Backdate: 27 June 07: Clever Little Toad

The cat-safe rooms have now expanded to include two more rooms - the master bedroom and the main living centre.

Main living centre is basically our kitchen, dining area and family space which are all open plan. Thank God for house & contents insurance, as we've had the voiles in the lounge and family areas (fine weave sheer net curtains) replaced at a mere $100 excess charge for a few hundred dollars of damage from cat claws. So Matthew's banned Conan from that space until we get proper curtains (after 1.5 years in the house we have finally ordered them, yay!!) because if he can't see another cat through the curtains, he won't try to attack the cat through the material and the window. That's the theory anyway. Conan figured out how to wiggle the cavity sliding doors between family area and lounge enough to get a paw and arm through, then wiggle his crafty little self in, he would then proceed to hide amongst the cables hanging down behind the TV centre - he tries to either eat the cables (farrrk!!!) or sits in the centre pretending to be a DVD player. We got tired of barricading the two doors with large picture frames, so I went off to one of my favourite places, Bunnings Warehouse, and got the DIY thing going on with magnetic strips up the top of the door.

He still tries to get in there occasionally...

As for the master bedroom, Conan's been allowed in there for most of his captive life, however I had to hide a beautiful mohair blanket which was a wedding gift from my sister and her husband in the wardrobe because Conan tries to eat it. Which is a shame because it perfectly matches the duvet cover set!! BUT the latest is that Conan has found out how to throw himself against the end of the sliding door and get himself into the wardrobe!! Matthew suspected it was due to the mouse scent lingering in there that drove him wild and gave him extra energy, comparable apparently to mothers being able to lift cars off their children or something. I still shudder with disgust at having to clean up after the latest mouse episode, it was hideous. But he's lost his "trust card" (teaching term) and is banned from free access to the bedroom until further notice.
We also had to shut him out of the bedroom the other night because he was going crazy - later it became apparent why, as we woke up repeatedly to scratching noises and eventually saw a mouse running around the bedroom. It was dealt to by a very tired Matthew. that's why we have husbands :) I hate vermin!!

Latest tally, updates in green
Socks from our washing: 9
Socks stolen from neighbours' washing: 18
Pegs which came in attached to socks: 3
Beanies and gloves nicked from the neighbourhood builders and painters: 4
Foreign cat-toys: 3
Tennis-ball sized kids cuddly toys he stole: 2
Curious George toys: 1
Mice: 2 (disgusting. absolutely vile.)
Birds: evidence of 1
Lost collars: 5

Conan is now micro-chipped and has had his Cat AIDS injections, so we're not too worried about the collars anymore. He's still displaying a funny looking shaved patch from the surgery.