El Andalous - More About Cat Sitting

 

Milo Wanting Attention

This is rapidly becoming a cat blog. Sorry about that.

Anyway, six weeks on, and Theresa’s flat was quite dirty. Cat hair was everywhere because the cats are molting (or at least Milo is) and they have the run of the place. It’s a bit of a thankless task, but Theresa decided she wanted the flat cleaned (it’s thankless because Milo will simply molt all over again). Anyway, it’s not my place to argue. And maybe she had a flat viewing or a potential renter.

Even though we have cleaning staff here at El Andalous, it’s pretty busy at the moment and the staff was largely already fully occupied cleaning for rental handovers each day. Eventually, it was Theresa’s turn. I wanted to explain about keeping Gino shut inside and not to let Isa get at Gino, so I asked when the cleaners would start. Ugh, eight thirty in the morning. I asked Ahmed to tell them.

I got there for nine o’ clock and the flat was full of cleaning staff. There must have been at least five of them. Their trolley was in the flat, cushions were all over the place, rubbish bags were everywhere. And Ginos’s door was open. Uh oh.

In my panic, I had a rant at the cleaners, but I don’t think they understood a word I was saying. I eventually got them to understand that there should be three cats (the other two go outside, so they can always escape for a while. I wasn’t so worried about them). I thought I’d got them to understand about keeping Gino inside, but later events demonstrated that they had no idea.

I returned later to see if Gino had reappeared. He was located hiding under the cupboard in his bathroom, so all was okay. I asked them to keep the door shut, and demonstrated. They nodded. I hung around and three minutes later, they’d opened the door. I shut it and asked them if they could keep the door shut. They nodded. Yes, you’ve guessed it. Three minutes later, the door was open again. On the final attempt, I thought they’d finally understood.

I went up again and the door was open. Ugh. Fortunately, Gino was still hiding and I think Isa was too upset by all the men to cause a fight. I shut the door. This time, it remained shut. Hurrah.

Evening came, and I thought I’d better check that the cats were okay. They’d kept Gino’s door closed, but the men had opened the door from his bedroom onto the patio instead – an invitation to Isa to terrorise and an escape route for Gino to get lost. Panic! However, Gino had been too scared to move, so he’d now hidden himself inside the cupboard. He came out when I called and I shut the patio door.

And another thing was wrong. The cleaners had shut the patio door from the lounge. This meant that the two outdoor cats couldn’t get outside. I think Isa was already elsewhere, but poor Milo had been trapped inside and was bursting for the toilet (his and Isa's litter box is on the patio). As soon as I opened the door, he rushed out.

I don’t know how cleaning can take so long. The cleaners resumed the next day (they were supposed to wash the floors and vacuum the sofas, but they did everything).

I went up a few times, but it seemed that Gino was safe because he spent the day in hiding and Isa wasn’t venturing in while the cleaners were there. Finally, evening came, and the cleaners had finished.

I went up to check. Gino’s door was open. I heard a miaow. He’d got himself stuck behind the fridge (which is in the lounge area, where he normally shouldn’t be). I rescued him and he dived back into his own quarters. I filled up the food and water for all of the cats, but not much had gone from any of their bowls and hardly anything to clear in the litterboxes. The cats had obviously been too stressed to eat while the cleaners invaded (the men had left all their stuff in the flat overnight, so it probably felt unsettling). Milo turned up and started eating like there was no tomorrow.

I returned the flat to normality and breathed a sigh of relief.