kittens – Debbie Young's Writing Life

Party Animals

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Debbie Young

In my Young By Name column in the May 2021 edition of the Tetbury Advertiser, I was anticipating my kittens’ post-lockdown lives

photo of two kittens on fleecy blanket — The perfect lockdown companions

Like all pets acquired in the pandemic, our two kittens, Bingo and Bertie, are starting to notice big changes in their little world. Until now they’ve led a very sheltered life. Born and raised in a Cats Protection League pen, the only humans they saw before they came to live with us were their foster parents.

Joining a household of three people – my husband, my daughter and I – more than doubled their human acquaintance.

They are used to seeing more cats than humans. When they first came to live with us a couple of days before first lockdown, our calico cat Dorothy was already in residence. Three neighbours’ cats, with wanton disregard for social distancing guidelines, treat our garden as their territory.

Open House

As far as Bingo and Bertie are concerned, cats rule our cottage.

We daily prove our subservience by leaping up from our armchairs to open the French doors whenever they want to go in or out of the garden. (And yes, they do have a catflap.) We spend more hours observing their antics than watching television.

Their friends sneak into our house for a snack when they think we’re not around. Often, when we are in another room with Dorothy, Bertie and Bingo, we hear crunching noises in the kitchen, followed by the rattle of the catflap.

Up to Tricks

kittens curled up asleep in base of plant pot — In their early days, the kittens moved so fast it was hard to get a photo that was not blurred – until they were asleep.

We’re wondering what they’ll get up to when, post lockdown, they have the house to themselves. It seems Bingo is already planning ahead for a more independent life. The brains of the trio, he has for some time been paying a great deal of attention to the bolt at the bottom of the French doors that give onto the patio. If his paws had opposable thumbs, he’d have flung the doors open by now.

He’s also been practising his party tricks. The other day, startled by Dorothy jumping out of the wardrobe, he executed a perfect back flip. If my daughter hadn’t been with me as witness, I wouldn’t have believed my eyes. He landed so neatly on all four paws that I wanted to hold up cards saying “10.0”, like the judges used to do for ice-skaters. I have never seen a cat turn 360 degrees from a standing start. The only animal I’ve seen perform that trick was battery-powered, a toy dog my grandfather bought from a street trader.

Bertie is equally athletic, easily jumping four or five feet into the air when pursuing an airborne insect. In relation to his height, this is about the equivalent to me leaping from the doorstep onto our cottage roof.

Of course, like all good pet owners, we’re conscious that animals acquired during lockdown may suffer separation anxiety as normal life returns. But part of me can’t help wondering whether for our cats the first day they have the house to themselves, the party will just be starting.

Like to read the whole of the Tetbury Advertiser for free online? Click here.

In Other News

Sneak preview of the paperback cover for my new novel, out on 23rd May

While we’re on the subject of cats, fans of Sophie Sayers’ black kitten, Blossom, will be pleased to know that she puts in an appearance in Murder Lost and Found, the new Sophie Sayers Village Mystery which launches on Sunday 23rd May.

cover of The Clutch of Eggs — Blossom plays a pivotal role in this little novelette

Since Sophie adopted Blossom in Springtime for Murder (in which the main storyline revolves around cats), any new story I write about Wendlebury Barrow would not feel complete without Blossom. She plays a critical part in my novelette, The Clutch of Eggs, too.

All of my fiction books have seasonal themes, and I’m glad to be launching a summery book at this time of year. It doesn’t always work out so neatly – I had to launch the Christmassy Stranger at St Bride’s in midsummer, because that was when it was ready! And during the coming summer I will be writing the wintry Scandal at St Bride’s, the third in the St Bride’s School series, which begins in January. Sometimes I feel so out of synch with the seasons that I might as well be working in the fashion industry.

Pre-order the ebook of Murder Lost and Found to have it land on your ereading device on launch day (23rd May).
Order the paperback from Amazon from launch day onwards (link not yet available), or ask your local bookshop to order it in for you, quoting ISBN 9781911223719. Within the next couple of weeks, they should be able to order it from their usual stockist – if not, they are welcome to contact me and I’ll be happy to supply them direct.

Personal life, Writing

Kitten Therapy

Posted on July 22, 2020July 27, 2020 by Debbie Young

During the early part of lockdown, the Tetbury Advertiser furloughed itself for a couple of issues (May and June). With content that is events-led, reporting on recent events and anticipating imminent ones, it seemed a sensible step. However, it’s good to see it return for its summer issue (a joint July/August edition, for which I wrote this piece about our new kittens, acquired just before we began to self-isolate. As ever, you can read the whole issue online – here’s the link for the July/August edition.

(I also wrote about kittens for the June issue of the Hawkesbury Parish News, and I posted that article on my blog here last month- so apologies if this sounds familiar!)

There’s nothing like the acquisition of kittens to lift the spirits, and ours couldn’t have arrived at a better time.

We arranged in February with the Stroud Cats’ Protection League to adopt a pair of boys as soon as they were old enough to leave their mother. This took us to Saturday 21^st March, a pleasingly auspicious date on two counts: the first day of spring and my parents’ anniversary (67 years and counting).

Silver Linings

Back in February, little did we know that collecting the kittens from the kindly foster-carer would be our last family outing before lockdown. Ever the optimist, I soon realised that enforced confinement at home would give us the best chance of bonding with our new arrivals, especially for our daughter, who would otherwise have been at school all day.

photo of Bertie with his head in a mug of tea — The kittens share many of our simple domestic pleasures. Bertie is especially enjoys fishing for teabags.

Once home, inspecting the adoption papers revealed another good omen: the kittens had been born on my birthday. This happened also to be the date our senior cat, Dorothy, a former stray, adopted us seven years ago. We called her Dorothy after the character in the Wizard of Oz who finds herself unexpectedly far from home. We named Bertie and Bingo, both boys, after the skittish, privileged and generally irresponsible young men in PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves stories.

Dorothy, my personal assistant at my writing desk – where the kittens are not allowed, for fear of the ensuing chaos

Bertie and Bingo, after spending the first nine weeks of their lives in a pen (albeit an ample one), were initially content to keep to one room in our house. Since my husband built his room a couple of years ago, we had, with a singular lack of imagination, referred to it simply as “the extension”. Now I think of it as The Drones’ Club, which is where Bertie Wooster and chums take their meals in the Jeeves novels, often leaving chaos in their wake.

Advised to keep the kittens indoors for a couple of weeks, we eventually let them into our enclosed garden. We kept them on tiny harnesses to slow them down until they’d got their bearings. Bertie and Bingo do everything at high speed, unlike our senior cat, Dorothy, who lopes around languidly like the Pink Panther.

Off the Leash

After a few days we allowed them to roam at will, gradually expanding their territory and surprising us with their feats of athleticism. They share a talent for scaling vertical walls with the power and grace of Spiderman. Bingo has proven a dab paw at swingball, which he sees as a scaled-up version of their scratching post, which happens to be topped by a ball on a string. Bertie prefers the trampoline, climbing to the top of the netting surround with ease.

photo of kitten in tree — Bingo and Bertie both love to climb the fruit trees in our cottage garden

It’s only when one of the kittens tries to squeeze into the cardboard box that used to be big enough for both of them that we realise how much they have grown. I haven’t yet dared step on the bathroom scales to see whether lockdown has had the same effect on me.

(The next issue of the Tetbury Advertiser will be out in September, as they also publish a double issue for July/August.)

Cats and Kittens in my Stories…

cover of Stranger at St Bride's — Spot the cat! McPhee appears on the cover of both my St Bride’s novels

As a cat lover, it’s perhaps inevitable that cats and kittens feature in my novels, often serving to move the plot along and adding new dimensions to the characters.

In Springtime for Murder, the fifth Sophie Sayers Village Mystery, Sophie acquires a kitten, while investigating the strange goings-on at the Manor House, where Bunny Carter, a sparky elderly lady, lives with a houseful of cats and her cat-averse daughter.
(Buying links: buy the ebook online here, buy the paperback online here, or order from your local bookshop quoting ISBN 978-1911223344.)

In Stranger at St Bride’s, the first in my St Bride’s School series, McPhee, the headmistress’s cat and constant companion, joins forces with Gemma to try to drive away the unwelcome stranger, with comical results.
(Buying links: Buy the ebook online, buy the paperback online or order from your local bookshop quoting ISBN 979 19 11 223 597.)

(I’ve just realised that in both cases the cats are black – I suppose that’s what comes of writing mystery stories!)

photo of two kittens lying on a stripy blanket

Family, Personal life, Writing

A Lockdown Date with Kittens

Posted on June 4, 2020June 4, 2020 by Debbie Young

During lockdown, our community magazine, the Hawkesbury Parish News, has heroically continued to publish, thanks to its dedicated team of volunteers writing, editing, printing and distributing it about the village.

In the absence of news of events, which usually makes up a large part of its content, the editor, Colin Dixon, has solicited plenty of new and interesting editorial to fill the space, including personal lockdown diaries by local residents.

Although many of the services advertised in its pages are suspended during lockdown, these companies are continuing to support the magazine, as they book and pay for a year’s advertising each January. They deserve our support in return when normal life returns.

In these strange times, it is comforting to see the Hawkesbury Parish News drop through our letterbox each month, giving some semblance of normality and regularity to the disrupted pattern of life in the time of Covid-19. A huge thank you to the whole team for your continuing service to our community.

Now here’s the column that I wrote for the June issue.

Photo of cat gazing into fish tank — Bertie enjoys cat television

My top tip for lockdown entertainment is to acquire a pair of kittens.

We did this only by chance, collecting Bingo and Bertie (named after P G Wodehouse characters) at nine weeks old, two days before lockdown.

21^st March seemed a particularly auspicious day for us to bring them home. Not only is it the Spring Solstice, but it was also my parents’ 67^th wedding anniversary.

Reading the adoption paperwork when we got home, I was astonished to find that they were also born on my birthday, January 18^th – the same day that our older cat Dorothy moved in. Dorothy was a stray found by neighbours (the Rounds) in their garage on a school snow day. She was personally delivered by another neighbour, Roland Starling, when I joked on Facebook that she could be my birthday present – that’ll teach me to be flippant! Best birthday present ever, though!

Dorothy, my personal assistant, reporting for duty at my writing desk

Photo of cat with head in mug of tea — A nice cup of tea always goes done well. (Bertie likes to search for teabags and lift them out with his paw.)

As Dorothy did when she first came to live with us, the kittens have provided daily cheer and distraction. The timing of their arrival has meant that we have spent as much time as possible bonding with them, and they settled very quickly.

Much as we love the kittens, my daughter has already declared that she is looking forward to seeing how they turn out when they’re full grown. I know just what she means. When she was born 17 years ago, I worried that I might be sad when she grew up. I soon realised that at each stage of development, I loved her even more.

Of course, kittens are for life, not just for lockdown, but I’m glad to have at least this one positive souvenir of these challenging times.

We are very grateful to the Cats’ Protection League for caring for our kittens until they were old enough to leave their mother. Their loving care gave Bertie and Bingo a wonderful start, and I’m sure that’s one of the reasons that they are such affectionate, good-natured creatures now.