ali-cat

We're split 50/50.  I have felt settled & at home since the moment we arrived in France, but Mr Cat misses Northern Ireland very much & is finding it much more difficult.  His uneasiness is probably due to having retired early & not being able to work anymore - so maybe we should have waited a little longer before moving, to get him over the retirement hurdle first.

[quote user="WJT"]she will easily learn to cope I would imagine.[/quote] Learn to cope!!  In the last day she has discovered how to .... scale the sofa, climb up & down the stairs & how to pounce out from under my coat on the coat stand & attach herself to our legs!!  To say she's coming along in leaps & bounds would be the under-statement of the year!! [:-))] Unfortunately, she's doing all this on just three legs so we have had to start giving her more physio, on the bad leg, to try to encourage her to use it.  All it's doing, so far, is encouraging her to sink her teeth, as far as possible, into our hands!!

I'm upset with the fact that now, not only can I not speak to my French neighbours ..... but I can't even say good morning to his cockerel, without getting the pronunciation wrong!!  [:-))] I would also like to say that I've spent all day listening ..... but none of our cats, even Ellie our French baby,  say "ronron"!! They purr!! [:D]

Now that's just silly!!  Eveyone knows that a cow goes "moo", a donkey goes "hee haw" & that a sheep goes "baa"!!  I knew that French was hard .... but now this!! [:-))]

I've always loved the thought of having underfloor heating & when we were house hunting saw a few properties which had it.  The rooms were lovely & warm & the thought of walking around with warm bare feet .....oh, lovely!! My only concern is (& I'm not joking!) what would I hang clothes over, that need dried really quickly, without radiators!!  It's a trivial thought & I know there are probably very good solutions (including buying a tumble drier!) but it would put me off - sad but true!! [:(]

In among one of the hundreds of advertising brochures we received, there was a toy duck which, when you pressed his foot, said "coin coin".  Now, I'm sorry but as far as I'm concerned duck's "quack".  But it has started to make me wonder about other French animal sounds.  Do dogs "bark" or "woof", do cats "meow" or "purr".  What about cows?  There can't be another sound, other than "moo", for them ..... can there?!!  [8-)]

Last week while I was watching a repeat of an old Ironside episode something was said that totally shocked me. They were compiling a list of stats for their yearly review & said (something along the lines of ) "murder down 1% & rape up 2%".  At that point one of Ironsides detectives said "at least they're making more love than war"  I couldn't believe it!!  They certainly wouldn't be allowed to come out with a line like that on a TV programme today, but surely even in the 70's this sort of comment couldn't have been acceptable?!!  

The newest member of the "ali-cat family" has been home for 8 days now.  After finding her on the main road (we presume having been hit by a car) she has settled in & is running rings round us & driving our other two cats mad!! [:D] She has had her tail amputated & still has no movement or feeling in her left back leg which, when she walks, is dragged behind her.  She goes back to the vet in one month to have the pin removed & the final decision will be made if the leg will need to be amputated or not. [:(]  She is really adorable & loving - but like most kittens has the psycho, vicious streak as well - Mr Cat's hand is shredded!! [IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/Livingstone_Mark/FluffyLegs.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/Livingstone_Mark/Elli.jpg[/IMG]

It may be worthwhile contacting a local vet to see if they can recommend someone in your area. We met a couple, last week, who were lent a trap by our local vet, to catch stray, wild cats for neutering & possible re-homing.  We are lucky to have just a few strays in our area, which we feed occasionally (don't want to encourage them too much as our own cats are quite territorial) so we know exactly how you feel!! [:)]

Just read the link, above - makes perfect sense to me.  I would explain it fully but don't want to appear over intelligent .... I've a reputation to uphold!! [Www] [:D]

Congratulations!!  Epecially on the amount of work you probably had to do on your Hubby!! [:D]  I'm really happy for Joy & you all!! 

I tried to answer a post this morning & kept getting a Server Error report.  It was then that I realised how many posts I could answer - if only I could.  Tax queries, how to fit kitchens, re-licensing cars, language problems etc.  Everything .... I suddenly felt like a font of knowledge!!  Funnily enough, since it came back on-line all the information seems to have disappeared from my head, so I guess I'll be sticking with fluffy kittens & cooking posts. [Www]

[quote user="Gyn_Paul"]He's an outside/inside cat, so God alone knows what he gets up to at night, plus he's never quite made the connection between eating a whole mouse, then throwing up, then feeling awful and not eating for the following 24 hours Anyone else got a loopy feline doing this? p[/quote] Sorry that I can't help with the cooker problem (although I have seen evidence that Veal calves lick the iron bars on their cage, due to lack of minerals they receive, which may be connected to your cat's problem - ?) but one of our cats. Solomon, also does the eat half a mouse (usually the top half) throw it up & feel ill for the day, behaviour.  It could be that your cat has got worms, due to the wildlife he is consuming, which are depriving him of all the vitimins & minerals he is receiving through his food?  

[quote user="TWINKLE"] Someone who has MS or chronic athritis maybe having a 'good day' when they are assessed- does this mean that they are fit to work all year round or just on the days when they are feeling some respite? [/quote] Exactly Twinks.  The day I went for my assessment (especially after the 40 mins car journey) I was virtually bent double.  Had I been having one of my rare "good days" the doctor, who did not know me, could have easily decided (in the space of the 10 minutes) that I was capable of working everyday.  This is the main reason that past medical notes have to be taken into account. The problem for the "genuine" claimants is that they are the ones who won't exaggerate their disability or illness.  The "fakers" will be the ones who will lay it on with a trowel!!

[quote user="Ron Avery"]Jobs will be offered to those who can work and those refusing to work will be taken off IB.[/quote] Nice edit, Ron!! [:D]

[quote user="Ron Avery"] Going back to Mr Cat's post, isn't the Daily Mail article correct about the level of assessments carried out after IB has been granted,   Nobody I know who was in receipt of IB in the UK has had to go back to the UK for an assessment, they get their French GP to do it, which is what the article said, isn't it? It said " They are required only to send Department for Work and Pensions officials confirmation from a GP that they are still too sick to take a job".   Jobs will be voffered to those who can work and those who refuse will be taken off IB [/quote] Well, you may not know me personnally, Ron, but you know of me.  Since arriving in France I have been assessed by a French doctor (not my own GP, but one nominated by DWP) regarding my IB to see if I should be entitled to continue receiving it.  Mr Cat will also be assessed in the near future, by a French doctor on behalf of the UK Government.  I would be more than happy to be assessed in the UK - it would certainly cut down on the expense of having to hire a translator, but unfortunately this is not an option. Looking vorward to my job voffers!!  Are zese voffers vot must be obeyed [:D] 

[quote user="Baz"] Many Internet companies for the first order at least will only send the goods to the card holders address. If this rule was imposed by the card companies then surely INTERNET fraud would be dramatically reduced, Baz [/quote] Oh no!!  Then how could I get my undies, from M&S, delivered to my sister's house to post over here to me!!  [:-))] Our bank, in Belfast, phoned us a couple of times when an unusually large amount was debited from our account.  On each occasion it was Mr Cat buying another guitar - but it was good to know that they spotted something a little out of the ordinary happening.

Yet another well researched & well reasoned article. Firstly, no-one can deny that there is some abuse & mal-administration of the current system which means that some people claiming incapacity benefit are currently capable of working.  This is unjust to the taxpayer & to those genuinely entitled to incapacity benefit.  However, as a decision on the capability to work or not work properly requires an individual assessment, with reference to the claimant's medical history, any speculation on the proportion of the 2.7 million claimants capable of working is merely that - speculation. Picking up a few points from the Daily Mail article : "Despite a crackdown on sickness handouts at home, the Government send up to £54.6million abroad to over 12,000 claimants last year"  The implication here is that claimants abroad are treated differently from those in the UK - This is incorrect "They require only to send Department for Work & Pensions officials confirmation from a GP that they are still too sick to take a job." Incorrect again.  All those claiming long term Incapacity Benefit will have been assessed by a DWP doctor who will have determined their entitlement to the benefit & when that entitlement should be reviewed. "Claimants who live abroad do not even take regular medical checks to find out if they are still entitled to the cash" Incorrect - yes they do. "It means the sick-note culture is increasingly becoming a key political battleground - with hard-working Britons becoming fed up with paying 2.7 million claimants" This appears to be the heart of the issue - personal resentment.  I was a hard-working Briton until I found I was no longer able to work.  I currently receive, through Incapacity Benefit, around one tenth of what I used to pay in income tax.  In fact I still pay UK income tax in excess of what I receive from Incapacity Benefit.  I don't recall carping at paying to support the unemployed, child benefit, fertility treatment, housing benefit, income support etc and the myriad other things that I didn't personally need.  It would however have been nice is the Government had spent some of my money on research into M.E. & I might then have been able to lead a normal productive life. "Mr Plaskett said: "People in Great Britain who qualify for contributory incapacity benefit because they have made sufficient National Insurance contributions can continue to receive their benefit if they take up permanent residence in another EU country" - "Under European law benefits acquired in one member state must be paid to those who move to another country." Exactly!  Their previous NI contributions entitle them to IB & they are entitled to receive the benefits abroad.  Does anyone complain that the State Retirement pension is exportable?  Or Child Benefit for that matter? "Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat work & pensions spokesman said; "Issues such as this leave hard-working people feeling the whole benefit system is unjust.  It completely goes against people's sense of fairness that UK benefits are paid to those who move abroad & profit from lower living costs at the expense of taxpayers." As above - what is unfair about it?  Incapacity Benefit is an entitlement paid to those previously hard-working people who are unable to work.  Under EU law it is exportable just like the state pension.  If a person is found on review to be capable of working the entitlement is withdrawn.  As for profiting from the lower living costs - what relevance has this?  Should benefits be reduced for those living in the North of England because the cost of living is less?  If the issue is moving somewhere with cheaper housing to release capital - this strikes me as a responsible attitude.  Anyone previously working & now receiving IB will have had a substantial loss of income.  If I use my capital, which I worked hard to accumulate, to subsidise our income isn't this better than resorting to other benefits back in the UK such as income support or housing allowance? "After ten years of neglect & inaction by the Government, it's time we had a proper independent assessments for every single IB claimant to find out exactly who can & who can't work." "Claimants will have to take a medical test to divide them into those deemed unable to work & others judged able to work of some sort." At present individuals are assessed by a DWP doctor on their capability to work.  If this assessment allows some to claim IB when they are perfectly capable of working then the system is flawed & this is an issue for the DWP & the Government to address.  However, replacing it with a system whereby commercial companies are paid bonuses for declaring individuals capable of working, against a policy background of radically reducing the number of claimants, will not deliver a fair system. By all means the Government should root all the benefit cheats but please bear in mind those genuine claimants who through no fault of their own are unable to work.  No doubt some would distinguish between the principle of exporting Incapacity Benefit & exporting the state retirement pension.  Maybe those who would deny incapacity benefit to anyone moving outside the UK - usually for health reasons - should also consider themselves lucky that they were able to have a full working life rather than whinging about "hard-working taxpayers". Mr Cat.

[I]  Have a few [B]'s & you'll be chatting away in no time!! [:D]  Can't promise it'll be in understandable French - but it may help!! [:-))]

Sorry they are such bad photos!!  They were taken very quickly at the vets today & poor wee thing kept trying to stand up (which she can't!!)  Will get much better ones next week, once she gets home & meets her new brother & sister!! [IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/Livingstone_Mark/Eloise.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/Livingstone_Mark/Ellie.jpg[/IMG]

Opps, sorry,  I hadn't actually done a link - due to the fact that I'm terrible at that sort of thing!! [:D]  Having seen the state of her today I now think that "Rat Scabies" would have been more appropiate than Eloise!! She has no strappings but is totally shaved from half way down her back, with stitches down both legs.  Not a pretty sight - but still cute!!

For some totally unknown reason, for the last week, I haven't been able to get "Eloise" by the Damned, out of my head ..... then on Monday we found a stray, seriously injured kitten on the side of the road, who has now had her operations & is doing well.  She's coming home to us on Monday & guess what we're calling her?!!    [:D]

It certainly explains why she wasn't returned by the police, or social services, to the family home.  I wish I could say it's unbelievable, but unfortunately it's not ... it's just awful.

Just to let you know that the kitten has had her operation & is doing well!!  We're going down to see her tomorrow & the vet says she is really lovely!!  Hopefully "baby" photos to follow next week when she comes home (once I get some valium into Mr. Cat!!) [:D]

[quote user="Russethouse"]She has a name doesn't she ? The title of the post ?[/quote] More of a phrase than a name - not sure "Lucky" would really apply with two pinned legs & no tail!!  I'm leaning towards "Eloise" at the moment but still waiting to hear from the vet so still trying not to get too maternal!! We are indeed very lucky with our vet.  We are away for part of this weekend so if all goes well, with the kitty, they will be keeping her in the surgery until Monday afternoon.  Must try to stop thinking about her - my heart's pounding!!