In collaboration with More Than Insurance – It is hard to believe that I have had my cat Oliver for nearly fifteen years, that’s more than half my age! Clearly from that mere fact alone it is safe to say that this little fella means the absolute world to me. I’ve grown up with him if I’m honest as I was almost 11 years of age when we first got him where on that very night we all sat deliberating various names for him before we finally settled on the name Oliver. Named aptly from the Walt Disney film Oliver and Company, Oliver however hasn’t quite lived up to the name though as whilst he was and still is incredibly mischievous, he absolutely hates dogs and company for that matter!
In the time that we have had Oliver we have had some extremely funny moments alongside some rather worrying ones too. Alongside that we’ve had two house moves, a lodger who he hated (of the female cat variety) and one too many trips to the vets after his countless escapades.
Like most cats, or should I say the stereotype formed about them, Oliver cannot stand water! Although having said that I have known him to lie in the sink on more than one occasion, completely oblivious to the fact that the tap is dripping onto his back. I still remember the early days when he was quite young when he used to have sporadic crazy hours running around the house when he ended up diving into the bath unknowing to him that it was half full with water. To put it bluntly he looked like a skinny rat when he got out as all his fur had stuck to him making him look like half his size! He was a sight for sore eyes as he sat there in the hallway licking himself dry, I naturally of course took pity on him and tried to dry him with a towel yet in all these years later he has never appreciated being dried off when he has been out in the rain; he has also never made the mistake of jumping into the bath again either!
I bet not many cat owners can claim that their cat has been held to ransom by a black bird; it’s an odd prospect yet trust me I’m one of them. Again this happened when he was quite young so I guess his street credit cannot be too dented, although we do still keep it all hush hush. Oliver had managed to corner a young bird in the garden yet had found himself face to face with what I can only presume was the parent of this young bird who was, I can assure you taking no prisoners that day! I can still see this as clearly as if it had happened yesterday as it was such an odd situation to be witnessing. The brave little bird circled Oliver three or four times over all whilst tweeting at him like crazy! Oliver had no idea what to do at all, in fact he sat there rather perplexed until the bird attacked him on the head resulting in him running swiftly back into the house with his tail down between his legs in humiliation. Oh the shame, beaten by a bird!
Recently as some of you may have read we have moved house which has been quite the upheaval for Oliver, particularly when you consider how old he is. It’s a big, big thing moving house with a cat in tow as they do not like change at all. It has taken nearly two months I would say for his confidence to return to a similar level to where it was before. He has always been an outdoor cat at heart yet he had not being staying out for more than twenty minutes at a time until I would say this weekend where he has seemed to hit a turning point; maybe it has been the glorious weather that we have had which has made him want to bask in the sunshine. Just yesterday in fact he was rolling in a big patch of dirt (we’re clearing the garden at the moment for new plants) where I honestly cannot express to you just how nice it was to see him having a bit of fun; seeing him so relaxed made me not feel as guilty as I had been doing as I know the move had knocked him right out of his routine.
Whilst having a pet can bring you so much joy there is always something that you should bear in mind and that is fact that at some point they will probably need to see the vet for something, especially if you have the neighbourhood terror like we do who gets himself into more mischief than the Weasley twins put together! To make vet trips easier on you and your purse strings More Than offer a wide range of pet insurance policies that suit a variety of budgets, they also do multi pet policies which is actually something I’m making note of as I wasn’t aware of this; for reference I want a cat and dog of my own one day when I have my own place so it’s nice to know you can cover them both all within one policy. By insuring your dog or puppy with More Than (this also applies to cats too) you not only protect your puppy, you also help other animals across the country as currently for each policy sold £20 is donated to the RSPCA. This is a charity that I whole heartedly support myself as they work tirelessly to help unwanted and neglected animals across the UK, which, if you’re a pet owner yourself you probably already agree that this helps to support a very good cause.
