Spreckly wrote: ↑ 16 Sep 2022, 16:39 I hope your return to work goes well, LL. A big change for you.
Lucas appears to be a most intelligent cat.

On the one hand, I am looking forward to going back to work but on the other hand, my line manager might expect me to do more than I can manage which worries me. For months, he has suggested on more than one occasion to take early retirement (on medical grounds) and once (before I went off sick), implied that if I couldn't do my job, to look for another even though he had no cause. The only thing I had asked for was help moving heavy stuff (stuff I used to manage in my 20s, 30s, 40s and even in my 50s but now in my 60s is too much) I have since been in contact with the Safety Officer about another matter - for years I used to run 2 safety courses for him, and during the pandemic when I was still working from home (before / during the first vaccine roll-out, as an asthmatic, I was vulnerable to Covid), he had asked me to make them as online courses. These have been so successful, he said he was looking forward to my coming back as he wanted to discuss my doing more online safety courses so perhaps there have been some discussions about some of the tasks I have been doing at work considering the length of time I've had off on sick leave?
As for Lucas - I decided to re-read the earlier posts in this thread. It would seem that some of his behaviour this year is not that unusual. Apparently he did do similar before but perhaps it has been more noticeable with my being at home more (and not working), and this summer has been hot, dry and sunny for longer.

lancashire lass wrote: ↑ 16 Sep 2022, 13:25 When it gets colder and I need to put the oil radiator on, I wonder if Lucas will return to his favourite spot again?

I think this must be the first night in a very long time that Lucas has ever spent the entire time indoors - probably thought -7oC was a tad too cold. But, he was hunkered down behind the middle door in the dining room rather than attempt to come into the living room where I had the heating on. I had to get up more than once to put the kettle on to put fresh hot water in my hot water bottle, and even made myself a mug of hot chocolate (I wasn't desperately cold but I wasn't warm and cosy enough to fall asleep) and on both occasions he was behind the door. Last year when I bought the new radiator and made a little bed in front of it, he was practically hugging it but this year when it was cold enough to put the radiator on, I lifted him up and carried him into the living room. His reaction was a "no-no" and as soon as I put him on his bed, he ran out of the living room straight through the dining room / kitchen and out of the cat flap. So weird.

However, the cost of cat food has shot up ... as for Whiskas, the price kept going up nearly every time I needed to get another box - when the Coop had them priced at £4.90p, that's when I decided it was too much. When I thought I was mobile enough to try shopping at Aldi's again, I bought a box of their brand for £2.43p ...

Lucas has tolerated the cheaper cat food since August but I don't know what changed - well actually, that's not true. I've got a fair idea of why. I have treated Lucas to a little cooked chicken or whatever I happen to be having for my dinner, but I've usually waited until AFTER he'd eaten his cat food. Perhaps with being back at work full time, and the traffic has been insane for weeks now (more than usual - maybe it might have something to do with the train strikes and people have just carried on using their cars more?), I am so tired when I've got home that I haven't always waited until he has eaten all his dinner (not to mention that the kitchen & dining room are cold so I don't want to linger) And of course, the treat goes down first and the cat food stays on the plate. Even when the treat has been withheld, the plate is never picked clean.
So I relented and opted for Aldi's "supreme" cat food (still priced under £3 for a box of 12 pouches) The first day, Lucas took one look and walked away That evening I had a ready meal for dinner, so didn't have a treat (might just be a little something off my plate) for him. I grated a little cheese and sprinkled it on top - the next morning, not only was the plate clean but Lucas was waiting for his breakfast which he wolfed down. He normally gets 2 pouches a day (one in the morning, one in the evening) but this morning, he was pestering me for more food after I'd fed him and when I finally relented and gave him a second breakfast, the plate was once again clean. It could be the weather that's making him hungry, but then he would have eaten all of his biscuits as well but the bowl was still full. I think Lucas is trying to tell me that he prefers this "brand" of cat food to the one I used to give him LOL