fatcats

Well, I don't know then. I'm completely stumped.

Dunno but last night's episode was so dark! I reckon Huntley will wake up and it's all been a bad dream.

Don't get the hype at all. Line of Duty on the other hand...

Thank you all, lots of food for thought. Not going to rehome him. It doesn't make sense that he was absolutely fine for the first 10 months of the baby's life. And both cats get on pretty well on the whole, despite occasional sibling spats (the first night we plugged in the Feliway they both disappeared and we found them asleep and cuddling each other on the bed). Also there's the weight loss despite no reduction in appetite (he's always been greedy, waits under the highchair to catch the scraps). We're just trying to make a big fuss of him at every opportunity. He probably wishes we would just leave him alone!

Do you mean you are hoping to have a home birth? If so, I had a home birth and a great experience of community midwives. I was with the Birchtree team, and they were fab. I think I am right in saying that one of the advantages is that community midwives are caseloading, so you see the same person (or one of a very small team) for each antenatal appointment. So you at least have some idea of who is actually going to deliver the baby. And then in later pregnancy they come to your home for your antenatal appointments so you don't have to go anywhere. I think they also occasionally do open evenings or sessions where you go and listen and ask questions of people that have had home births before. I found them great, especially after the birth, I felt supported and that I could get in touch with them pretty easily whenever I felt the need. I couldn't fault them to be honest.

Wow, had never heard of giving/applying coconut oil to cats before but after a quick google it looks like it's quite a common thing. Thank you for that, we have some in the house so might be worth a try.

Thank you all for your ideas and advice. I am trying to make a fuss of him and will try some catnip - any reason why last thing at night? He sleeps on the sofa at night or on our bed while we're at work. Or on the kitchen floor (we've got underfloor heating which both the cats think is the best thing ever). He seems pretty happy with those choices. What worries me is it seems to be getting worse and not better. It started on his belly and back legs, now its his front legs too. First a couple of small patches, now big bald patches on his front and back legs. And the top of his back legs. Just more bald patches appearing all the time. While I am happy to consider it might be anxiety about the baby, or feeling pushed out, this fur loss started when the baby was 10-11 months old. So for 10 months there was no issue, even when the baby was newborn. I just don't get it unless it is the fact he's mobile now. But he's hardly around, he's at nursery or in bed for the vast majority of the day.

An high profile astronaut? Athlete? Paralympic athlete? I'd totally turn up for the Super Vet. One of those crazily successful vloggers- Zoella maybe?

Thanks both for your kinds words and advice. Sue, he has been seen by two different vets at the Norwood Road practice. He hasn't been seen by Ellie though who I think is the cat guru there. So perhaps we will take him back in another month or so if it's showing no improvement. He's fully up to date with all his jabs and health checks. intexas - that's interesting thank you. I may check with the vet to see if it is ok to give him antihistamines. He had a steroid injection when we first took him to the vet. I'm not sure if it helped or not really but it only stays in the system for 2 weeks. I didn't actually know there was more than one variety of Feliway so thanks for that. Perhaps I need to check the other one out. I will keep you posted intexas!

No the vet did not suggest a blood test. She seemed fairly certain it is stress, because of the perceived overgrooming. Just wanted to add also that since the beginning of January the baby has been at nursery full time, so is out of the house from 7.30 to 6.30pm every day and then asleep most of the time when he is at home (except weekends obviously). There is a newish cat in the vicinity but I have not seen or heard any fighting between them.

Long shot but two visits to the vet in 6 weeks has solved nothing so far. Wondered if anyone on here might have some words of wisdom. We have 2 cats. Male and female, brother and sister. Both 5 years old. We also have a 13 month old toddler. The female cat has always been more independent, and is much more wary of the baby. Our tom cat has always been more like a dog really, not bothered about going outside, always up for a cuddle. He will approach the baby and lets the baby touch him, so appears on the surface to be less wary than his sister. In December we noticed our tom cat was losing weight and his fur was falling out. We took him to the vet, gave him flea and worming treatments. No improvement. Took him back to the vet after 6 weeks. Vet said she thinks its stress caused by the baby. The pattern of fur loss is classic overgrooming, she said. So I bought some Feliway. Fur loss has continued to get worse. Poor soul just looks so ravaged. His sister appears totally fine. Apart from the fur loss I haven't noticed any change in his behaviour. His appetite is the same. He does pick fights with his sister when the baby is crying so clearly there is some stress there. The fur loss started about the same time the baby started both crawling and cut his first teeth. Baby has been teething constantly since so lots of crying in the night etc. Cat had not lost any more weight between his first and second visit to the vet. I feel a bit helpless just watching our cat appear to get worse and worse. I only have 1 Feliway plug in at the moment, should I buy another one for upstairs (even though it doesn't appear to be working)? We try and make a fuss of him after the baby has gone to bed. I have changed the floor cleaner to Ecover in case there was a chemical in the other one that was irritating him. I have not changed his food. If anyone has any other ideas or tips I would really appreciate hearing them. Thanks in advance!

There is a Facebook group called se27 parents that might be helpful for cherry tree feedback. My baby is due to start there in January. I have heard only good things.

There is a really nice playgroup at chatsworth baptist church on a Friday morning from 10 to 1. You can drop in at any time. It's technically west Norwood but just a few streets across from rosendale road. There is also a playgroup at All Saints Church on line Lovelace road on Friday mornings. And regular Bach to Baby concerts which I've heard great things about. For babies 6 months + There is a stay and play group at rosendale children's centre on Monday mornings. If you're happy to travel a little further afield there's tonnes of stuff to do in herne hill/Brixton: the big scream at the ritzy, baby swimming lessons at Brixton recreation centre, baby yoga at the lido, rhyme time at the library. Baby massage is fun. I did it with Sarah Smalley of chestnutbaby, it was a very sociable class and we still meet up occasionally

Thank you all. Some great advice here, I need to read up on the mediation link properly I think and take it from there. RPC - yes am considering that also. Thanks everyone for taking the time to read everything and post. Can't have been the most thrilling of reads so I really appreciate it. ETA - I know what you're saying about the opportunity cost of spending hours pursuing this and it's a very vaild point.

Thanks both of you for your help. Burbage, thank you so much for the mediation link, that's really helpful. I did have to smirk about the school fees comment as well. I am not new to freelancing but this is the first time that it has happened, believe it or not. Clearly, I have been fortunate up to now. I suspect they will ignore any attempts at mediation but at least I can keep the ball rolling and the momentum up. The director seems to have a history of opening companies and closing them again so your words of warning are well founded. Seabag, its more in the region of ?1k. I know to many people that's not a lot of money but it is significant to me. Plus it's as much about the principle as they are still blatantly using my work. My rough plan was to go via Small claims and file online at Moneyclaim. Thank you for all the advice about going to court. I know that even if I am successful in court it is no guarantee that the company will pay up. My third option that wouldn't necessarily get me paid but might be the quickest and most painless is to draft a letter threatening to report the director's conduct as being unfit (which it is in my eyes). Give the director advance warning and sight of the letter. I have read up on unfit conduct but not quite sure my case is strong enough. I know some people don't give a hoot about being disqualified as a director and carry on regardless, but I'm hoping that ego might be a good prompt here, the guy in question is fairly young and it's a new company after all. Would appreciate any feedback on this. Meanwhile I'll get reading that mediation link really thoroughly. Thanks again for taking the time to read my essay and reply, really appreciate it.

Hello there I'm just hoping for some advice, and that there might be some company law or copyright law experts lurking that can offer a few nuggets of wisdom. I?ve tried to explain this scenario as clearly as possible so apologies that it?s still so longwinded. Anyway, here goes: I?m a sole trader in a creative field. A representative from Brand A, which is a start up, commissioned me to do some work for them at the end of last year. I put a lot of work in, they made a lot of extra requests, I complied with them all and sent them the invoice. At which point they began to ignore my emails and calls. I could see from looking on the brand?s website and googling its name (for PR activity) that the people behind this start up have been using my work since at least January. In fact they are still using it today. I periodically chased the invoice via my original contact but was ignored, so in June I threatened legal action. Suddenly he replied, apologising and saying he was only a consultant for the firm and assumed I had been paid. Gave me another name to chase. To cut a long story short, a few days later I receive an email from an investment company saying the parent company for Brand A (this parent company had never been mentioned to me before) is insolvent so can?t pay my invoice. The investment company is apparently helping with the restructure of Brand A. On Companies House the parent company mentioned is still showing as active. There is also another company, set up in April, which has almost the same name as Brand A and the same director. I queried the relationship between the two companies with the investment company as Brand A still appears to active (website still up, director going to conferences in June to give presentations ? uploaded to Youtube - about how the brand is going to be worth 100 billion dollars by 2020 etc) My email requests for further info has been completely ignored. There is also no registered company name or number on Brand A?s website. I assume that the new company has been set up to help Brand A dump its debt and start over. I know this happens, however, the new company was set up in April and Brand A has been using my work continuously up to the present day. The new company has just filed a statement of capital in the region of high 7 figures at Companies House. I would like to take legal action as I obviously want to be paid as agreed but I also feel that this behavior is tantamount to theft. My problem is if I take the old company to court they will probably wind the company up anyway. If I take the new company to court I believe they will say the work was commissioned by the old company. However, to reiterate they are still using the work I created for them, despite knowing that they can?t or won?t pay for it. I basically don?t know where to go from here and am hoping there may be some legal brains who wouldn?t mind tipping me in the right direction. Would be really grateful for any help. Just to add that I own the copyright for work I created for the company. I never agreed to waive my copyright, even if my invoice had been paid. I am therefore also considering action for copyright infringement but don?t know which road to go down.

I moved to West Norwood from East Dulwich 3 years ago and like it very much. If you don't know the area it feels like there is nothing going on, but scratch the surface a little bit and there is actually a lot of interesting stuff. The high street is not pretty - although it has the potential to be a lot more attractive than it is currently - but it is a good mix of dull but useful chain shops and more interesting independents. The Book and Record bar, the numerous independent cafes, the great value grocers, the gift shop that's just opened opposite West Norwood station, for example. The Portico Gallery has really interesting events including live music, film screenings and baby friendly standup comedy while the Railway has regular live music and a beer garden that's been called one of the best in London. West Norwood feels like the kind of place where small scale entrepreneurs with a dream to open a shop can still afford to try things out. Next year a combined 4 screen Picture house cinema and revamped library is due to open. The South London Theatre, based in an old fire station, has received ?1.5m lottery funding for upgrades to the building. The cemetery is fascinating to walk around and the catacombs have been called the finest in London. There is loads of green space within walking distance - Norwood Park has a great community feel, great views, a skateboard park, kids play area, outdoor gym and tennis courts. Then depending on whereabouts in West Norwood you live, you are likely to have an easy walk to Bel air Park, Streatham Common or Brockwell Park. Transport links have been mentioned but bus links are also excellent - 10-20 mins to Brixton for Victoria line or different buses go all the way into town, including the x68 which is non stop from West Norwood to Waterloo during peak times. For recommendations on schools it might be worth joining the 'SE27 parents' Facebook group. Crime hasn't been an issue for us and have never felt unsafe.

Thanks for your input guys, appreciate it.

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sorry to hear you got a fine, but I think the > combination of the "straight ahead" arrow below > the lights, and arrows painted on the road are > quite clear. So no point appealing IMO. I'd pay up > asap if I were you, and avoid the increased fine. Ok, just checked google street view again, a bit further back this time, and you're right we managed to miss the white arrow on the road as well. Although the PCN is specifically for the blue sign (according to the letter). But you are right we should pay up. Thanks for the input.

Yes, in my first post I said that I can see from google street view there is a directional arrow there. Not disputing that. However, we didn't see the arrow at the time, so I am trying to establish how we made this mistake and if there is an issue with visibility of the signposting. So in order to do this I was trying to find out a) if there is any other signposting - e.g. a no right turn sign or something similar, which might be more visible (I have checked on google streetview and can't see anything) and b) general question really if those straight on arrows can be considered visible enough in poor conditions, as we didn't see it. Obviously the latter is a subjective point, but wondered if anyone has every appealed on this basis and won, particularly at this junction - certainly not trying to start a proper EDF style debate and it may be a question better suited to a more specific forum.

Ok fair enough, is it just that arrow though or did we miss some other signposting? The point of my post really is that we didn't see the signposting (possibly because of the weather) so trying to establish what signposting is actually there. We certainly didn't ignore it intentionally,

Just got a PCN through from Southwark council for failing to drive in the direction shown by the arrow on a blue sign. It happened on he Peckham Rye junction, I think we turned right onto East Dulwich Road. The photos on the PCN aren't very clear and we rarely drive around ED anymore having moved a bit further out 3 years ago. The only blue sign I can see on google street view is just below the traffic lights. It doesn't appear massively visible (and we obviously didn't see it) . Also on this occasion it was dark and the weather was atrocious, really hammering it down. I know this junction catches people out in various ways, just wondering if there is any point appealing. Would be good to get anyone's thoughts.

I can't find the original thread...but we were out in west london the other day and what did we see - 2 milk bottles full of yellow fluid...and it wasn't Apple juice. Anyway, we reckon it's police on surveillance- a friend does exactly that and has to use bags etc for his bodily functions. Not a major stretch to think a few of them politely lining up their bottles full of piss after a long shift...I gather surveillance can be pretty dull so got to amuse yourself somehow?

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Also London Overground is not really good for the > city. Really? Not even City Thameslink?