Operation: Mabel

Hello, dear reader!

And welcome to a household in uproar.

Alright, not really. It probably should be though. Why? Well that has to do with a certain young lady who’s just had a very particular operation.

I’m talking about our kitten, Mabel.
The Bite Stuff
The feline in question has been a member of the Rankin household since the end of April and has certainly made life ‘interesting’.

As with all kittens and probably most young children (which she most definitely is not a surrogate for), she is a ball of curiosity and playfulness but with added stubbornness and a prominent bitey streak bolted on.

Or rather she was.

Because Mabel has had a trip to the vets for a certain procedure that will ensure our contingent of cats (three) will not be swelling in number or in girth in the foreseeable future. It’s also a procedure that has put paid (temporarily at least) to her more feral instincts.

The First Lap
We took her yesterday, setting off at 8am and risking the teeth of the rush hour traffic to reach Vets4Pets in nearby Birstall. Once there it was a relatively speedy handover and a promise of a mid-afternoon phone call that actually occurred at 4pm, leaving Tina, my much, much better half, to worry herself silly for most of the day (I’m just a touch more stoic and badass).

Admittedly it’s early days as yet. Mabel is still equipped with a patch of shaved fur, the fabled cone of shame, and an expression that on anything other than a cat might be described as hangdog. However, over the last day it has become noticeable that Mabel is more interested in cuddles and proximity than she is attacking the dog’s tail, terrorising the other two, older and more placid cats, or biting the hand of anyone who risks stroking her. In fact, this morning she even settled, unprompted, upon my lap.

Time Trials
Now a lot of this will be due to her feeling sore, and more than a little sorry for herself, and it is true she still has the guile and the bloody mindedness to divest herself of the dreaded cone on not one but two separate occasions. The hope, though, is that having her bits whipped out will calm her more unruly passions just a bit. 

I might even be able to risk a tickle of an ear without having to count my fingers afterwards. Whether it will be enough to curtail her tail terrorising or stop the random acts of insanity that lead to an audible footrace across the house at 3am? Well, that’s a different matter.

I guess only time will tell.

Until next time!




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Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think. My debut novel, The Heart That Died, is available now as both paperback, E-book, and on Kindle Unlimited, so I’m adding the link to that, too.

Oh, and if you like what you look-see, a nice, positive review would also be most welcome.

The Heart That Died


New Tales Of Old



Death Ship



Pestilence: Drabbles 1



Reaperman: Drabbles 3



The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu


Eldritch Investigations