Neglected

... not. Our five-week absence is by far the longest we've ever been away from Mystère in the six years he has ruled our household. I was a bit worried, but in fact it worked out really well for everyone. Despite being scared of everyone except us, by day 3 he was sitting on our housesitters' laps. They've never even had a cat but they got on brilliantly with him; I even had an email from R at the weekend to say they were missing him! As a result Mystère was happy too; he was noticeably less frantic than usual when we got home on Thursday and looked glossy and healthy (R and A had even managed to administer lotion when he got a runny eye). And we were able to relax knowing he was being well looked after. So R and A, Mystère says he misses you and you're welcome to come back at any time :) In the meantime he's making do with my lap every time I sit down.

PS I have set myself a challenge to find a thumbnail for Mystère photos that doesn't involve eyes :)