Animal behaviourist opinions sought

The cat shat on the mat, well, my jeans, at 5am.

We've been frequently washing towels, and other items of clothing we habitually keep on the floor, because the cat wee'd on them. He does this during the night and occasionally, we even hear him preparing to do it. We did this morning. He'd been thrown out of our room twice before he did the smelly deed.

Does he want us to let him out? He was certainly hanging near the front door when we got up to clean it. I don't want to let him out overnight, I hate him killing birds or getting injured.

Is his litter tray too close to his food? The litter tray is on the floor, his bowl on a table directly above.

Have I damaged him psychologically by locking him in the toilet, with his litter tray, at 5am?

I'm going to be an aunty

and the waiting is killing me!!!

She was in labour on Tuesday night, continued through Wednesday, and I've just rung her home and they were just leaving to go to the hospital. Aaaargh!!!

I'm so distracted here at work. I often am anyway, but today is a bad one.

I feel bad for ringing, nobody wants to be hassled to produce while in labour, so I've been ringing her at home. That way she's either at hospital and can't be hassled or at home and welcomes the distraction - I think... Otherwise I'm just an interfering busybody.

Today I feel like embracing my inner busybody and taking myself to the hospital to wait there. I won't though. I'll stay here at work and be mildly distracted and then, when her husband calls, I'll leap out of my desk and jump on the next tram out of here.

I'm excited!!!!

Aunty!!

Hooray! My niece is here, and I'm an aunty!!!

Pictures can be viewed, if you're that way inclined, in the usual place.

I did indulge my inner busybody and took myself to the hospital. I asked the midwives to tell my sister I was there and willing to leave again if she wanted me to. She asked me in!! I was there for all of it!!!

When I arrived she was still in labour, on a drip to get her labour moving and constrained by two belts and their associated wires to "monitor the baby" just like the crap I had with Rose. They kept on moving her to the bed, on her side and I kept persuading her to sit up, to try other positions. Each time, the bad cop midwife would find some reason to make her lie back again. We finally compromised and H sat up, on the bed, but was admonished not to lean forward too far, to maintain the integrity of the monitoring.

That hospital has a policy that women deliver on the bed!! The doctor and midwives appeared to be incapable of checking progress without making a woman lie on her back. I realised I was very glad to have had my babies as a public patient, via a birth centre, in the care of midwives. My midwives didn't blink about me delivering Rose while I stood. They didn't ask me to move onto the bed and lie back, "just until we've done this monitoring", or "so I can just check your progress". Helen got fed up with moving and so delivered in the lithotomy position, for the convenience of the people attending the birth and at risk to her unstable pelvis. Bastards!!

I was interested that they provide wireless monitoring for women in early labour, "so that they go down to the coffee shop in the foyer" but they won't use the wireless version when women are in advanced labour, when women would be SO much more comfortable with fewer wires and more freedom of movement.

Any way, she's here! and I'm an aunty!!