31/08/2025 - 'Moving out and cat fights' by David

There hasn't been much Teddy the cat talk recently in this blog, mainly as he has settled into a summer routine of finding some shade to snooze, prowling the neighbourhood, interacting with other cats until dusk, and sleeping indoors overnight. No naughty antics like getting stuck somewhere, biting our visitors, or running around the house in the middle of the night. There has been no news to tell really, but this week he has been back in the headlines. 

He brought a vole indoors one evening, and after a game of hide and seek around the house, the poor little rodent managed to get behind our fireplace, with Teddy trying to sniff him out. Alice wasn't going to go anywhere near the action, and I am absolutely no use from my wheelchair, so we had to call Matthew and Fin to come over and rescue the petrified vole. It took them over an hour to get to our furry little friend, with Alice screeching out orders, me listening from another room, and Teddy waiting outside impatiently, ready to pounce on his prey.  Once cornered, caught, and released, the vole made its escape, and while we all retired to our beds, Teddy was still sniffing at the fireplace disappointed. His week was going to get much worse.

The very next day, he wandered in at teatime with blood dripping from his mouth. When we inspected him, we noticed a puncture wound on his leg and a skin rip from his mouth down his chin, and although we didn't hear or see anything, we think he was probably attacked by another cat. 

We have only taken Teddy to the vets once and he went absolutely wild as the vet tried to get him out of his carrier. So much so, that they said he would need to be sedated before they would touch him, so we had agreed to only put him (and us) through that trauma again, if it is an emergency. We emailed our vet some pictures who advised that he did need to be seen, so Alice and Fin boxed him up and took him off to the emergency vets, while I waited at home. 

3 hours later, a very unhappy cat, and an equally miffed owner, returned. After waiting to see the vet, Teddy had hissed, growled and was so aggressive that they weren't prepared to get him out. So looking through the mesh cover, she said that she could see that his teeth and jaw were okay, gave us some Metacam as a painkiller, and some Gabapentin as a sedative to use if we needed to return, then promptly charged us £395 as it was, by now, out of hours. 

Over the next week, Teddy slowly recovered, sleeping off the drugs, keeping out of our way, and looking very sorry for himself. He didn't want to go out for six days, but after a week, his mouth wound has dried and has nearly come together, and his appetite returned, so everyone is much happier.

He's been out a couple of times today but he seems very wary so it must have been pretty brutal. He's nearly back to his normal self now, and he is coming up for cuddles and purring away so we hope he's over the worst, as we want our happy little boy back. We've bought him a cardboard radio for him to sleep in or scratch on, so he's been on, and in the radio this week!

He's been left with a gnarly scar but we still think he's handsome.

It's been quite a fortnight for us really because I've had my last bath and spent my last night in our bedroom upstairs.

We've been talking about me moving downstairs for a while now as it's getting very difficult to climb the stairs, and it has been very hard to come to terms with, but we must, so we did. The first night was the hardest as expected so Alice got in with me for a cuddle before heading upstairs. 

Alice bought me a bottle of Matey bubble bath recently, so I made sure my last bath was hot and bubbly, and once she had helped me in, she left me to soak in my own thoughts. 

My last night in our double bed was really nice and although I will miss the cuddles and spoons, I can listen to radio 3, radio 4, and Angel radio without being called a boring old man! 

My new bedroom downstairs is very nice. Alice has painted the walls, and decorated it with paintings, posters, photos, bunting and ornaments, and it's very cosy. I have a profile bed that enables me to lift my head, or legs, and an en suite wetroom, so it really is just what I need. I've been sleeping downstairs for five nights now, and we've got into a nice routine. Alice makes sure that I have a glass of water, my wee bottle, my power chair, and everything else that I might need, within reach, then she tucks me in and we say goodnight. She then pops her her head around the door in the morning to see if I'm awake before she leaves for work. She even puts toothpaste on my brush for the morning. I would be lost without her. 

It's sad that I will never see half of my house ever again, but we move on and try to make the most of what we still have together. 

Alice and I attended a couple of Motor Neurone Disease Association events on consecutive days and both on the Isle of Wight, where my family live. On the Saturday the island branch of the MNDA funded a family day out at the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary, and it was nice to meet Debbie and Big John from the MND community who we hadn't met before, as well as many that we had met before. Doreen, who runs the branch got us all together for a photo and although only one of the two rescued bears was on show, we had a good time.

The following day we had a lovely afternoon at Northwood Cricket Club watching a charity match for the MNDA, between a Northwood X1 and The Full Tossers. My son in law Max, organised the event, and he did a brilliant job!

There was also a BBQ, face painting, guess the name of the monkey, guess the amount in the jar, cakes, a raffle and Splat The Rat! 

It was great to meet up with friends, family, and people from the MNDA community, and all under warm blue skies. We had a good chat with Carl and Anita from the island and they let us check out their wheelchair accessible van. We also discussed a piece in the news recently where a lady with MND had her voice recreated by AI from an 8 second video of her recorded in the 90s which is really amazing. I've been thinking about getting my voice banking re-done as things have moved on even since I did mine two years ago. 

BBC article about AI voice

It was Max's birthday and he was on fine form. With both sides sporting orange and blue, the colours of the MNDA, the game commenced. As he prepared to bowl his first ball, Max turned and performed a flamboyant forward roll to the cheers of the crowd. 

The Full Tossers tried to restrict the favourites Northwood, to a chasable target, and the game was poised at the halfway point. Max was then asked to open the batting with his brother Julian, and they both made a great start, but unfortunately the Tossers fell just short of the 198 runs needed. 

Doreen and a group of fellow MND volunteers were busy on the stalls all afternoon, and the money was rolling in.

After birthday refreshments, Max then announced the raffle winners and kind words of thanks were spoken. I was invited to say a few words but as per usual these days, I got too emotional so Alice stepped in for me. She explained how the money raised would help families just like us. Charity days can sometimes feel a bit faceless but we summised how the funds would be put to good use. There are people on the island who need all kinds of support for their MND - whether it's emotional, financial or practical and that's what these days are for. We all left fed, watered, and entertained. 

Once all the takings and donations were added up, it was revealed that the afternoon had raised an amazing £2,158.20 which will go towards looking after island families affected by Motor Neurone Disease.  

Our very own blog has been featured in another blog recently. While at parkrun on the island, we got talking to a lovely chap from London called Aqasa who also writes a blog, called Nu Horizons. He was down with his family on holiday, and he was really interested in my parkrun journey from running, to walking, and then into my buggy. He said some very nice things about me in his blog, so I'm reciprocating the kindness - thank you, it was lovely to meet you.

Aqasa's blog

It's the parkrun paragraph - look away now if you don't like parks or running!

We tried out the new Fordingbridge venue in the New Forest. As a 4 lapper, there was not much enthusiasm to give it a go and was more of tick box exercise to do a Hampshire event however, it was surprisingly fun!

There was a mixture of terrain featuring concrete paths, grass and gravel and you loop back on the other runners so get to encourage your friends and also receive shouts of support. Alice did well and when a runner came alongside and told her she was amazing, it made me well up as I'm prone to 'emotional lability' these days. She pushed me to my 19th male wheelchair course record and our second fastest ever parkrun time of 27:49. After, we were approached by one of the runners who set up the event who was keen to hear how we got on. As a part time self propelled chair user herself, she had been integral in designing a route which was accessible for all participants and we agreed it was a chair friendly course. 

This Saturday we were back at our home run at Southampton and I was pushed by an anaesthetist that I used to work with, Andy. This was his 3rd time pushing me but 1st time in my newer chair and on the new Southampton route so we were wondering how he would do. It turned out to be hotter then I had planned so after pulling over halfway for him to help me take my fluffy crocs off, we still finished under 26 minutes!

I can report that my supplementary milkshake drink that I've been prescribed by the dietitian tastes very nice. Alice prepares it the night before, and leaves it in the fridge for me. It's to keep my weight up as my symptoms progress. One of the few benefits of a crappy disease is that I can eat as much carbs and fats as I want - and I do!

I've also had a visit from Kate, a rehab assistant, who came to see my puffy feet, which is a consequence of my lack  of mobility. She is going to refer me to the podiatry team, but Alice was pleased to hear that she thought my toe nails were well looked after. There really is no end to either her tasks, or talent! 

Alice and I went for a nice walk the other day on the last bank holiday until Christmas, and because I was in my power chair, she could walk beside me talking, rather than me craning my neck back and having to shout at her when she's pushing me in my wheelchair or buggy. It's the little things that make a big difference. We walked and wheeled nearly 5 miles together and I was pleased to see the battery was only depleted by about 20%

I mentioned last time, that our Just Giving page had reached £12,000 and since then Andy Barding, Hayley Angel, Steve Dines, the UHS football team, Valerie Phillips, Steve Phillips, and Max and the Full Tossers (what a great name for a band!) have all given kind donations taking it up to £12,888. Thank you all. 💙🧡

Well, we've certainly felt the first hint of autumn in the air in the last week. It's just a feeling, just a smell - a sense that something is coming. Of course, we all hope for as many warm, sunny days as possible before the nights close in, but in my situation I wonder how many more summers I will see?

I'm quite disappointed that we didn't get a thunder and lightning storm this summer, and I'm really hoping to see some snow this winter. But with our seasons so unpredictable these days in the UK, who knows when summer will merge into autumn, and then into winter? In the meantime, I always make sure that I say hello to the sun.

That's it for now punks, and as Samuel Pickwick said: 'I wish you good will, good hope, and good nature.'