Dear Neighbours Who Are Renovating, I have great news: you won’t need to bother sweeping up your dust today. Our silly, once-black cat has taken the liberty of trespassing onto your property, and he has brought most of it* home in his coat.
*It = the dust, not the property. Although both work equally well in this context.
Cat Daddy is repulsed beyond belief and, between all the unrepeatable expletives, is threatening to deploy the water cannon again.
It’s very difficult to photograph a dirty black cat, as both over-exposure and light reflection can make a (clean) true black cat look grey and, likewise, dirt can look like a trick of the light. This was the best that I could manage:
Louis Catorze is filthy. It’s just foul. He’s so dirty that I had to check twice to make sure that it was really him and not some grey cat who had randomly wandered in, as appears to be the custom in our street with cats forever straying from their designated lanes. Whilst I am not surprised that Catorze would be so gross, nor that he would gravitate towards a place with big, strapping workmen, what does astonish me is that a cat who is awaiting dental surgery, and therefore isn’t supposed to be feeling very well, has the energy and the inclination to go to places where he has no business being, and to roll around like an idiot. (Yes, he has definitely rolled. The dust is too deeply embedded, and there is far too much of it, to have got there just by him brushing past something.)
Anyway, brushing hasn’t done much good and, short of holding him up by his tail and beating the crud out of him, the way people used to de-dust their carpets, there isn’t a great deal more that I can do. And, yes, despite everything, I have been pathetic enough to allow him onto my lap, dirt and all.
jesuisleroisoleil 
In my house, that’s Claude.
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Oh my, really? And would he go into other people’s property for said dust bath?
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He may be planning to camouflage himself just as you are hunting to take him for his dental. Might be a good idea to tie one of those red construction flags to his tail.
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Hahaha! That black and yellow police tape might be more appropriate! 😱🐈⬛
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Are you sure that he hasn’t been looking at photos of The Gray Menace and trying to emulate the terror that stalks by night?
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Oh my! Quite possibly!
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Have you considered trying a dry shampoo? Burts Bees Waterless Shampoo For Cats (or similar) may help. I would be happy to send you something to try if Pets At Home or Amazon UK doesn’t carry it.
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Burt’s Bees do a cat shampoo? Very kind of you to offer to send some but I think Amazon U.K. do sell it. However … apparently Burt’s Bees lost their cruelty-free status after deciding to sell some products in mainland China, where animal testing is mandatory by law. I am going to investigate and see if this is really the case or whether they have found some loophole …
By the way, much as it pains me to admit it, his fur is beautifully soft now, better than it’s ever been! Even Cat Daddy commented!
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Your last sentence sounds like a new proof that dear Louis is a clever cat.
😺
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He is certainly wired in an interesting way. That’s all I will say.
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Your dear Louis is not the only one who likes rolling on their back on dusty grounds, For cats, it’s just a way of scratching themselves. But perhaps, he is the only one who can carry all the dust home with him.
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He was truly a sight to behold. 😐😐😐
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Maybe rolling in the dust like the King that he is is a good/easy way for him to relieve his dental pain 🙂 If I had dental pain, I’d probably want to roll in the dust, too!
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Aw, poor boy! Not long now until he’s out of pain, although he’s going to have to go through a little more pain first. 😢😢😢
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Darth Vader takes frequent dust baths. Sawdust is his preferred medium. Somehow, an hour or so after his bath, all the dust is magicked away.
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Oh my, they’re all at it!
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He loves his mum.
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Well … not really. 🤣🤣🤣
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You have my sympathy– silly cat! I guess a bath is out of the question?
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Absolutely, unless I’m happy to lose my hands. However, his fur has been gorgeous and soft since, so I may well dunk him into another vat of dust sometime soon.
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Maybe it worked like a dry shampoo 🙂
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I think maybe it did!
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