Fenda is my beloved semi-longhaired black moggie. She greets me when I get home, even if I've only been out of the house for five minutes. She is now, officially, fourteen and a half years old, and is, officially, excused everything.

She is a very hard working cat, and recently has been working very hard indeed to produce 'USN', or 'urine soaked newspaper'. She first realised that I had a very good use for this product when I started to put newspaper underneath her litter tray, to soak up the little pool that accumulated underneath it. ( In recent years, Fenda has lost all sense of where the litter tray starts and ends, and takes a cavalier approach to the aiming part of life.)

Of course, she soon realised that I attached a special significance to urine soaked newspaper, which is quickly bundled up in TWO plastic carrier bags, and taken out of the house. I get very vocal whilst I carry out this ritual, and Fenda has realised that I place great value on such paper, and obviously need more of it. Whilst she doesn't understand everything that humans do, she knows when something is a hit, and is determined to help.

So, of course, whenever I put fresh newspaper down, it is her role in life to wet it as quickly and thoroughly as possible. She is a dutiful and diligent little cat, and can easily work her magic on three or four newspapers every day. Even when the litter tray is fresh and clean, with new litter, she will do her duty, and produce more of the magic USN for her friends.

I am so impressed with her, that I have ordered a new composting bin, so that her efforts will not be wasted. She is a cat in a million.

Copyright © Jeanette Greaves
January 19, 2002