Little Dinkycat has kitty cataracts!

My sweet little naughty, wire-chewing, adorable boy has always had strange looking eyes, kind of misty and cloudy. I've noticed whenever we've tried to take a picture of him with the flash on, his eyes automatically close too.

During a routine appointment our vet noticed his eyes too and referred us to a specialist, as she said he could be blind within a year if it was what she thought it was.

We took him about three months ago and the specialist confirmed that he appears to have cataracts and about 50% vision but, as this was extremely rare in such a young cat (then seven months), she wanted to wait for three months to see if it was a birth defect that might just stay as it was.

This morning we went for his check-up and his cataracts have, unfortunately, worsened. The next step is to have an ultrasound check on his eyes in January to check his suitability for cataract surgery. This gives us hope that we can save his sight. Of course every operation carries risk and I'm just feeling a bit anxious now.

If he doesn't have the op he will go blind but as he's an indoor cat it's not the end of the world (the specialist has a few blind indoor cats herself and says they're fine).

If he does have the op and something goes wrong I'd feel so terrible and so resonsible. Right at this very moment he has come and snuggled up next to me for a cuddle. Does he know?

I would really like to hear from you if you've had a similar experience. Can you put my mind to rest a bit?

Lots of love,

Catherine xx

Let the cat out of the bag...please?

Honestly, if my little Dinkycat isn't biting my toes with his needle-like teeth, sitting his furry little bum on my face first thing in the morning or chewing his way through electrical cables then he likes nothing more than to get inside my handbags.

He seems to have specifically favoured my Lulu Guinness bags! Wonder what it is about them? Must ask Lulu if she secretly has catnip sewn into them as he has fallen in love with them. Funny little chap.

My most recent LG bag is the putty-coloured one. I am so in love with it and notice lots of people admiring it when I'm out and about with it. I've never braved a light-coloured bag like this before but it's great! I got some concealer on it and it wipes clean with a bit of kitchen paper and tap water. Fabulous!

The cats vandalise our home!

Hi everyone, here's the latest on Le Chats of Chez Huntley.

Poopy Pixie is so fussy she will not do her business in the litter tray unless it's completely fresh and clean. With three other fully functioning felines in the house that's kind of impossible, despite having three large (and friend-losingly smelly) trays!

She has decided the perfect place is right inside the front door! I can't begin to tell you how embarrassing this is when the postie calls with QVC parcels first thing and I've not yet had the chance to 'de-poo' the area! I'm still considering the 'litter kwitter' - google it, you'll giggle if nothing else!

Baby and Dinky have become firm friends and partners in crime. They cuddle together, clean each other, fight each other and they go on the rampage together too. In the space of a few days they gnawed their way through an iPod charger cable, a phone charger cable, a Wii accessory cable and my camcorder charger cable!

Ailments galore at Chez Huntley!

Well, what a week or two it has been! The cats are currently the only beings in this house without some kind of affliction.

My eyes had been very irritated for the past couple of weeks so I went to see my optician when they had gotten quite swollen, light sensitive and were causing headaches. I was started on antibiotic eye drops and packed off to the eye casualty department at my local hospital.

I'm told it's some sort of adverse allergic reaction to something. I'm now on steroid eye drops for a week and desperately hoping I've not suddenly developed a severe allergy to cats! Having four of them, that would be quite a big problem but I think I'd look quite fetching in one of those head-to-toe anti-contamination suits!

Saturday's Panasonic HD camcorder TSV

Hi all!

One thing I love about my job is that I get to see all the latest gizmos and gadgets from our home electronics department. I've got a great show coming up Saturday 25th April at 4pm with a big focus on the Today's Special Value from Panasonic.

Our buying department know how cat crazy I am and so let me borrow the TSV to get some footage of my four cats! Tune in tomorrow to see my camera work.

One thing that really impressed me was the high definition. You can see the detail in their fur, the colours in their beautfiul eyes and now I'll have these memories stored to enjoy again and again! It's also very stable so the shots are not jumpy. It's all very clever stuff.

The camera has a Leica lens, no less, and will take extremely sharp still images as well as movies so you only need the one device with you for all those special occasions!

The price we have on it is superb, UNBELIEVABLE in my opinion as I've seen how much several other retailers are selling it for!

If you're looking for a great camcorder I'd seriously consider this one. The great thing with us is that you always have the 30 day money back guarantee - I once made the mistake of buying a printer elsewhere (I needed wi-fi and we didn't have one in stock at the time) and totally regretted it but couldn't take it back! Now I only buy my big electronics from QVC.

I'm off to get some more footage now, the cats are chasing each other around at a rate of knotts!

See you on Saturday!

Catherine x

New homes for mum and 'Baby'

Well, if you read my recent blog about a 'possible' cat number four I can now confirm it's official!

Last week we welcomed 'Babybelle' to the fold - we call her Baby. She is a beautiful Maine Coon so has silky soft long fur and a lovely gentle temperament, like our other three. Pixie and Popsie appear to have become more 'grown up' since kitten Dinky's arrival so he's thrilled to have Baby to play with.

As you can see in the photo above they love spending time together. When they curl up to sleep together you can barely see him as he hides under Baby's fluffy tail!

The reason for this new addition is that my mum also moved to her new home to be closer to me but they don't allow pets there. She is now only 20 minutes down the road from me. I'm so glad as it's also on my way to and from work so very easy for me to drop in regularly.

It's a real luxury as, when she was in Cornwall, we could easily go months without seeing each other. Of course, it also means she can see Baby whenever she likes and we have a willing cat/house-sitter!

How many pets do you have? Christine Brooks, who commented on my last pet-related blog, has 11 dogs! That's a lot of poop scooping!

On that note I saw a device at the local pet shop called 'Litter Kwitter' - a toilet seat attachment to train cats to use a loo! Has anyone tried this? Please share!

Catherine xx

Mother's Day (and possible cat #4!)

Hi everyone, I hope you had a lovely weekend.

This Mother's Day was a particularly poignant one with the sad passing of Jade Goody. I think it made so many of us truly thankful for what we have and even more determined to enjoy each other.

Well, I had a lovely weekend with my mum (left). We just spent lots of time chatting, relaxing, laughing and playing with her fab cat, Babybelle (right)!

She is a Maine Coon cat but desperately needed a loving home as she was not suitable to be a 'show cat' as she has slightly deformed legs. They are really short and she has the most amazing wiggle when she walks, to my mind it makes her all the more rare and special and rather like a 'sausage' cat if there were a feline version of the famed pooch.

Our all-star Craft Day is nearly here!

Who fancies a sneak preview of tomorrow's (Thursday 26th February) Craft Day Today's Special Value? Here's a pic of a few cards I put together with the kit (left).

Be prepared for a very busy start to the Craft Day proceedings at midnight tonight as Kanban have the most amazing dance-themed card kit! How perfect is that with all the celebrity dance programmes like Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing on Ice being so hugely popular?

There are can-can dancers, Fred and Ginger-inspired elegance, fabulous 50s rockers, 70s disco divas and so much more. It's been great fun to play with and really easy to put together very impressive-looking cards.

My only hinderance has been the youngest crafter at Chez Huntley, Dinky, who has been chasing, chewing and pouncing as I craft (right). Too cute so I forgive him!

My new cat's first appearance on QVC!

Dinky made his QVC debut yesterday and caused quite a stir in the QVC building with even the toughest of manly blokey types melting into smiles. He came in to do a little bit of filming as I have had lots of requests to see more of him.

He's very inquisitive and happy to go 'on tour' but his big sisters would have had none of it so they enjoyed having the house to themselves without their lively little bro for a day! Hope you liked seeing him.

My new nameless sweetheart...

As many of you know I am just a little bit cat-crazy. Pixie and Popsie are my lovely girls and, as of around a week ago, they have gained a beautiful baby brother!

He's just so adorable and they all get on really well, too. My greatest concern was that they might not get on but it's like we've always had him now.

Just one little problem about this boy - we can't decide on a name!