The owner of my apartment building, recognising business opportunities in such an upmarket location, has kicked almost every tenant out. She plans to remodel and renovate, she says. My guess is that she plans to slap some paint on the walls and quadruple the rent, but there we are - or rather, there we aren't.

The cat herd is at the vet's. The turtle herd is living in cramped quarters in the small car park of my new living quarters - a townhouse on Soi 65. The only happy campers are the fish, who now reside in modern, upgraded tanks.

Moving isn't much fun, especially since I've had to deal with all the junk that I've accumulated over the years. When I started packing last week, I learned a lesson that most wiser folk would have already known.

Never, never, never try to pack when you have a cat-herd around. As I filled up bags and boxes with stuff, Yoyo and Angel, the most industrious of the cats, simply followed behind, removing bits and pieces and turning all my neat packing into cat-beds.

My big boy Pan-Pan was another matter. The animals we live with are closely attuned to our emotions, and as I packed, he must have picked up on my stress.

His third eyelids started showing.

In healthy cats, these eyelids are usually "packed away", so you don't see them, but when an animal is ill or under stress, they come out to protect the eye. This pale, greyish covering your cat's eye tells you immediately that your cat has a problem, that he is ill or injured or suffering from extreme anxiety.

As I packed, Pan-Pan watched me from under a chair, his whiskers drooping, his third eyelids protruding. He hadn't been well for a few days anyway, and the added stress of sensing my stress must have sent him over the edge.

By the time I took him and the rest of the cats to the vet's to keep them safe as my stuff was moved out, he had become extremely depressed, not even bothering to protest during the taxi ride. For the week he's been at the vet's, he hasn't been eating very much and his liver is not functioning properly - he's one sick cat.

Unfortunately, the townhouse isn't finished yet (the reason the turtles are in the car park), and the cats have to remain at the vet's for at least another week (workmen don't worry much about keeping doors shut). Although the other cats have adjusted to their enforced confinement, Pan-Pan's stress will increase for sure as the days go by.

Then, when the cats are finally introduced to their new home, everybody's stress levels will surge. As a rule, most cats don't adjust very well to strange surroundings, and for cats used to a flat, a townhouse would certainly fall under the heading of "strange".  Stay tuned. At this point, this story feels like it'll never end.

Questions about your pets? Fax (02) 751 4446 or e-mail laurie@nationgroup.com.