Part 1: Our Holiday by Morgan

Sorry we haven't posted recently. We were just getting over Christmas when the suitcases came out. Scooby was bemused but me being the cleverer one (obviously) knew what was going on straight away. They call it a holiday. I have a long memory of these holidays; Katty leaves us at home when she goes. It makes me sad and Katty always looks sad too. Apart from the suitcases there are ways to tell when a holiday is coming. Firstly we get spoilt. Katty gets guilty and I hear shouting. She tells us she loves us a lot... Scooby has just said she always tells us she loves us and though that’s true instead of telling us 5 times a day, she tells us 10. It’s a bad sign when she says that she would never ever let anything bad happen to us, that usually means that something is going to happen. She whispers it in my ear at the vet. The last sign is when the cat flap won't let you out. Usually in the morning its locked but it's not the morning it's the early evening. That’s when I panic. It happened last time when I went to the vet to get my scar and the time before to get prodded and poked at the vets so I think we are going to the vets but then Scooby isn’t allowed out either. We have never gone to the vets together before. Is this better or worse? I don’t know. I look at Scooby to see what he thinks but he’s never been a cat bowl of information it’s me who usually sniffs something being wrong first. I here the word cattery said again and again and I wonder if that has something to do with it.After a while The Cage comes out. This is bad news. The Cage emerges just before we go in the car usually. The Cage is my cue to hide. As I stand looking it disappears. In its place a body starts coming nearer to me. I don’t care whose it is. I leg it. Across the front room, behind the sofa, stop… take a breath, peep out from behind. No-one that way. I turn round and see a dark shadow. Out from behind the sofa, under some chairs. The chairs move and I run into the path of another person. That person, I don’t even look who it is, tries shoving me in the The Cage. Paws and legs outstretched they can’t get me in. I use my body to push up and wriggle as much as I can. They give up and put Scooby in there. Scooby’s not as much as a pro as me. He wriggles as well but it’s in vain. For obvious reasons, we only have one of The Cage. Scooby’s in that so I think I don’t have to worry but they try to get me in a cardboard box. I feel defeated – momentarily. The close the lid so I can’t jump up. There are little holes in the side big enough for me to put my paws through and see out and that gives me an idea… If I can’t get out the top I’ll have to get out the side. I’ll push my way out. Katty was absolutely gob smacked she told me later. Using the force of my body I ripped a nice Morgan sized hole in the side of it (I’m proud) and go and sit victoriously on the top of the stairs. No-one chases me, no-one calls my name. I lie purring. I hear the front door open and bangs shut as usual. The voices go and the car starts up. It’s a victory for Morgan… …I thought so anyway. Mum came back 10 minutes later for me. She threw me in the cage quicker than you could say “catnip.” Katty wasn’t with her. Has she taken her to the same place she’s taking me? We draw up at a house. No mention of vets just holidays. I was carried through in the open air but I could sniff the resident cats there. I was finally rested in a warm room. I could smell the previous cats who had been there but it wasn’t a smell of fear like at the vets, it was more of… food. Yes, it smelt of food and it was cosy and nice but it wasn’t home. Katty tried to tempt me with some food – ham, but I was too busy exploring. I could see Scooby next to me but a glass wall separated us. I was very inquisitive. It looked nice enough but what was it all about? I couldn’t understand. I looked at Katty for reason. She just looked sad. She whispered words to me but I didn’t want to hear she gave up and went next door to Scooby who had already (surprise, surprise) settled down in his bed. After a while mum spoke. Katty looked even sadder. It made me sad. Where was I? Why was I here? I had questions rushing through my head. I looked at the person who could perhaps answer them – Katty – but with little more than a goodbye she was already gone.

Where are they and what is a holiday? Find out next Thursday in Part 2 of my tail