89 Not Out: Day 17, Pets in Lockdown

S&C contributor and Pompey Politics Podcast host Ian Morris shares his experience of self-isolation as someone with diabetes. It’s Day 17, and Ian is adjusting to life with his new home-working colleagues: one dog and two cats.

Wednesday 1st April, Day 17 of 89 

The in-between time with the animals. 

I share my home office space with three animals: Millsey, my Guide Dog, and our two cats, Enid Blyton and Sir Arthur Kitten Doyle. We find ourselves in the strange ‘in-between time’, in terms of the great British weather, and I’m aware of the blessing that my animal chums bring to me. 

My set-up is in an extension to the house and has French doors onto the garden. As you might imagine, this is fantastic in the height of summer, the doors thrown open, the warm air drifting in, the smell of the barbecue, and the dog and cats able to come and go as they please. 

The winter is a different proposition: if you don’t own a big dog, you probably don’t know that if it’s raining, suddenly ‘big dogs don’t need to go to the toilet’, while the cats remain magnetically adhered to the warmest spots in the house, hence traffic to the outside world is extremely limited. 

My previous noble hound, Gunner, was a door-tapper when he wanted to be let out, and both cats learned this skill. So now my day starts with, ‘Miouw, tap-taptap,’ as Sir Arthur wants to be let out. It looks sunny out there but when I open the door, the cold air rushes in…and Sir Arthur sods off. He isn’t the brightest, so he’s back to replicate ten minutes later, and we repeat the farce. The other morning, I ended the game by hearing him move and helping him into the great outdoors. Double-glazing is great to muffle the miouw to be let back in, but you cant avoid the tapping. 

Next, Millsey rocks up, and I’m up again to let him out. He will then have a bit of a lie down on the grass and then he also decides it’s too cold and ‘WOOFFF!!!’ he goes to be let back in. 

I kid you not, I am up and down like a fiddler’s elbow. I will end up with the thighs of a sculpted God.

That is, if the freezing air I let in doesn’t do me in first.

 

Image by LaPorte from Pixabay.

Don’t miss Ian’s self-isolation diary in the coming days, keep an eye out for new pieces here, along with past editions of the Pompey Politics Podcast. How are you managing at the moment? Get in touch with us over on Facebook or Twitter and let us know your experiences and any hints and tips you’re finding helpful right now.

 

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