JENNI MURRAY: My cats broke my again and practically price me my foot
There are times when my pets drive me crazy. Take Minnie the chihuahua puppy, for instance — now a teenager of one year and two months and currently snuggled on my chest. Suu, the eight-year-old Burmese cat, is dozing on the arm of my chair, and all the while I’m trying to concentrate and type on my laptop.
These perpetual nuisances have also come very close to killing me, more of which later. Nevertheless, I would spend my life savings to save them — or indeed Madge, the eight-year-old chihuahua, and Frieda, the ancient one of 18 years.
So I could totally empathise with Katie Courts and Paul Giller, the couple whose cat Billie needed more veterinary care than any pet owner could have anticipated. So far he has cost them their £25,000 life savings.
They’ve dubbed Billie ‘the bravest cat in Britain’ after he survived cat Covid, was mauled by dogs and succumbed to sepsis.
The first vet bill, in 2021, for feline coronavirus treatment came to £4,000. The attack by four dogs came when Billie had been out walking with his owners.
Jenni Murray with her beloved chihauhas, which have racked up huge vet bills over the years
Katie Courts, whose cat Billie – dubbed the ‘bravest cat in Britain’ – has so far cost her and her partner their £25,000 life savings
His injuries were so severe he was taken to a specialist veterinary hospital. The bill was £15,000. Now he’s being treated for sepsis, a further £6,000.
Some might say, ‘Come on, it’s just an animal. Let it go and get another one.’ Or, ‘Don’t give up your summer holiday just for an unlucky cat.’
That is not what I would say. I know how costly animals can be, but I also know how deep the love for them can be, even when, as in my case, it’s me who gets injured.
It was Suu who caused my deep distress last year. After having friends round for Sunday lunch, I’d washed a heavy glass ashtray, and put it on the kitchen surface. Suu knows that part of the house is forbidden, but despite this, marched towards the ashtray and with a look of fiendish determination, pushed it off. Unluckily, my foot was directly underneath it.
It hurt, and the wound developed into a deep, infested haematoma. The consultant at the hospital said I had to be admit ted. I said no, I had work to do and animals to care for. ‘I’ll say two things,’ he said, ‘Sepsis and lose your foot.’ I went home to get my nightie, and friends and neighbours took over the pet care.
The next disaster was more serious. I was in bed. It was a warm night. Minnie was lying next to me, creating even more heat. I moved away. She snuggled up. I moved away. She snuggled up again. I moved away — and broke a vertebra falling out of bed. Minnie was fine.
Jenni’s dogs Madge (left), the eight-year-old chihuahua, and Frieda, the ancient one of 18 years
Jenni Murray’s dog Minnie pictured when she was a tiny puppy. Jenni broke a vertebra falling out of bed while she tried to snuggle Minnie – who escaped unscathed
Both injuries cost me a small fortune. I went to a home for rest and recuperation, Suu to a cattery in the New Forest, costing £17.50 a day. That cost nearly £1,000 for six weeks.
The dogs went to a friend at no cost apart from a health check for each (£159), a monthly osteoarthritis jab (£60 each), a medicine for elderly Frieda — and £375 for Minnie to be spayed. I didn’t want her coming home pregnant.
The biggest expense was for the care homes — one in Dorset and one in London with daily physiotherapy. The stays cost £12,000, a huge expense which would not have been necessary were it not for my animals. For me, as for Billie’s owners, there’ll be no expensive holiday this year.
Owning pets is never cheap. The price of their food has gone up, along with everything else.
Annual pet vaccinations are £60 each plus a little bit more for the vet to trim their toenails.
Looking through old vet bills, the most poignant was for when my beloved chihuahua Butch was euthanised in 2021. His death cost £72 and many tears. I paid an extra £138 to be assured he would be cremated alone. I wanted to be sure it was only his ashes I scattered in my garden.
The only other expense, after keeping them healthy and safe, is the £20 fee for a chip inserted into a cat or dog to ensure they can be traced if ever lost.
The cat’s chip is essential for her to go outdoors then return home when she wants. I also spent nearly £200 on a new cat flap when the old one broke. Chip-dependent cat flaps enable your cat to go in and out at will, but won’t let any other animal in without the corresponding chip.
As of this week, it is illegal to own a cat that hasn’t been chipped. Failure to comply brings a £500 fine.
I do hope cat owners will do it. I see so many sad stories on our neighbourhood app of cats that have been run over and died, picked up by a kind passerby and taken to the vet, but without a chip the owner can’t be traced.
I guess we all love our animals to bits, often more than we love humans… even if they do prove, as mine have, to be more of a danger to us than to themselves.
The lesser-spotted Nigella is back
We haven’t seen Nigella Lawson out and about much since her 2013 divorce from Charles Saatchi.
So, it was lovely to see her at the memorial service for the novelist Sir Martin Amis, looking every bit as beautiful as ever.
I’ve never been a cookery fan, but I interviewed Nigella about her first book, written while caring for her first husband, John Diamond, who was dying of cancer.
The book — How to Eat — is the only recipe book I’ve ever used. Her lemon roast chicken is wonderful. More please, Nigella.
Nigella Lawson at the Martin Amis memorial service, at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, in London, on Monday
My life-affirming tea with Michael
I am so sad to hear of the untimely death of one of my broadcasting heroes, Dr Michael Mosley.
I’ve listened to him, read his work and once was asked to interview him.
I invited him to Brown’s Hotel, London for tea. Out came a huge selection of sandwiches, scones, jam, cream and cakes.
‘Help yourself,’ I said. ‘I shouldn’t,’ the nation’s health guru replied, grinning. ‘But I will.’
The late Michael Mosley was a hero of Jenni’s
I don’t give a snip about ‘no mow’
A survey comparing the attitudes of men and women to No Mow May suggests women are happy to let lawns grow wild.
Men prefer smooth, ordered lawns as they love everything to be organised. Wrong.
Steven, who helps in my garden, mows the grass smooth and gets rid of the daisies, which I don’t like. Too many memories of making daisy chains while watching my dad play the world’s most boring game — cricket.
I’ve finally fallen foul of the dangers of internet shopping. I’d run out of toilet cleaner — which one should never be without. I thought I’d get some from Amazon as it would arrive quickly. I thought I’d ordered two bottles – one for upstairs, one for down. The box that arrived was so heavy I couldn’t lift it. I’d somehow ordered 12 huge bottles, enough for the Savoy Hotel.
