a trip to the V.E.T.

I think I'm pretty close to losing the plot completely.

Our new kitten is gorgeous but it's rather like having a new baby in the house; she needs constant attention, she isn't allowed out for the first month, she has all these needs and requirements that I have to meet.

You'd have thought that I'd have thought of that.

I hoped more that she would just be cute and lovely and bring us happiness.

If it was just me, I might quietly take her up to the cats and dogs home, but my children would be heartbroken.

So on we go, and added to my daily tasks now are cleaning out the litter tray several times a day as she hates it when I don't do it immediately, cleaning the kitchen floor constantly, feeding and grooming her, and keeping her from bolting up the stairs into the bedrooms. Roll on the installation of a cat flap (into our plastic door; somehow) and the days when she can go out and roam around and come back for cuddles.

We went to the V.E.T today for her first injections and microchipping, where he terrified my daughter and me with a long description of Roundworms, Toxicara, which can be caught by humans and can get into our bloodstream and make us die or blind or paralysed or worse (he didn't specify what was 'worse' than these).

'It's very irresponsible of her previous owners if they haven't wormed her,' he said.
'I don't know whether they have or not,' I replied, quite truthfully.
'Well, you could all be at risk. You should contact your family doctor'.

This did nothing for my mental health. My daughter's eyes widened; 'I don't want to go blind'.

The only time I feel calm, in fact, is when I can lie down with a hot water bottle under the duvet and shut out the fact that the rest of the world is going on.

I think this means that my head is in a bad way, but I never have time to stop and think about it.