They say one good turn deserves another… I feel like I’ve taken in a homeless person. He was dirty, smelly and skinny, plus he threw up on my floor within minutes of his arrival a week ago. As Hot Danish and Craig can testify, I’m not good with close proximity to dirt and homelessness.

The current circumstances have come about because I took in a stray tabby cat, who, once settled in, made it loud and clear that she wasn’t happy with her newly confined space. After two weeks without sleep, I called a charity in desperation. ‘I’ll help you if you can help me,’ said Meryl, the exhausted woman at the end of the phone line. She wanted me to cat foster in exchange for taking my feral cat.

‘I think you’ll love Peachy,’ Meryl said as the time to swap cats drew near. Peachy was anything but. A couple of days after he moved in, I sent a photo of him to a WhatsApp group of friends.
‘WLG, is this cat in your home?,’ Sabine replied. ‘He can’t be that bad?’
‘Yes, and you’re lucky you can’t smell him,’ I responded.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean “bad”. I’m sure he’s a lovely cat. Just not very photogenic.’ Feeling guilty for her comment, Sabine swiftly offered her help with car lifts to the vet.