all.Jen met her and when she'd moved in we decided we better start feeding the cat and go about finding if she did have an belong to someone in the area. It was looking unlikely though due to my findings and the fact that even before feeding her she would mew constantly outside the window to be let in, so I took to leaving it open for her. After taking her to the vets we found out she was indeed a girl, in perfect health and only a couple of months old.....so still a kitten. She also had no chip, but she had been neutered. 
We took to asking neighbors and looking out for lost cat posters, but no one seemed to be missing her, so we decided to look after her.
We had to come up with a name we all liked. Nolan (Jen's boyfriend) and I both thought of Bellatrix for some reason ....but even though it sounded good, this kitten was anything but evil like the Harry Potter Character. The three of us decided to shorten it to Bella. Although the boys had other idea's on their next visit....even umbrella was thrown up ....and upon hearing the word she walked right over to one. So it became her middle name, and to humour Raj it was followed up bu Catminder Singh. Now though it is just Bella.

She was so lovely and cute and I had some funny moments with her, like opening my desk drawer to get some paper only to find her curled up asleep in it, trying to revise but her wanting attention so she would come and sit right on my text books or notepad so she could be stroked. Oh and she loved to attack my pens.  
However we did start to get difficulties.....she didn't like being shut out of rooms so would make a lot of noise or try and scratch to get it....this was at nighttime as she wanted to be in my bedroom. Often I would leave my door open for her, but then I didn't have my privacy.
She also made a couple of scratch marks in the house, which was a huge worry as we weren't actually allowed pets and had a big deposit on the place. When someone did need to come round to see the house I had to go and hide her at Ian's house for a couple of hours!


To try and stop her coming upstairs at night and waking us and trying to get in my room (which somehow she would manage even if the door was shut) we kept her in the bathroom a couple of nights. She hated this however and one morning we came down to find she had ripped some of the floor up. Jen was horrified and decided she had to go :( I could understand because it was going to be hard to fix and hide that and there was the potential she would do more damage and we would be buggered if they found out we had a cat and couldn't afford to lose the huge deposit. At the same time though I was hurt, angry and heartbroken. We'd had her for several months now and she was very close to me.
When the R.S.P.C.A lady came to pick her up Bella got upset straight away, she could tell something was happening and when she got near her she was very on edge as she doesn't like other cats and this woman smelt of them.

I was so so upset losing her and thinking I would never see her again. It hurt so much and I cried a lot over that time. Bella had helped as a distraction with the difficulties I had living my life due to my illness and now she was gone. Jen didn't seem to miss her at all.
However my sister came to my rescue when she saw how much I was missing her and decided in the meantime she would get Bella back and she could live at her house, until I was in my next place. I am so grateful to her for this, as otherwise Bella would not be in my life now. 
She also helped Bella with some health problems, as she occasionally had been getting an upset tummy and it turns out she has kitty IBS, so now has special food to help her with this.


After uni, I lived at my sisters for two years with Bella and she was very happy there. She loved the garden, especially when it was overgrown and just loves attention and being stroked. She's a bit of a tart really :) 
She now lives with me in Leeds and I'm so glad she chose me as her owner. My next post will be some of my favourite photo's of her and some little bits about her character.




                                                     x - X - x

My first pets

I have always been an animal lover, when I was younger dreaming and wishing of having a pet, writing down lists of names and projects of how I would look after them and drawing what their home would look like, writing plans of where I would get everything from (usually the Argos catalog as that's all I had access to at the time).

We didn't have any money though so the idea of having pets was unlikely, which I didn't fully understand.

 My mum gave in when I was 11 (my brother 9) and got us our first pets. We got them after going to a Radio1 road show on Plymouth Hoe, when they did it on Sundays at several venues round the country.

Our first pets were a rabbit and a guinea pig .....Holly the rabbit who was so small she fit in the palm of my hand and was a cheeky little thing bouncing up to the glass to say hello. She had the colouring of a wild rabbit with a white splodge on her tiny twitching nose, fluffy white paws, and was a half lop...one ear up one ear down.

Not our actual pets, but these two look good friends as well

Sparky was the guinea pig ....she was the smallest of the litter ....the runt and very shy, running and hiding behind the other animals, particularly Holly. I loved her at once and knew she was the one. She was black with a thick white stripe down her face and bits of brown on her body.

They had lovely friendly characters and we'd let them run around inside and outside. When we had an old pram out the garage with a blanket in the bottom, the pair of them climbed in and snuggled up together and would groom each other. They loved being together.

Holly however died very unexpectedly when still very young. I say unexpectedly, but the night before I'd had a vivid nightmare that she had died. It was so real I was incredibly panicked and had to go and check on her the next morning before I rushed off to secondary school. She seemed fine. I still remember the walk home, picking some dandelions for her, only to get back, open the hutch door and see her laying exactly as I had in my dream.......dead. I was heartbroken and also horrified as it all went exactly as my nightmare had and I will never be able to explain it.

I remember the next day at school, trying not to cry and obviously looking miserable, and having my Geography teacher say something along the lines of "cheer up it might never happen". I could have screamed or hit her (if i'd been violent and unstable lol ) It already had happened!!! I think that is one of the most ignorant moronic things you can ever say to someone.....if they look that upset, it is pretty likely the bad thing has already happened!!

Sparky mourned her greatly. They had been very close, they were best friends and  Sparky was always squeaking her head off when Holly was in the run without her and scrambling up close to her when they were back together. We got another guinea pig to keep her company, a tiny tan coloured, at first very very shy, but very loving girl who we called Mossy, only to find Sparky was too territorial and bit her! :(

So they had to live separately. They were lovely inquisitive, intelligent, loving pets. They loved to cuddle up to you and would lick your face and come rushing up to see you. A couple years down the line Mossy got ill......I think it must have been mange, and i didn't realise then what is was and that my mother couldn't afford to take them to the vets. I think maybe she could have been saved which is heartbreaking. If I'd been older I might have known to try and take her to a shelter or somewhere to help her.

We tried our best to care for her, bathing her, which she hated, but that didn't make her better. Then one day when out in the run she didn't want to leave me and kept scrambling up on my lap to be as close to me as possible. I didn't know why so cuddled her then put her back. That night she died. She hadn't wanted to be alone. It was awful and I wished more than anything I'd let her stay with me.

Sparky still lived on and I spent a lot of time with her, especially when i was going through hard times it was a great comfort to have her to cuddle and care for. Like Mossy she could be very vocal (especially if either of them heard vegetables being chopped!) and she loved her food, especially cucumber! She wasn't allowed too much mind to protect her tummy. When she was about 3 and a half however, she started developing the same skin condition and I couldn't believe it, but as I didn't know much, I still never thought she would die. I so wish we could have taken them to the vets, I suppose we should never have had pets in the first place if my mum couldn't afford that, but she was trying to do something nice for us.

I knew she was getting worse when she would refuse things like her cucumber, and the night before, she did the same thing as Mossy, which I'd forgotten about so didn't realise the significance of it, when I tried to put her back in her hutch she didn't want to leave me and kept jumping out onto my lap and scrambling as close to me as possible. That is the most heartbreaking thing. I wish I'd never put her back in and just let her stay with me.

The next day at school I got incredibly violently sick out of the blue and couldn't stop thinking that something felt wrong and it must be Sparky. I got home and mum wouldn't let me see her, said she'd fed and cleaned her out etc. I was desperate to see my pet and put up a big fight, only to find my mum had been trying to protect me as Sparky had died at lunchtime when I'd been throwing up at school. 

Sparkys death was the worst for me, I'd never felt pain like it. They'd all been part of the family and I'd grown so close to her and people don't realise how affectionate and interactive guinea pigs are once they know you and feel comfortable, so they can't really understand your loss. 

I would cry myself to sleep every night, feeling so hurt and my mum at one point suggested antidepressants (I was 14 at this point, I think at about 13 i had started to develop signs of depression when I became unwell with IBS, tried to tell my mother after spending ages trying to pluck up the courage and she told me because she used to be a nurse, she knew everything and that I was crazy and there was nothing wrong with me. She was wrong, but made me feel helpless, alone and rock bottom at that point. Life at home was very difficult for other reasons then too. Hence why Sparky was often my comfort). I remember thinking, that it didn't matter if I searched every inch of the earth.... I would still never find her.

That's the catch with pets, they are such a joy to have, but you know at some point you will lose them and it is awful when you do.

Sadly as my mum stopped taking photo's after I was about 7 (I've no idea why) I never got any pictures of Holly or Mossy :'( and only managed to get a small one of Sparky ....which I still have but I don't have a scanner to scan it onto my computer. 

Again, not mine, but cute :)

About a year later I did care for two mice for a couple months, which i called Amber and Fluff, without my mum knowing. Amber was white with browny black patches and Fluff was white. I ended up having to give them up as they would escape during the night and I'd find them in my wardrobe after searching for ages. They were lovely, inquisitive, entertaining pets, but just not right for me at the time.

I didn't have a proper pet then until I was 17 and had moved in with my friend Catherine, due to my family having to move away and me wanting to finish school.

Instead of going to an optional P.E class, me and Cat somehow ended up going and buying a Hamster!!

Completely random I know! After making a list of names we whittled it down to Minstrel, who at first interaction bit right into my finger. 

We'd chosen her as she'd got too old to be with the other babies and had been separated all on her own and needed a home. Once she knew she was safe with us, she was a lovely friendly creature, although Cat always seemed somewhat squeamish around her, I think she prefers bigger pets! Then again me and Tony did used to put Minstrel on her shoulder....maybe that was why!

Unlike this cutie, Minstrel was a lovely sandy/golden colour

Minstrel lived on the top floor with us, which was best considering Catherine's gorgeous friendly, very over excitable dog Saffie who would have loved a chew toy.

When I moved away when school had finished, Minstrel came with me, but then a couple months later I started University and wasn't allowed to take her with me :( So from then on, I missed out on her life.

My mum developed cancer that year (which thank god she recovered from after a traumatic 8 hour operation and radiotherapy) and Minstrel ended up having to go back and live with Catherine and I never saw her again. I do have a picture of her, but again not a digital one.

I didn't have the option of having pets during university, even though at this point, if I'd budgeted well (which I didn't ....first time I had the money and freedom for nights out and to get clothes) I could have afforded one. I didn't have the space or the rights in any of the places I lived to have one.

However in my fourth year in Liverpool, when I'd moved into my and Jen's new place, a week ahead of her, so all on my own, a little creature decided to adopt me as her owner.

My next post will be about her.

                                                  x - X - x