Flood Insurance

Hi everyone,


Thought I'd better pay attention to my blog.  Well we survived the flood, but the fight continues.  I heard my father say something about still fighting with the insurer.


From what I can see, that has caused some floods of a different kind. First of all there is the flood of tears from Mum when she saw her treadle sewing machines had a bath in sewer.  I still think it made them smell nice.


Then there is the flood of paperwork that inundates us remorselessly.  

Helping Fight the Paper War

My father said the insurers have a sense of humour.  Apparently, to insurers flood does not mean flood.  There is flood insurance for riverine flood, storm flood, tidal flood, overland flood; but the most popular flood insurance in Queensland is the you ain't getting anything from the insurers flood cover.


So in Queensland, when an insurer covers you for flood, by flood, they mean the sort of flood that could not ever possibly effect your place.  And any other flood doesn't count.


To make sure we weren't covered the insurer got the hydrologists to decide what flood it is.  They said our place was inundated by overland flood and we don't get covered.  Our neighbour was told that their overland flood insurance didn't count because they had riverine flood.   This means the insurers do high fives and tell everyone what a good job they did.  Insurers also don't let you see hydrologist reports because they only get them to tell you that you are not covered.


My dad is still arguing with them because he says it wasn't flood that flooded us. It was sewer that came up through the pipes to contaminate us.  He said the water that came up from the sewer and was full of effluent. Dad said something about helping the hydrologist into the sewer pipe if he wanted to come have a look.


I don't think the insurers understand what he wants.  We had lots of rubbish when the sewer flooded our place, so we already had enough of it.  We had so much we shared it.  Dad says the insurers letters are also full of rubbish.  Maybe they don't think we had enough of it. 


So it seems the flood continues with letters from the insurers saying why they didn't mean the flood we had when they meant flood cover, and just like the first flood it is all full of effluent.

 It is all so tiring

Brisbane Floods

Hi everyone!

I haven't been blogging much.  We've been having a flood.  A big one.

Last week we flew back to our apartment in Brisbane.  As always I flew Qantas and I was not very happy.  I heard the parents say something about free drinks, but I didn't get any.

When we got to the apartment the parents commenced bringing everything from the storage in the basement up into the apartment.  This was very interesting as there were a lot of good smells coming with them.  And there was lots of boxes to climb on and look at.

 As each hour went by there was more and more boxes and there was less and less space in the apartment.  That meant there were more places to hide from the parents.

More and more and more stuff came up to the apartment.  None of it was very good because there was nothing to eat in it.  

Finally there was so much stuff that I had to find new places to sleep.  In cupboards, on tables, where ever.  It was very tiring watching those two move stuff in and then about, then stacking it and balancing it and then knocking it over.

Then the power turned off and everything went dark and quiet.  Well it went quiet everywhere except in our apartment.  Both stupid smoke detectors started their stupid chirping because they had flat batteries.  I really hate that sound and had to hide under the bed.  My mother really hates that sound and she yells at my father.  My father must really like it because he climbed on a chair to get closer and hear it more.

The first high water flooded our street and only came up to the apartment block.  My mother and father were very happy.  Then the sewer burst down in the basement carpark.  That changed their faces.  But I got to tell you.  For a cat things started to smell nice and interesting.


The sewer kept coming up and up.  Then the second high tide came.  The water level was even higher and so was the sewer.  There was no power for the building pumps.  Finally my dad and some other men got some portable pumps and started pumping it all out in the street to show the neighbours what they had.  My father helped run the pumps for three days 24/7.  Every time he came home he smelt very interesting, unfortunately my mother would make him take his boots and clothes off before he could come inside.

We didn't have any power for nearly 4 days, so the parents had to have cold showers. Even when the power came back the hot water didn't work because it was flooded by the sewer. 


Finally all the sewer got shared with all the neighbours and then everything down in the basement car park had been removed.  A professional detox company has been pressure cleaning and disinfecting the basement for 4 days now.  


It doesn't seem to smell as interesting as before.

My family has been very lucky.  They have only suffered discomfort.  

There has been much tragedy in this, the biggest natural disaster Queensland has ever experienced. 


Queenslanders are a friendly, helpful, caring people.  Some of these wonderful people have lost their lives, some have lost their livelihoods and many more have lost everything they own.

Didn't You Hear Me?

Itchy Ear

Well here we are first week into 2011 and I can't believe it!  On Wednesday I had an itchy ear.  Actually, it was itchy on Monday and Tuesday too.  So I got whisked off to the Vets.  

Whisked is probably not accurate, because I didn't give up and just go without a fight. I mean what do you expect?  I'm a male, a guy, you just don't go to the doctors because you've got an itch right?  I mean doctors are for serious stuff, like what happens to everyone else. 

Anyway my ear was itchy.  So I'm having a good scratch, just hitting the right spot and it's starting to feel sooooo goood when out of the corner of my eye I see one of the parents come in carrying the cage.  What! Cage?! That's it I'm out of here.    

To cut a long story short, I'm sure he must have cheated to catch me 'cause we only did two laps of the dining table, three laps of the armchair in the family room, back to the dining room and once behind the blinds, but somehow he caught me and scooped me into the cage.  I must be losing my touch.

Now when you find yourself in a cage, in the car there is generally only three places to be going.  The airport, but unlikely this time as I didn't see any suitcases; the kennels; again unlikely no bags; or the vets!  That's it.  Time to yell as loud as I can.  Meowwwww.  Maybe the police will hear and think a cat is being killed in the car and intervene.  All the way to the vets I yelled, but no one came to help me.

At the Sunbury Animal Hospital my tactics are to shut up when you get there in the hope that they will either not notice me, or think I'm perfectly healthy and leave me alone or treat all those other animals that need to be there instead of me.  This tactic is yet to pay dividends.

So in we went to see Louise and this is where the visit takes a turn for the worst.  She wants to know what's wrong and the parent says he's scratching his ear.  I'm thinking so what?  The parent always scratches his ear, particularly when he's asked questions and no one cares about his ears.  While I'm thinking this and looking around I suddenly hear her say hold him still we'll check his temperature.  Whoa, I know what's coming next. What's temperature got to do with it?  I distinctly heard the parent say ear, not rear!  Suddenly it's clear to me one person needs their ears checked and it's not me!

I must admit though, deaf or not, Louise is clever.  When she takes my temperature she grabs my tail, but tells the parent to hold me still.  That leaves the parent cling to what he calls the sharp end, while I strongly consider what else is in need of a good scratching.

Finally, after what seems an eternity of me grappling with the parent she removes the thermometer and pronounces me perfect.  I could have told her that without a thermometer.  The parent relaxes and I try to get back inside my cage.  Time to go right? You heard her, I'm perfect.

But no, she's not finished with me.  She grabs a device and shoves it in my ear, at the same time telling the parent to keep hanging on to me.  That's it! I've had enough and it's time to growl.  You should have seen the parent's face.  Now he has to hang because as soon as he lets go it will be my turn to grab and hang on to him.  We'll see how he likes it.

After a good look, she says there's nothing there, but instead of letting me be, she grabs some cotton buds and stuffs in my ear.  Clearly this is an exercise in escalating my anger.

Finally they both let me be.  She disappears for some tests and the parent tries to calm me down.  Calm down?  How do you expect me to react?  You've ripped me out of my home, you've shoved things into me in several places and now you think I should be calm?  Are you deluded?  Before I do something we will both regret I storm back into my cage, turn my back on him and ignore him. 

Finally she's back and tells the parent I should have some tablets and we're free to go.  Sensational! Tablets! And yes, the parent has to try and get them into the sharp end twice a day.  Ha!

Christmas Presents

Christmas Presents

At last - Christmas is here! Hooray.  I've had to put up with soooo much.  First of all is the travel.

 I like to have Christmas in my Summer Palace - in Melbourne, where I can escape from the humidity. But getting there is so rugged.  I have to travel baggage class.  So here I am traveling with Qantas and flying on the day before Christmas Eve.  I've got to tell you, that engine looks pretty big as I go past it. I believe it's a CFM 56-7 engine.

The good thing about flying with Qantas is they use Boeing jets.  Boeing jets have a pressurised and heated compartment (I like to think of it as a private suite) in the baggage hold, just for pets.  Airbus planes don't have that, so they can't take pets.  So if it aint Boeing, I aint going!

But at last! It's Christmas Day and after putting up with so much; the travel, the stuff all around the house, a plastic tree - inside the house, festooned with lights and trinkets, and the lights going on and off to a cacophony of sounds.  Well it's enough to make a cat distracted.

 

But, here it is.  It's Christmas and I got presents.  I got a stick with a fluffy bit and feathers that is attached to a person to make it work.  It is such a good present and it is so much fun to swat, to jump on and to chew.

I also got a new litter tray, because litter trays are very important to cats.  That's all I'm allowed to say about the litter tray because Mum says there are some things best left un blogged.

May your Christmas be as much fun and happy as mine. May you enjoy your day with all your pets and the people they own.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Every One

and I can truly say

Ho! Ho! Ho!

What a year it has been!  I hope everyone is feeling as sensational as I at this time of the year. 

Now as we go into the festive season I've got the parents right where I want them, all wrapped around my little paw.  Ready, willing and able to do exactly as I command.  And if the cuteness and cajoling doesn't work, then there's my backup plan.  Yes! The ultimate weapon. Sleep deprivation.  A CIA approved strategy that I have purrfected.  They usually crack after a couple of hours, but I can keep it up for a week if they resist.  Or until someone cracks it and gets the water pistol.

Update on My Diabetes Progress

All gone! Yep, I'm better! What more can I say? Purrfect.  After the vets took me off insulin they tested my blood glucose a couple of times and it has stayed in the normal range.  All thanks to the vets at Sunbury Animal Hospital  A sensational team.

 

The parents are very pleased as it means they no longer have to measure the insulin into a syringe, grapple me, hold me tight, then inject themselves in the hand, thumb, finger or wherever else I could wriggle to make them miss.

But all I have to do now is stick to my diet of special cat food.  I don't mind the diet - but Christmas season is upon us and, well we all know how good Christmas smells.  I've got to keep practicing that wrapping of people around the paw, or sleep deprivation.

May the lead up to your Christmas be Purrrrrfect

Great News

 My Diabetes Progress

Last week I flew to Melbourne to see my vets at the Sunbury Animal Hospital.  Once again I got to fly with my very favourite airline - Qantas.  Apparently they are my favourite airline because my parents get free drinks when we fly with them. 

 

So off we set for Melbourne, my Father and I to see the vets.  Flying and vets are not my favourite activities and in my cage I settled in for a good sulk.  Before we left home I tried hiding, I tried running, I tried resisting, but I was scooped into the cage and sent off as baggage.  Excuse me! Being treated as a piece of common baggage.  And they wonder why I sulk. 

Then the next day I had to go to the vets all day.  The vets is not a fun place, but I try my best to get what amusement I can out of them by growling every time they come near me.  This can be very funny, especially when the young assistants recoil in fear every time I growl.  What's not funny is the growls don't work on Dr Dennis and Dr Glenn and they spend the whole day taking blood samples from me.

When my parents came to get me Dr Dennis told Dad that my blood sugar levels were low all day and that I should stop insulin injections for the weekend and bring me back on Monday to see what was happening.

When went back on Monday everybody came into the surgery to watch me get my blood test!  The vets were there, the assistants were there and my parents were there.  This was my golden opportunity.  I growled at every one!  A very deep loud growl from way down inside my belly to sound just like a tiger.  The young assistants recoiled in fear - which was predictable, the parents laughed, which was insensitive, I was trying to be serious, and the vet, Nicole, stuck an needle in me and got some blood.  That earned another growl.

A drop of blood was put on the glucometer and everyone held their breath; except me - I was still growling.  Then Nicole said my blood sugar was spot on perfect and I don't need any more injections.  The vets smiled and laughed, my Mother cried, and she hadn't even seen the bill yet, and My Father said something about not having to stab himself all the time trying to give me my needles.

I just glared at everyone.

I have to go back for another test this week, just to make absolutely certain, and to make sure I can growl at everyone at the Vets that I missed last time.

The staff at the Sunbury Animal Hospital have been absolutely wonderful in their dedication, advice and encouragement in working with us to get Indy's diabetes into remission.  

Shopping Bags

Shopping Bags

I know I got a new bed last winter, but, the parents keep leaving these shopping bags in the bath tub of the apartment. Well, they call it an apartment, but we know it is really a gaol.  You can tell because you just have to remember the fuss that was made when I got out on the window ledge.  If I had just learned to knot a few sheets together freedom would have been mine and there would be no stopping me.

Enough dreaming.

Anyway the gaolers, I mean parents, keep leaving shopping bags in the bath tub.  Because they've been to the shops they smell ooooh so nice.  That means they are good to sleep in.

If I sit still and hide deep in a bag, perhaps one day I might escape my prison by disguising myself in a shopping bag and get taken to the shops.