Kitten asked if we needed to wear them and Mum said, No, although sometimes the small humans tried to put them on you. Her advice was, Only let them do that if you feel like it.
The rest of the whole bath thing was quite ridiculous because the human had filled it with hot water and then just climbed straight into it and started to wash!
It looked weird, but we sat and watched until Stripy Two jumped onto the side and fell in. The human lifted her out of the water and she started to cry, so Mum took her back to our room and washed her all over.
26
Played in the yard again and spent lots of time scratching the mat. After a while, though, it started getting dark and there was a funny wet smell in the air, so Mum called us inside and we ran up and down the long passage until it was dinner-time.
27
Played in the yard again and today it was dry and a bit hot so we kept stopping to have a break. It seems to be hotter outside than I remembered. I wonder why that is? We got different food today. It was red meat and I felt very excited afterwards. Stripy One growled when he was eating his. I thought he was funny. We have started noticing about lights. Apparently the humans can make it go light or dark just by doing something with their paws. It would be handy if we could do that but we can't.
28
Mum washed us all over today and we played inside because it was too hot outside to go out at all. It's a lot cooler inside under the roof, and there's this funny little place in the wall where cool air comes in. Black Kitten spent a lot of the day lying next to it.
Today Mum brought us some sausages to eat. The humans had given her two of them and she gave them to us. Stripy One practised jumping on one of them and biting the back of its neck.
Mum said, Yes very good; but no, it isn't an animal. Or at least we don't think so. I don't know where sausages come from but they taste great and any time you can smell any, try to get some. You can steal them off the table if you're quick; but otherwise try to look cute and the humans might give you some anyway.
29
Cooler outside today, so we spent all day running around the yard and up and down the tree. We got so tired we fell asleep in a bundle like we used to when we were smaller. It was lovely to hear everyone purring. Stripy Two purrs the loudest.
Mum wasn't in the box with us. She's been spending more time with our humans and less time with us lately. I asked her why today and she said, Look, I need some time by myself. And you're all big cats now. You don't need me any more. No idea what she meant by that.
30
Today was the worst day of my life. And I'm so upset and miserable I don't know what to say.
First two other humans I'd never seen before came and put Stripy One and Two in a box and took them away.
Then my humans stuffed me in a box and put me-in-the- box into a scary and noisy bad-smelling thing, that wobbled funny and made me slide all around.
Then, when some other humans took me out of the box, I didn't think I was at home any more.
And they put me in a wire cage!
This place smells really bad: fear, distress and something totally weird. There are other cats here and they're all in cages too. Some of them just sit there and don't say anything. Others at least make eye contact, but all they're saying is, Look, I know it's bad but maybe things will get better.
That's no help to me at all. I miss Mum and Black Kitten and Stripy One and Stripy Two and suddenly my world has fallen apart.
And I've got nothing to do all day but sit in my cage and cry. I cried a couple of times but the others asked me to stop because I was only upsetting everybody else. And of course I did, because I guess we're all in this together.
What will become of us? What's going to happen now? The only good thing about our cages is that there's food and water and a litter tray in every one. I don't think they're going to be cruel to us here, but I'm so upset and very lonely.
And Mum didn't even say goodbye! She just looked at me when the humans were carrying me away and didn't say a word. I think she looked sad.
Black Kitten was watching me, and she said goodbye to me. She sounded really sad too. She was staying there from the look of things. Why couldn't I stay too? I hate this place.
I didn't think I was going to get any sleep at all, but eventually I drifted off. I was listening to the other cats breathing. They're telling me we have to stay calm and be brave. And they're right. I'm being brave but I don't feel brave inside.
DECEMBER
1
It wasn't as bad as yesterday. They took us out in the morning to some kind of yard. It's a bit boring but at least we got to run around a bit. I played with one of the others. He's a bit like Stripy One, with white patches. He's a lot bigger than me and he's in the next cage. He rubbed his nose against mine and told me about the place. He's been there for days and days, and most of the cats he remembers aren't there any more. Humans come and look in the cages and play with us and they take us home. Nobody stays here forever, he thinks. Either a family of humans takes us away with them, or the humans in the shining white coats take us somewhere else. I hope it's somewhere nice, I told him, and he said he hoped so too because he was getting the feeling he'd be going away soon. Play cute for the humans, he advised me. He didn't play cute and so nobody picked him. That's what Mum was trying to tell us, I think. You have to look cute and pretty and lively or the humans won't want you.
I asked him did we need to have humans and he said yes. Some cats live wild on the roads but you wouldn't want to. You saw them being brought in all thin with their fur all dirty and matted; and their eyes burn with anger, he told me. Humans belong with cats. They need us and we really need them.
What do they need us for? I asked him. We teach them to keep a light heart, he told me. I've seen humans who don't like cats and they are strange and wild. You wouldn't like them. We teach them to be gentle and wise and kind.
He was still talking to me when the humans in their white coats put us back in the cages. I liked him. He was a bit scruffy and he didn't smell all that good, to be honest, but he was a wise and gentle cat and I hoped some humans would pick him. And me! I didn't want to be here for days and days either.
2
Well, one of my wishes came true, because an old man came in. We all pricked up our ears (except for the cats who just sit there) and did our best to look cute. You could tell the man was really old because his fur was all white and he smelled old, but I thought he smelled nice and I liked his kind blue eyes. He knelt over my friend's cage and I saw the white coat woman shake her head. I pawed at my cage in frustration. What do you mean, head-shake? I wanted to yell at her. I know what head-shake means! That means you think he's no good! He's a fine cat and would make you a loving home, so there! But I didn't say any of this, of course. It would only upset everybody else. I angrily turned around in my cage and started to wash myself. I would have liked the old man for myself,
