Shortly after Julie left my house with Charlie, I gained another lodger, Nicky. She was a friend of mine, a relatively new friend and a few years younger, but a pal none the less. Nicky hadn't been getting on very well with her dad, being only 19 and wanting to experience the nightlife his house rules had conflicted with Nicky's lack of them and battles of immeasurable proportions ensued.
I got on well with Nicky, we had a right laugh and although she had a bit of growing up to do, we never had any major fall outs. Shortly after Nicky moved in, I aquired another cat. I'd really missed having a cat in the house after Charlie, so I got a little male kitten and called him Oscar. He was 8 weeks old and a fluffy black and white bundle of fun. He was playful and hysterical to watch, he would chase anything that moved, including my mum's dog. He would claw his way up my trouser leg and top, in order to sit on my shoulder. He loved curling up for a sleep on the stairs and Nicky would sometimes let him curl up in her bed.
Unfortunately the stairs were his downfall..........
One Saturday morning, the morning after a terrific bender round the pubs with the girls. I was sitting in the living room, trying to get as much coffee into my system as possible and looking like Alice Cooper with the previous night's make up smudged across my face when I heard Nicky emerge from her bedroom.... It was a combination of the grunting and the smell of stale alcohol emanating down the stairs which told me she was coming for coffee. Suddenly I heard a shriek and a loud rumbling like a herd of elephants stampeding down the stairs. Nicky was in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs and underneath her was little Oscar........
He's been asleep on the stairs and she'd tripped over him, as he ran down the stairs to try to get away, she'd landed right on him. Nicky was surprisingly uninjured considering the fall from top to bottom. Oscar (now 8 months old) picked himself up and ran behind the settee. I tried to coax him out with a bit of bacon, but he was having none of it. In the end we moved the settee to see him cowering in the corner. It took me ages to persuade him to come to me, but in the end, when he started walking, we could see that he was in a lot of pain.
We both got dressed, wrapped him in a blanket, and rushed across the road to the Vet. She examined Oscar and gave him some pain killing injection and the obligatory antibiotics that they give for everything. She told us to take him home and to ring her when he'd died........He had massive internal injuries you see. He slipped away quietly later that day, we were both gutted. Nicky blamed herself for years, it didn't help as the rest of our mates said that the fall had reminded them of a comedy sketch and referred to her as the 'cat killer' for several months. I never blamed Nicky, accidents happen, but there was no way I would ever have another cat............No way
I got on well with Nicky, we had a right laugh and although she had a bit of growing up to do, we never had any major fall outs. Shortly after Nicky moved in, I aquired another cat. I'd really missed having a cat in the house after Charlie, so I got a little male kitten and called him Oscar. He was 8 weeks old and a fluffy black and white bundle of fun. He was playful and hysterical to watch, he would chase anything that moved, including my mum's dog. He would claw his way up my trouser leg and top, in order to sit on my shoulder. He loved curling up for a sleep on the stairs and Nicky would sometimes let him curl up in her bed.
Unfortunately the stairs were his downfall..........
One Saturday morning, the morning after a terrific bender round the pubs with the girls. I was sitting in the living room, trying to get as much coffee into my system as possible and looking like Alice Cooper with the previous night's make up smudged across my face when I heard Nicky emerge from her bedroom.... It was a combination of the grunting and the smell of stale alcohol emanating down the stairs which told me she was coming for coffee. Suddenly I heard a shriek and a loud rumbling like a herd of elephants stampeding down the stairs. Nicky was in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs and underneath her was little Oscar........
He's been asleep on the stairs and she'd tripped over him, as he ran down the stairs to try to get away, she'd landed right on him. Nicky was surprisingly uninjured considering the fall from top to bottom. Oscar (now 8 months old) picked himself up and ran behind the settee. I tried to coax him out with a bit of bacon, but he was having none of it. In the end we moved the settee to see him cowering in the corner. It took me ages to persuade him to come to me, but in the end, when he started walking, we could see that he was in a lot of pain.
We both got dressed, wrapped him in a blanket, and rushed across the road to the Vet. She examined Oscar and gave him some pain killing injection and the obligatory antibiotics that they give for everything. She told us to take him home and to ring her when he'd died........He had massive internal injuries you see. He slipped away quietly later that day, we were both gutted. Nicky blamed herself for years, it didn't help as the rest of our mates said that the fall had reminded them of a comedy sketch and referred to her as the 'cat killer' for several months. I never blamed Nicky, accidents happen, but there was no way I would ever have another cat............No way
