I seriously want to visit this amazing Cat Café in Tokyo

Boll favours the traditional Inuit style of greeting. But, as you can see, she occasionally gets a bit carried away and licks my nose.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Galliano, 16, who lives with Jane and Roger in deepest Surrey. She was named after the band, not the disgraced fashion designer.

Her main hobby is sleeping, but gastronomy comes a close second, and she has a penchant for curry, which probably dates back to her earliest weeks …

She was a street kitten, raised with her siblings outside her Aunt Jenny's flat in Shepherd's Bush. Her mother had disappeared and she and her brothers depended on scraps and abandoned takeaways until Jenny took the litter in.

Galliano was the runt, barely getting a look-in on the food front. So, one day, Jenny turned up at Jane and Roger's house and announced they were now the proud owners of a very small, very nervous black kitten.

She lived on top of the kitchen cupboards for several months, only coming down to eat when they were out. Little by little, they gained her confidence and tamed her.

Galliano's still very timid and leaves the room when visitors arrive, but Jane says it's definitely been worth it.

Boll and I would like to thank the gorgeous Galliano for plucking up the courage to pose for Peacockshock and we wish her well with her modelling career.

I love this pic of Pickles the cat from Hampshire and a cheeky mouse. After being snapped by Adele Mallows, the mouse made a run for it and lives to tell the tale.

This week's pin-up is another cute fluffy rabbit I met at Van Hages garden centre.

This week's pin-up is a cute rabbit I met at the Van Hage garden centre near Hertford.

As you can see, Boll has migrated to her upstairs bed. This is a groundhog-like portent, meaning winter has arrived.

Very funny - Benton chasing deer in Richmond Park

This week's pin-up is the lovely PC who lives with Michael in Cardiff. She was originally going to be named ZX81 until pressure was placed on her human.

PC is the current sleep marathon record holder of the South Wales cat district.

Despite being over five, she's only just recovering from her first experiences of both fire (curiously unsinterested) and catnip (profound psychotic effects).

She's hoping to lose weight after Christmas and is eagerly awaiting her first chance to set to work on the neighbour's troublesome ginger moggy as she makes her first steps outside.

The moment a group of penguins had their holiday photo spoiled

This week's pin-up is Polar the rare white wombat posing with a friend. Val, at the Ceduna Rescue Centre, nursed him back to health after he was found alone and unwell. Photo - Andrew Brooks.

This week's pin-up is the cute hedgehog who lives in Mum and Dad's garden. He hasn't gone into hibernation yet. And, unusually, he's happy to scuttle out onto the lawn in broad daylight. Here he is having a snack. In case you're wondering, it's Bolly's Feline RD cat food. Only the best. Don't tell Boll.

This week's pin-up is a Japanese Shih Tzu wearing a protective pet raincoat. Costing up to £82, these animal anoraks are de rigeur this season for pampered poochlets in Japan. They're thought to protect them against the nuclear rain which has followed the Fukushima accident.

On Saturday morning, I tweeted -

I'd like to thank my howling cat, my clattering neighbour and the yelling blackbird outside, for their services to the alarm clock industry.

And, within minutes, my cartoonist friend Penny (@pennybluebean) sent me this fantastic pic. I now have it on my bedroom wall.

I love the idea of instant illustrations of tweets. Follow her on Twitter and perhaps she'll illustrate you too. You can also see more of her tubby cat pics, which I like to think are inspired by the Boll.

This week's pin-up is Memebon, who lives in Japan. He's now a grown-up and has his very own Memebon Website

This week's pin-up is the adorable and fabulous Florrie from Stoke Newington in London. Florrie's 12 weeks old and tabby with ginger overtones.

Her likes include: being cuddled like a baby, chasing her tail and sleeping upside down.

Her dislikes include: Mr Darcy, Stoke Newington's most eligible tom cat, Eddie the dachshund sniffing her, and ... falling into the bath.

Boll isn't the most exercise-conscious cat, as you can see, but she does enjoy playing with my gym bag. I'm sure it helps her shed the odd calorie.

This week's pin-ups are the lovely Max (shaggy), Ka Mea (grey) and Kylie, who live with Karen in Hawaii.

Max is probably a Polish Lowland Sheepdog. His hobbies include dragging his mummy down the street, barking at the postman and attacking towels.

Ka Mea enjoys barking at the neighbours and being cute.

Whereas the deceptively quiet Kylie likes chasing lizards and curling up on Ka Mea's cushion when he's not looking.

This week's pin-up is Bertie the wire-haired dachshund, who lives near Hertford.

As you can see, Boll's pole-dancing career has gone from strength to strength. Her new routine involves sticking her tongue out and remaining static for several minutes at a time. Novel. Odd. And, let's face it, slightly freaky.

Happy Birthday to the lovely Bolly.

This week's pin-up is Princess the kitten from Aberdeen who survived an hour stuck in a washing machine cycle. She emerged bedraggled and shaken, but appears to have fully recovered after three days at the vets.

There it was on the carpet - a quail's egg.

Bolly was fascinated by it. So was I.

How did it get there? It's a while since I've had quails' eggs in the kitchen. And I'm certainly not aware of any quails squatting in the house ...

But then, on closer inspection, I realised it was one of the new pebbles I put in the garden at the weekend. No quails involved whatsoever.

guinea pigs at Van Hages

I spent an inordinate amount of time watching the guinea pigs at Van Hages garden centre yesterday with my friend Henrietta. And we suddenly realised we had no idea what the collective noun was for them.

H suggested a 'serenade of guinea pigs' or a 'crescendo', both of which I rather liked. But it turns out the actual term is 'group'. What a let-down. It does alliterate I suppose, but it hardly does them justice.

Squeaking? Vociferation? Twitter? Shrill? Toot? Fluff? Coiffure? Tuft?

Or perhaps a Bonham, to reflect the resemblance of the more unkempt pigs to Helena Bonham Carter's hairdos.

Any suggestions?

a Van Hages guinea pig impersonating Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter herself (actually, an odd chicken-type creature in Van Hages mini zoo)

Here are some of my favourite existing collective nouns -

Birds

pride, pulchritude, ostentation or muster of peacocks (quite right too)
sedge of bitterns
plump of moorhens
murmuration of starlings
herd of wrens (herd? eh?)
squabble of seagulls
parcel of penguins
flamboyance of flamingoes
raft of loons
richesse of martins
murder or unkindness of ravens
lamentation of swans

Non-fluffy things

clutter of spiders
cloud of gnats
intrusion of cockroaches
family of sardines
mess of iguanas

Humans

conflagration of arsenists
neverthriving of jugglers
malapertness of pedlars

Mammals

comfort, clutter or glaring of cats
scurry of squirrels
boogle of weasels
horde of gerbils
prickle of porcupines
mob of wombats

gratuitous pic of a cute wombat, which may or may not be part of a mob

This week's pin-up is the world's smallest cat, Mr Peebles from Illinois, with his friend Robert the guinea pig.

This week's pin-up is Einstein - the world's smallest horse. When he was born, he weighed a mere 6.6 lbs (2.7 kg) and was only 14 inches tall.

This week's pin-ups are an orphaned macaque monkey and his best friend ..... a pigeon.

They live on an animal sanctuary on Neilinding Island in China.

Here we are, posing today in the ridiculous 30 degree heat.

This week's pin-ups are two micro-pigs and a cat.

Bolly and I were amused to see Larry the Downing Street cat hijacking a Cameron photo op this week. He shot out of the famous black door of Number 10 and scampered round in front of the assembled press, before being apprehended by a policeman and 'nudged' indoors again.

The pin-up of the week has returned by popular demand.

This week's pin-up is the Great Hamster of Alsace - Europe's only wild hamster.

The EU's highest court has recently ordered France to protect the Great Hamster which is under threat. If not, the French could face almost £20 million in fines.

I do have a soft spot the Great Hamster, which is ten inches long and looks as if it's wearing a small black tanktop knitted by its granny.

St Tiggywinkles Aviary has accumulated ten baby owl orphans None of them are related, but they seem to be getting on pretty well. Great photo by Jeff Moore.

Boll and I were quite taken aback by the resemblance. See Boll's passport photo (inset top right) to compare them for yourself.

You'll love this astonishing video of a real-life owl and pussycat playing together
They were brought up together and are apparently best pals.

Helo. We R baCk. Bolinga da Kat xxx

Alexis invites her Lady in Waiting Henrietta and butler Franklin into her picturesque grounds to pose for the pet paparazzi ...

Bolly in the garden today

You'll love this video of a cute little cat playing with dolphins

It looks like she's flying through the night sky, but Maud the cat's simply having a snooze on a dark-coloured throw. Thanks to Henrietta for the fab photo.

Bolly, posing exclusively for Peacockshock this morning

Boll and I have been preposterously busy over the last few weeks, and now we're off up north to visit Boll's grandparents (aka Mum and Dad). But we'll be back soon and will be re-feathering Peacockshock with fresh and exciting plumage.

A friend's vet has told him his whippet's obese. It's not. It's as skinny as a ... whippet.

What is it with vets? I accept that Bolly's a bit on the plump side. But virtually every pet I've had has been declared overweight.

Do they automatically tell everyone they have a fat pet? Are people with stick insects told their size zero best friends are morbidly obese and need to attend Stick Insect Weightwatchers? It wouldn't surprise me.

I was amused to see this confident little dog (dachshund?) in Regent's Park yesterday.

I bumped into a phenomenally cute puppy in Hertford the other day. He looked like a pug, but he was fluffy. It turned out he was a Pugzu - half Pug, half Shih Tzu. What a fabulous idea. I want one now.

'Could you tell me where your hooters are?' I said to the man in the bike shop, suddenly realising this might be misconstrued in a Carry On Up Your Chopper sort of way.

Desperately trying to hide a smirk, he informed me they didn't have any 'adult ones' and led me to an exceedingly camp pink horn, which looked like it belonged to a fairy princess. I squeezed it and was greatly taken by its parp, so I bought it.

The reason for this somewhat odd purchase is that a friend of mine, a university lecturer, has a whistle for shutting students up. Yes. It's come to that. And I often find it embarrassing and difficult to shut mine up too at the end of group activities. That's where the horn comes in.

I used it yesterday to round up some BBC News trainees and it worked pretty well, despite its less-than-newsy appearance. It also went down a treat at Radio 1. The only snag is that it accidentally went off in my bag on the train, which raised some eyebrows and caused the snoozing man opposite to wake with a start and look around in a confused and bewildered fashion.

As for Bolly, she seems to like it a lot, despite being startled when she activated it with her paw.

I feel that everyone should have one. If you're interested, it's a Daisychain Toot Horn

I put some cute pet photos up today and started with one of Bolly, which I placed above my old Drapentier Prospect of Hertford. Then I decided to move on to the rabbits.

But could I find the hammer for the picture hooks? No. Nowhere to be seen.

After searching high and low and concluding I'd gone a bit gaga, there I espied it. On the stairs. Under Bolly. She was clearly deliberately sitting on it to stop me adding any more pet pics.

In the end, I managed to put them all up and they look very sweet together. Boll seems to have forgiven me now.

Hammer? What hammer???

Larry (left) imitates the trademark style of Bolly (right)

Boll has an impersonator. Lookalike Larry, 4, is the new Downing Street cat. He arrived today from Battersea, having been homeless on the streets of London. We wish him well in his mission to eradicate rats from Westminster. Not an easy task.

Larry follows in the pawprints of

1920s - Rufus of England

1930s - Munich Mouser

1970s - Wilberforce

1990s - Humphrey and

2007 - Sybil

Boll watched Larry on the news but looked distinctly unimpressed. She is, however, expecting an MBE (Moggy of the British Empire) for inspiring his look.

Meanwhile, I have a namedrop. I've met Gary O'Donoghue - the BBC reporter who was on camera when the infamous rat was spotted scurrying across the doorstep of Number 10.

It was that very rat which led to the arrival of Larry.

Boll suddenly developed an obsession with the computer yesterday (as you can see, she's on the screen as well as sitting in front of it). Had she become a mog-geek overnight, I wondered?

Then I realised I'd left a little sachet of cat treats on the desk.

Plus ça change, plus c'est le même chat.

I was shocked to see these genuine photos of controversial genetic species blends, such as this catpanda and duckmogg, on a disturbing GM Pets website

Bolly and I are big fans of this website featuring cats photobombing dogs (and vice versa - but cats are better at it).

As you know, Boll sticks her tongue out pretty regularly - sometimes for ten minutes at a time. So we were relieved to discover it's normal, when we stumbled on a website devoted to cats sticking their tongues out

Amazing and very funny clip of a pet porcupine who thinks he's a puppy

Boll's really into her little ball at the moment and dribbles it round the house most evenings. She'd make a purr-fect centre paw-ward (sorry).

Meet Heidi - a celebrity opossum from Leipzig Zoo in Germany, who's become an internet star, with her own Heidi Opossum Website and Heidi Opossum Song

In English, the lyrics are - 'Heidi is so sweet. How nice that she exists. I fell so in love with her from the first.'

Boll and I are big Heidi fans and will keep you posted on her blossoming opossuming.

Boll and I are handing Peacock Towers over to friends as we head north. We may be tweeting but won't be blogging. Normal Peacockshock services will resume in 2011. We wish you a Moggy Christmas and a Fluffy New Year.

Some pics of Bolly when she was a kitten in Oxford.

Boll catches a googly at silly mid off and Peacock's out for a duck

Thank you to Lea for informing me that there's an Australian cricketer called Bollinger in the Ashes. We'd like to point out that he's not the only Bollinger in the cricketing world.

Boll's new feather thing is proving a great hit, even though she can't quite decide whether to chase it or groom it.

Note the impressive fangs. Boll's available for bit parts as a scary pet in vampire films, but she doesn't come cheap, and beware the cat food section in her rider.

Boll became obsessed with getting under the sofa this morning. No explanation. It's just a Bollinger thing.

I was sad to read about the death of the USA's plumpest cat - Prince Chunky from New Jersey. He was 10 and died peacefully in his sleep. Chunky was rescued after being found wandering and was originally named Princess Chunky due to a mix-up. He became a national TV star and actually lost weight, dropping to 1 st 3 lb (7.7 kg) after peaking at 3 st 1 lb (20 kg) a few years ago.

Bolly decided to impersonate a mermaid on the sofa last night.

Bolly had stress-induced cystitis again this morning. For a laid-back cat who purrs non-stop, she does have her moments. So off we pootled to Chestnut Vets for an injection.

The vet said I should double her Cystaid tablet dose and also recommended a Feliway pheremone diffuser to calm her down. So I got a diffuser from the wondrous Hertford Pet Supplies on Fore Street ... and it's working.

La Boll has been in a contented trance all evening. She didn't even squeak when I cooked some chicken. And she's sitting next to me right now, looking incredibly contented.

Shame Feliway doesn't work on humans.

I've done my back in and bought my first ever hot water bottle, which I'm now propped up against. As you can see, Boll loves it and seems to find it oddly fascinating.

Boll and I have just been up north for a week to celebrate Mum's birthday.

En route, on the train

Boll peeps out from under my sofa bed

Mum and Bolly pose next to an orchid

I just stumbled on an old video of my rabbits Moët and Chandon. Lots of shots of them when they were small. Here are some stills. Aren't they cute?

When they first arrived at Peacock Towers in Oxford

Afternoon nap (by the way - they were only in this small hutch temporarily)

Chand in the run on the lawn

The rabbits got on very well with Bolly

I reckon Chandon's bigger than Bolly here

Moët and Chandon always sat together when they were small, and Moët often hid underneath his little brother

Moët and Chandon when they were quite old - as you can see, they still snuggled up in the same way

Bolly's latest hobby is savaging my rucksack.

I've recently discovered the brilliant animal photographs of Jane Burton, who sadly died in 2007. The Telegraph described her book A Cat's Life as 'a heart-warming collection of beautiful images of cats and kittens that will leave cat-lovers purring with delight' and I totally agree.

A Cat's Life on Amazon

Jane lived in Surrey and adopted no less than 60 cats over the years. Her photos clearly show her empathy with cats and all manner of creatures - not to mention extraordinary patience. Apparently, she'd sometimes wait four hours or more for the right shot!

You can see a lot more of her photos at

Warrenphotographic

Definitely worth a visit.

Bolly's latest haunt is the top of the garden shed. Needless to say, I have to lift her up there. But she still looks pretty cool don't you think?

I spotted this unidentified fluffy object on the stairs this evening.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Bollinger, who posed for this photo today.

This week's pin-up is a dainty damselfly - possibly called Deirdre. Damselflies have made a comeback in England in recent weeks, after flying off to the continent in a huff in 1952. Good to know our damsels are no longer in distress.

Bolly - before and after (slim photo taken on 17 July 2010)

Breaking News. Bolly's no longer plump. In fact, she's verging on slim. For the first time ever.

This is thanks to her new Royal Canin Satiety Support diet.

Well done Boll!

This week's pin-up is a friendly Shih Tzu I met on the ferry to Mull. He only spoke Gaelic, so I have very few details. But I'm going to call him Hamish and assume he lives on a croft with an elderly sheep and a small hen.

I was at BBC Wales yesterday to record links for a Radio 4 programme. And I had some last-minute clips to edit, so I popped into the newsroom and grabbed a computer.

One of the recordings featured a dramatic vocal performance by Bolly who plays a cameo role in the feature. And - instead of wearing headphones - I decided to listen quietly on a speaker.

There were producers and reporters nearby, who had no idea who I was or what I was up to as I skulked in the corner hidden behind my PC.

'Is that a cat?' asked one, looking perplexed. 'Or am I hearing things?'

'I think it's a kitten,' replied another. 'Is it in the bulletin?'

'Not sure. Maybe it's in here.'

Then another producer chipped in.

'I think it's the seagulls outside. They can make some pretty odd noises.'

'But they sound like they're impersonating a cat...'

And so it went on - until I came clean.

Here's a snippet of Bolly's performance. See what you think. Does she sound like a kitten? Or a seagull? Or a newsreader?

Why not play it in the office (if you work in one) and see what response you get?

This week's pin-up is the cute cygnet who's currently living with his parents on the River Lea in Hertford. Unusually for swans, he's an only child.

Boll's had several furry babies this week. Yes - she's moulting again, and currently resembles a scruffy (but cute) ferret.

This week's pin-up is the bird which perched on the Algeria goal post during the England v Algeria World Cup match. There was very little chance of it being disturbed. It eventually got bored and flew off, having provided a lot more entertainment than the England team.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Mouse (aka Mini Mouse) who lives with Fran in a delightful Edwardian house in North London.

Mouse is extremely sweet but quite shy. So I was delighted when she decided I wasn't a dangerous predator and visited me in the kitchen.

I took this photo in the hallway, where Mouse was resting after chasing a bit of scrunched up paper attached to a piece of string.

The weekly pet pin-up is back, by popular demand.

This week's pin-up is the marvellous Max who lives with Karen in Hawaii. Max is probably a Polish Lowland Sheepdog. But, in the absence of sheep, he's pursued an alternative vocation as a guard dog, with his headquarters under Karen's chair.

His hobbies include dragging his mummy down the street and attacking towels which have been placed on the patio chairs for passing cats to sit on.

Bolly and I think he looks a bit like a Hawaiian surfer, with his long hair and good looks.

Breaking news. Boll has taken up yoga. Here she is, demonstrating the lotus position.

Bolly helped me in the garden today. She then fell fast asleep due to the effort.

Not content with her radio appearances, Bolly's now to be found on the television most mornings.

As you can see, I have a chunky old TV set. I'd quite like a flatscreen one, but Boll wouldn't be able to sleep on it.

I thought I'd seen it all - until tonight, when I popped into the kitchen to make a cuppa. And there was Bollinger, brazenly eating ... a chip. Yes ... a chip. Quite a large one too. I'd given her a bit of haddock earlier, so I assume she'd decided a chip would go nicely with it. I think she might be turning human. Must keep an eye on the ketchup.

Love you Dexter

hyper-intelligent dog owner Paris Hilton

According to Bristol University research, cat owners are cleverer than dog owners. This is of course true. Although, as someone wrote in today's Independent, cats don't have owners - they just 'lease their services to gullible people.'

The research also sheds light on recent experiments suggesting that dogs are more intelligent than cats. This was based on their respective willingness to follow a piece of string, or something equally stupid. The cats didn't do it.

But this was clearly because they just couldn't be bothered.

Natasha and Peggy Sue

As you may know, my friends James and Jesus in Gran Canaria have a cute dog called Natasha. Well, Natasha now has a new flatmate - Peggy Sue the piglet. As you can see, they're already best pals.

Hi. Bolly and I are back home.

Boll behaved impeccably on the journey. Not a single miaow all the way from Newcastle to Hertford.

I put her woolly fleece in the catbox for her to sit on. But she decided to use it as a sort of duvet, disguising herself as a small sheep for the entire trip.

Have a lovely and relaxing time. Boll and I will be back online from January 5th 2010. Meanwhile, I will be tweeting, so do have a look at the Twitter column on the right if you want to follow our progress. Goodbye Noughties. See you in the next decade!

Today's Christmas pin-up is a plankton.

Today's Santa is a boll weevil. The boll weevil was very cooperative, having done catwalk in Milan and a couple of shoots for Insect Vogue.

Today's exclusive pin-up Santa is an amoeba. It was a difficult photoshoot. The amoeba was a complete diva and had issues about wearing a hat. But we got there eventually.

Yes. It's a rug.

This week's pin-up is Snowball - a plump albino hedgehog. Thank you to Heather for telling me about him.

He's now on a strict diet and exercise regime at St Tiggywinkles

Here he is, posing with a friend, being weighed, and having his daily swim in a bath...

I've just read Dewey - The Smalltown Library Cat Who Touched The World, and I really enjoyed it. It's not a literary read, but it is a touching feel-good book about an amazing cat.

On the coldest night of the year, Dewey was abandoned in a library drop-box. The librarians were surprised to find a frozen, bedraggled kitten among the returned books, but thankfully managed to revive him.

He went on to live in the library, charm the town and become an international star. The book tells the story of him and his adoptive mummy Vicki the head librarian, with interesting bits about smalltown life in rural Iowa.

I couldn't stop reading it and even cried at the end.

Bolly doesn't like it when I get my little Antler suitcase out, because she knows it means I'm going away. Now she has a solution. She's taken to using it as a sofa. She knows I don't like shoving her off things. She also knows it'll be covered in cat hairs before long, and will look too dishevelled to take out of the house.

This week's pin-ups are the jazz hamsters in the new Drench ad They were tempted to play the mini instruments with the help of peanut butter and Nutella.

This week's topical pin-up is a water vole

This week's pin-up is a cute shaggy puppy.

Bolly bit my nose this morning, in a silly random moment when we were play-fighting.

She just saw my nose and bit it. It only took half an hour to stop the bleeding. And the gaping gash went very well with my ghoulish limp.

The limp was caused not by a cat but a horse.

Ding's the most mild-mannered horse on earth and I was so relaxed I lost my concentration when I was taking him for a walk.

That was the point at which he accidentally stood on my toe. It just lasted half a second, but Ding weighs a ton - literally.

Thankfully, there was a hosepipe nearby, and cold water for ten minutes did help a bit.

As accidents are supposed to happen in threes, I'm planning to avoid all animals today.

This week's pin-up is a cute baby koala.

As you can see, Bolly's looking much slimmer - just three weeks into her diet.

before and after

You may recall Spud - the bald hedgehog - featured on Peacockshock a while ago.

Good news. He's hedgehogging the limelight again because he's now grown some spikes after a stay at the Tiggywinkles hedgehog hospital.

They tried various pampering treatments, including regular massages with baby oil, and they worked.

Well done Tiggywinkles. Congratulations Spud.

Spud-we-like.

This week’s pin-up is a pygmy possum who’s been in the news in Australia.

Apparently, a firefighter discovered this pyromaniac possumlet in his pocket after a day spent battling with blazes.

The possum was completely unharmed and he placed it in the hollow of a tree to recover from its unexpected day’s work experience.

Boll and I were most amused to watch this video of a box-obsessed cat

This week's pin-up is a kitten, listening to music on an iPod.

I've just discovered the Dutch painter Henriëtte Ronner-Knip (1821-1909) who clearly loved cats (and kittens).

Boll had her first weigh-in at the vets today - two weeks into the new diet. And she's down from 6.4 kg to 6.1 kg. The vet said that's very good progress. Well done Bollykins.

This week's pin-up is a dormouse. Dormice can hibernate for more than six months a year. Their name is derived from 'dormeus', which means 'sleepy one'.

Bollinger's definitely looking trimmer and her new nickname is Slimline. I'm being very strict with her diet, but she has had afternoon tea a couple of times this week - taken from her dinner quota.

This morning, she ran up and down the stairs howling - which she hasn't done for a while.

And she tried to climb into the smallest section of my gym rucksack, but didn't quite manage it.

I've just picked Bolly up and she definitely feels a bit lighter. The diet's working. I'm very excited. And the Boll seems to be getting used to it. She's also enjoying her food more, wolfing it, and licking her bowl clean. It's a blue Denby bowl by the way. Only the best for Madam.

It's 2pm and Bolly's doing high-pitched howling, like the Hound of the Baskervilles on helium. She's clearly after dinner - four hours early. Oh dear. Is it legal to shoot a pet cat with a tranquiliser dart - like they used to do with misbehaving lions on Daktari?

Bolly's now five days into her diet and coping very well, although she did demand breakfast at 4.57 am today. But we're perservering and she should be down to 5 grams before long. The first big weigh-in is in a week's time.

Bolly's responding well to her new diet of a thimble of food per meal. But there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth from 3 till 5 pm today, so she had dinner at 5.30 instead of 6. She's already looking slightly slimmer.

This week's pin-up (back by popular demand) is the lovely Dexter from Waltham Abbey. He's a cat but likes people to think he's an undiscovered type of cuscus. Dexter's hobbies include purring, shouting and eating processed ham.

Socrates from Newcastle - 10kg - much fatter than the Boll

Bolly now weighs 6.4 kg - that's one stone. So - with help from the wondrous Chestnut Vets in Hertford - she's just gone on a new, stricter diet. Her target is to get down to 4 kg (9 pounds) asap. Her diet consists of 50 g of Feline RD diet food a day. And she'll be weighed once a fortnight.

So far, it's gone pretty well. I bought a digital weighing scale yesterday and worked out that 25 g (one meal) exactly fills one of my little cocktail glasses, so that's become our measure.

She now has to go from Hattie Jacques to Charles Hawtrey. I'll keep you posted.

I recall seeing a leaflet advertising cat diet food a few years ago which boasted astonishing results. Willow the cat, it claimed, had gone down from 7 kg to 5 g (5 grams) in just a month. They'd clearly left the 'k' out by mistake. Boll and I found this most amusing.

This week's pin-up is a Bosavi Silky Cuscus - a new species. Cuscuses are shy and sweet marsupials that live high in the trees. They look a bit like teddy bears, but they're actually part monkey, part sloth.

I want one.

Bolly has asked me to point out that she shares most of her characteristics with a sloth, is frequently a cheeky monkey, and looks very much like a teddy bear.

She therefore believes that she is herself a new, undiscovered species - the Hertfordshire Pink-Nosed Cuscus.

I've just sent for a zoologist.

Gordon the cameraman discovers a giant woolly rat

I thoroughly enjoyed BBC1's Lost Land of the Volcano but have no idea why it was on after 9pm when it was so suitable for children. Anyway - the good news is that it's on iPlayer and will no doubt come out on DVD.

Basically - it was about an expedition to a forested volcano crater, Mount Bosavi, in Papua New-Guinea. The rainforest there was full of new species which no human had ever set eyes on.

And so, as you'd expect, the animals themselves had never seen a human. That's why they were so astonishingly friendly, having no idea how cruel we can be.

My favourite creatures were the Bosavi Silky Cuscus (see this week's pin-up) and a giant woolly rat, which was the size of a cat ... and very cute.

This week's pin-up is a sweet gerbil.

One of Boll's more eccentric habits is grooming herself and then forgetting to put her tongue back in her mouth. This can go on for ages. This evening, it lasted about 20 minutes. She clearly has no idea how daft she looks.

Bollinger this evening

Autumn has officially arrived. This was signified this evening by Boll's annual migration from her downstairs bed to her fluffy igloo, which is upstairs where it's warmer.

This week's pin-up (returning by popular demand) is the lovely Mouse, who lives with Fran in London.

This week's pin-up stars are two baby badgers.

I gave Bolly a fluffy tarantula for her birthday and it was a big hit.

Like all self-respecting spiders, it had lots of legs and a fluffy bit in the middle. But yesterday, the fluffy bit fell off. It was a wig. The tarantula was bald.

Boll was shocked at first, but she's started playing with the bald tarantula now and is ignoring its embarrassing hairpiece.

the toupée

This week's pin-up is a Madagascan tenrec. Tenrecs are a bit like hedgehogs. They have poor eyesight but very sensitive whiskers. And there's a cute tenrec family, with babies, at Paradise Wildlife Park here in Herts.

This baby tenrec has decided to hide in a teacup.

Here are some streaked tenrecs.

This tenrec appears to be having an encounter with an everyday hedgehog. This is by the artist *luve, who writes:

Tenrecs are forged, not born, from the inner core of an awesome volcano by thunder dwarves. They are a cross between a shrew and a thunder god. They are closely related to hedgehogs and pikachus.

Queen Boll grants an audience to her subject Jess, as long as he agrees to sit under her green plastic throne

This week's pin-up is a flying squirrel.

I was back at Paradise Wildlife Park this weekend. Here are some new pix.

an otter trying to drown his friend by pushing his head under the water

white lion cubs

baby snow leopard (snow leopards have evolved to be intrinsically blurred)

corsac fox

eagle owl, doing a scary walk to frighten predators

barn owl

I had a verry nice birfday. Hear are some photos.

First, I played wiv my new tarantullah.

An I played wiv me new yello feather fing.

Next, I sat on my flufy blue tower - like the qeen on a thron.

N then I jumpt down.

Then i had a nice reste on ians' gymme bag.

It wos a very nice day.

Bolly's 10 today. To celebrate, here are some previously-unpublished pix of her when she was a kitten.

Here are some pix I took at the excellent Paradise Wildlife Park at the weekend.

Red Panda

Ring-Tailed Lemur

Lynx

Pallas Cat

This week's pin-up is the lovely Libby-Lou, who writes: I am 14 months old. I am a rescue Patterdale Terrier cross. My hobbies include playing ball, burying things where they can still be seen, and twittering on libbyloupup.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Alexis from Waltham Abbey in Essex.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Bollinger.

I spent yesterday afternoon in London with the lovely Henry - Wilhelm and Guga's basset hound puppy. We went for a spin in the park, where we got caught in a thunderstorm. Henry responded by rolling around in a puddle and had to have a shower.

This week's pin-up is a cat in a filing cabinet. All filing cabinets should come with a cat in my opinion.

I've long been a fan of the Drama Chipmunk (a Prairie Dog to be pedantic) and so it's good to see he's been joined on YouTube by a Drama Pug and a Drama Cat

This week's pin-up is a fennec fox. Fennec foxes have big ears to dissipate the desert heat and to hear small creatures, such as locusts, walk on the sand.

This week's pin-up is a pleasing otter.

An encouraging harbinger for the economy. My Norwegian Spruce has suddenly developed green shoots.

This week's pin-up is a small white rabbit.

Bolly likes sitting next to me on the sofa when I'm reading and often falls asleep under the glare of the lamp. Her solution is ... to cover her eyes with her paws. This is exceedingly cute as you can see, and also very clever.

Boll and I gave the garden ivy its annual haircut today. It now looks like an old lady with a stiff perm.

Bolly's very partial to a stick with feathers on it. This is her latest one.

This week's pin-ups are a small hamster and a fluffy Alsatian.

This week's pin-up is the very handsome Ned from Bedfordshire. His hobbies include swimming and rounding up ducks on the river.

I bought a small bag of compost today in a local shop. I also bought a small pouch of cat food.

'I'd better not confuse the two,' I quipped.

Silence. And then ...

'Does your cat eat compost then? How unusual.'

I'm used to such literalism in the USA, but not here.

'No,' I replied. 'But she does like broccoli, asparagus and spring greens.' I then scuttled out as quickly as possible before it got any more confusing.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Archie. Archie is a lurcher and lives with Michael, Siobhán and Ned in Church End Bedfordshire.

Boll is very into the garden brush at the moment and likes sitting next to it.

.....I met a cat who wasn't there.
She wasn't there again today.
She's very cute I have to say.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Mouse, who lives with Fran in London. Mouse has many hobbies, including the inspection of Waitrose bags.

Bollinger amused the Senior Peacocks the other night with a new comedy sleeping position, defying the laws of gravity. The fluffy blue tower is supposed to be for climbing activities, but Boll's decided to redefine it as a bed.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Natasha Guittierez-Litchfield who has just moved in with my friends James and Jesus in Las Palmas.

This week's pin-up is the cute and adorable Rosie. Full name - Rosie Rocket the Rabbit in my Pocket. RRTRIMP lives in the wilds of Bedfordshire with Fi and Paul.

This week's pin-up is the fluffytastic Fenix, who lives with my friend Nikki in Cheshunt.

It's good to see that rabbit showjumping has now taken off in the UK.

I always enjoy visiting my friend Ding and did so this week.

posing with Henrietta and Franklin

Ding is having his nose tickled here. I believe this is a form of horse whispering.

This week's pin-up is handsome hunk Henry the baby basset hound, who's just moved in with my friends Wilhelm and Guga in London.

This week's topical pin-up is a Portuguese Water Dog

The garden is rapidly filling up with miscellaneous moggies of unknown provenance. Word has clearly got around that the famous Bollinger lives here. The latest addition is a scruffy-looking Persian who's clearly about 150. He's very friendly in an understated fashion, but Boll can't make sense of him and runs into the house whenever he appears.

This week's pin-up is Vincent the earless rabbit from Selby in Yorkshire. He's perfectly OK. He just has no ears.

Vincent

with his mum

Boll befriended a green bug today.

Boll and I have had bathroom fitters in over the last few weeks. We've also had a new water tank put in. And we had to have the roof redone as well.

Boll spent her formative kitten years living in a building site while the Oxford house was being renovated and so she's very philosophical about such things.

I'll put some bathroom pix up when I've totally finished pimping it up.

Grand Designs - the project manager oversees proceedings from her pouffe

Bothered? Do I look bothered?

a night on the tiles

This week's pin-up is the lovely Kobi.

Kobi is a Tibetan Terrier and lives with Andrew and Paula in London.

This week's pin-up is Spud the cute spineless hedgehog who lives at the Tiggywinkles sanctuary.

This week's pin-up is a kitten with his baby monkey pal.

Bolly decided to lurk like a troll under a fluffy throw on the sofa for most of today, occasionally peeping out to see what was going on.

By popular demand - the Peacockshock Pin-Up of the Week is back. This week's pin-up is the gorgeous Gagarin from Lincoln who lives with Lea and Mr Lion Tamer.

It was warm today (at least in the sun) and Bolly decided to actually go out into the garden and stay there for more than five minutes. A first for 2009.

Like a groundhog leaving its burrow, this is a clear harbinger of a wondrous spring.

Skippy - the only surviving photo

36 years ago this morning, I removed the cover from Tog the guinea pig's hutch to give him breakfast. Tog was a plump male g pig. He'd become increasingly rotund since arriving chez Peacock in December 1972.

And there, in front of my very eyes, on the sawdust in front of his wooden breakfast ledge, was Tog ... with four unbelievably cute babies.

Tog was considerably slimmer than he'd been the night before and looked rather proud of himself. Herself.

1st February 1973 was one of the happiest days of my life and I always remember it with a small tear in my eye. Three of the piglets were fluffy and multicoloured. One was short-haired and mostly black. I called her Skippy because of her habit of randomly jumping in the air for no reason, and she lived with her mum for a very happy three years. The other piglets were adopted by friends.

Tog lived till she was almost seven and was my best friend throughout my teenage years. She was very tame and often sat on my lap to watch TV.

I'll never forget Tog and Skippy.

Boll loves bags and often gets ridiculously tangled up in my Cannons rucksack. She also makes a beeline for paper bags and sits on them, even if there are comfy chairs and cushions nearby.

Boll has spent a large part of today running around with a Farrow & Farrow bag on her head. It's a fabulous delicatessen. Good to know that the Boll has such good taste.

Bolly on New Year's Day

All the best for 2009 from me and the Boll. We're now back from our peregrinations.

Ian finelly got a bigg tree yesterday. It looked sad in Van Hagues gardin centr, like Paddinten Bear saying 'please look after this beare'. I decoratted it wiv baurbels, n it looks quit cool now. Bolla x

pic I took of meself

Hello

azxaczaszatb

Sorry - big paws make typinge hard.

Ian's been very busy and asked me to pologize for his tempirary absence. He says he's gonna do lots of peacocksnop news this weekend.

L8RS

Da Boll xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

typical Bollinger expression

posing on the fluffy blue tower

in the kitchen, keeping an eye on the oven

Bolly, enjoying a stroll in the garden this week

I spent a splendid afternoon with my friend Amina Z on Primrose Hill the other day. We (well, I) had some very pleasing lemon cake at The Tea Cosy and we tried to spot some celebrities. All celebrities have to live there by law.

I was hoping for a sighting of someone like Enrique Iglesias or Sienna Miller or Joan Bakewell, but I had to make do with someone who may or may not be in The Bill or Casualty. We also walked past what may very possibly have been Jamie Oliver's house.

And we saw lots of chichi dogs which seemed as if they probably belonged to very famous people. They included two komondors, a chihuahua and a pomeranian.

a pomeranian

Oh dear. Boll has a new hobby. I always feared we were too close to Essex.

Great excitement. Boll's just had a weigh-in at the vets and she's lost weight.

This may be thanks to her new food ball - a plastic contraption which I fill with dry cat food. She then has to chase it in order to release her dinner. She's still over 6kg. But she has lost a massive 100 grams. Congratulations Boll.

Binx - who recently found a new home thanks to The Scratching Post

Thank you to Deb for telling me about The Scratching Post - a fantastic cat rescue shelter near Cheshunt. If you live in Hertfordshire and would like to give a cat a loving home, The Scratching Post is the place to visit.

Thank you to Tammy from Massachusetts for informing me that the gorgeous cat and guinea pig featured in a previous Peacockshock pin-up are in fact her pets Armand (cat) and Titania (guinea pig). Sadly, Titania passed away a few months ago from old age.

Tammy runs a brilliant guinea pig portal, called cavymadness which has some great stuff on it, including snaps of various 'pignics'.

She's also a top pet photographer. Check out her site for some very cute pix.

My favourite silly season story of 2008 has to be the tale of Nick Boing - a 22 stone ram who lives in his own bungalow in a Cardiff suburb.

He was adopted by the Palmer family when he was a stray lamb and he's lived with them ever since. He used to sleep on the bed, but now he's too big. Nick enjoys sitting on the sofa watching television and eating biscuits and often goes for walks on a lead and trips in the car.

Nick when he was a lamb

Happy 9th birthday to Bolly, her sister Tigger and their two fluffy brothers. The Boll spent this afternoon playing with her new toy - a hedgehog on a stick. And she's having Whiskas Organic Chicken for dinner.

Boll, posing for a birthday portrait today

Boll left her tongue sticking out (for several minutes) after grooming this morning and then crossed her legs in a camp fashion.

Bollinger was delighted to read in today's gossip columns that Daniel 'James Bond' Craig is one of her biggest fans.

Boll and Jess having a siesta in the lounge yesterday

Boll has really taken to my new eco-friendly Waitrose shopping bag and has virtually lived in it this weekend.

Talking of Eco-Boll, my friend's mum is quite environmentally friendly but prone to malapropisms. This may explain why she swears by 'ecobolical' washing powder.

My friend Christian, who rarely strays out of London, came to Hertford for dinner last night and met the rotund Bolly for the first time.

'What a beautiful cat!' he enthused. 'Wow! And she's pregnant too!'

Boll and her friend Jess spent today in the garden. More precisely, they spent it on the new garden furniture, which meant I had to sit on the doorstep during my breaks from painting the house.

Bollinger spent today familiarising herself with the new garden furniture.

Bolly and I had a visit yesterday - from Pixie the Papillon. Boll normally gets on well with dogs, but she seemed utterly mystified by Pixie and just watched her from a safe distance.

My theory is that Boll thought Pixie was a cat in disguise. They're both about the same size and Pixie isn't conspicuously dog-like. It's difficult to imagine her, say, cast as the Hound of the Baskervilles, looming out of the mists of Dartmoor, howling and baring her teeth.

a nice stretch in the sun

a touch of light floristry

a snooze on the duvet

Today's cat appears to be disguising himself as a chicken.

Today's extremely silly-looking cat is from Japan.

Today's cat is wearing a mystical golden hat.

Introducing an exciting new feature. The Daily Cat in a Hat. Inspired by Bolly's fetching 1951 station master's cap, the feature will continue until I run out of cats. If the Daily Cat in a Hat proves popular, it may very well be replaced by another species in a hat - termite in a trilby, bee in a bonnet, beaver in a beret, binturong in a bowler, hoopoe in a helmet - or whatever.

Boll didn't want to be outdone by her Japanese lookalike Tama, so has donned a 1951 station master's hat and is rumoured to be taking over at Hertford North.

My friend Ding the horse has just moved house to a new yard quite near to Hertford. He seems to be settling in very well and did a Hello-style photoshoot yesterday with his human Henrietta.

Hello from deepest Essex, where I'm cat-sitting for a few days. My three adorable fluffy hosts are Dexter the chocolate Persian, Alexis the silver Persian and Maud the mini-moglet. Boll is being expertly cat-sat by friends in Hertford.

Dex and Lex (impersonating a snowy owl)

Dex and Maud

Maud, auditioning to be an extra on Dr Who

Alexis - insisting I should have yet another screen break

Echo - a golden retriever from Cheshire - was in the news today for adopting a bunch of orphaned kittens. She now looks after them along with her puppies and doesn't seem to care what species they are.

Boll spent this afternoon sunbathing and grooming herself on a beach towel in the garden.

Boll poses for the paparazzi on the window sill

Meanwhile, Jess agrees to a photoshoot with Ian's new heather plants

Jess seems fine after last week's drama. He's been in the garden most days this week and popped into the house this morning to visit Bollinger. I was worried he'd associate me with his hostage crisis, as I was virtually the only person he saw during it, but he doesn't seem remotely bothered.

Jess is still in the house. He was sitting on the sofa and looking very much at home when I peeped through the front window this morning. I could then hear enthusiastic crunching noises when I posted his breakfast through the door.

There was a dramatic breakthrough yesterday, when he cleverly managed to nudge some letters on the hallway table, so my neighbour's full name and phone details were clearly visible through the letterbox. But an internet search produced no mobile numbers or useful details.

Meanwhile, my other neighbours explored the idea of breaking in. They climbed a ladder to see whether the bedroom windows might be easier than downstairs. But they were securely locked, so we're going to wait till this afternoon before trying anything more drastic (such as removing a window pane to get in).

It's snowing outside, but these houses are pretty warm in cold weather and he's quite furry, so I'm not too bothered about the temperature.

Hopefully the neighbour who's unwittingly imprisoning him will get back soon.

Thanks for the messages. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for your messages of concern.

The home-alone cat is fine this morning. He's still in the house (neighbour definitely away) but he seems very perky and wolfed the dry cat food which I popped through the letterbox at 9am. I then posted a clean, wet sponge for him to lick if he gets thirsty.

The RSPCA said he should be fine for a day or two. Cats are better at coping with such crises than dogs. And my neighbour will almost certainly be back early tomorrow afternoon, to find the house full of cat food, sponges and whatever presents the cat decides to leave for her.

It's 9pm and the cat's still in there. My neighbour seems to have disappeared. The RSPCA say he'll be OK overnight and I've put some dry cat food through the letterbox for his supper. He seems very active and quite jolly, considering.

If my neighbour's not back by late morning Saturday, there may be a rescue attempt. Watch this space.

Breaking Mews.

It all started this morning, when I heard distant, spectral miaowing. It sounded like Boll's friend Jess the black cat, but he was nowhere to be seen.

I was worried he might be in the shed or stuck behind a wall and searched the entire garden. No sign. But the distant yowling continued.

In the end, I decided I was imagining it. I even started to think, somewhat morbidly, that he might have died and his ghost was haunting us. His cries were oddly distant and muffled.

Then I recalled his alarming habit of following people silently into the house in the dark. And I had a flashback to hearing my next door neighbour setting off extremely early this morning.

So I peeped through the letterbox. There he was, peeping out.

I couldn't get hold of my neighbour, so I propped open the letterbox with a copy of The Times to let some extra air in.

I also phoned the police for advice. They kindly offered to kick the front door in. But I decided that may not go down too well.

So we now have to stay calm and wait till about 7pm. I've stuck a note on the door to warn my neighbour, just in case Jess hurtles howling out of the door in a frenzied flurry of fur.

As you might expect, Boll has shown very little interest in the unfolding drama.

This is a premonition of me in a few years' time. The kindly madwoman in this clip rescues strays and has 130 Moscow moggies in her small flat. They look pretty happy and healthy to me, despite the slight overcrowding issue. I've not been able to verify whether it's real or not, but I have seen this VT played on what appears to be a genuine Russian news programme.

Introducing the lovely Dolly from Ware. Dolly lives with her friend Iain and likes to gaze affectionately at him through her picture window. Her flatmates include a penguin fish, a very fetching molly and a small, slightly nervous neon tetra. Dolly's beautifully appointed and deceptively spacious waterside apartment is in a sought-after location in the lounge and has many state-of-the-art features, including pink flowers and a statue of Hollywood heart-throb Nemo.

I'm dreaming of a white Easter - just like the ones we used to know.

Boll has spent most of today asleep on the duvet.

I noticed the cover of Nintendo Cats and Dogs today in a shop and was struck by the astounding similarity between the Nintendo cat and Bolly (pictured right - as a kitten). Clearly she's been modelling behind my back to fund her Whiskas habit.

Boll surfaced this afternoon and went to the vets for her manicure (or is it pedicure?) She's normally very cute and adorable at the vets, but she wasn't in the mood today and hissed throughout her beauty treatment like some crazed diva. Thankfully she's calmed down now and is being cherubic again.

Boll at my parents' house last week

Every time someone sees Bolly at the moment, they either say she's lost or put on weight. I've no idea. As I see her every day, her various rotundity adjustments aren't noticeable.

Today I decided to take her to the vets for a manicure and shut the bedroom door to stop her hiding in one of her nooks. Being Bollinger, she instantly knew there was something up, charged upstairs, hurled herself at the door like a fluffy battering ram, managed to open it and shot under the bed where she's now lurking in an inaccessible corner.

Meanwhile, Jess the black cat contuinues to visit us most days. Boll gave him an Eskimo (Inuit?) Kiss yesterday, which looked very sweet.

Monty was a real sweety and one of my all-time favourite cats. He lived in Cambridge and then Norfolk and spent his holidays in Impington. I'll always have very fond memories of him and I'm very glad I visited him in 2006 when he was quite elderly but clearly extremely happy. Bless him. We'll all miss him very much.

This week's pin-up is a squirrel, eating nuts outside my bedroom window this week.

This week's pin-up is the long-eared jerboa. It lives in the Gobi Desert, has cute furry feet, hops like a kangaroo and has just been filmed for the first time ever. The video really is worth watching if you like sweet and eccentric animals.

This week's topical pin-ups are four orphaned baby hedgehogs (aka 'hedgehoglets' according to the OED) who decided to adopt a garden brush as their mummy. Baby hedgehogs are having a bad winter because the chaotic weather has made them too weak to hibernate. If you find one, don't give it milk and water. Much better to give it cat or dog food. And - if your hedgehoglet's looking very thin or ill - inform your local hedgehog centre or the RSPCA.

baby hedgehog on the mend at Tiggywinkles Hospital

This week's pin-up is a baby tapir. Tapirs are shy and solitary creatures. They like wallowing in mud and have very flexible snouts which can move in all directions. In the mythology of Japanese Anime and Manga cartoons, they can eat dreams.

I left a Nike shoebox in the lounge last week and Bolly's decided it's a cat sofa. Despite all the nice soft carpeting which surrounds it, she now sits, sleeps and generally hangs out on the shoebox for a large part of the day. I've asked her to explain why, but she remains enigmatic.

Bollinger having a lie-in this morning

Bolly and I are feeling both snug and smug this morning. Having deliberately left the heating on last night, it's warm as toast in the house despite the frost. Boll briefly surfaced for breakfast but has now gone back to bed to have a sleep on my jumper.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Monty from Inverness. Monty's a Japanese Spitz. His favourite hobby is having his tummy tickled.

This week's pin-ups are the lovely Jasper and Pebble Fink from London.

Jasper

Pebble

This week's pin-up is the beautiful Beegee Bijou from north London. A Singapura cat, she lives with her daughter Solitaire and their pet human Lynne. Beegee Bijou's hobbies include running up and down the stairs with Solitaire. Thanks to Amina for the fab photos.

Jess has now started talking to Boll through the bedroom window by climbing up the tiles like Romeo. Boll has ignored his serenades so far. I'll keep you posted if there are any developments.

Bolly spent this morning lounging around watching her favourite video - Cool for Cats - which features various scuttling rodents and fidgeting fowls. She just sat there most of the time, but occasionally leapt up to claw the screen. Her favourite bit at the moment is the bluetit sequence.

This week's pin-ups are the lovely Alfie and Molly - Jack Russells from Banbury and Oxford. Alfie's the one in the rather fetching hoody. Molly's the fluffier one. They both get on very well and are famous for their habit of 'turbo' charging up and down the house.

In fact, the first ever officially-recognised Jack Russell was from Oxford. He was called Trump and was owned by the Reverend John Russell (born 1795) - hence the name.

This week's hunky pin-up is dishy Dennis from Knebworth, who lives with Joe and Chris.

Henrietta and Frank's rabbit Martha was a lovely bunny and great friend to Humphrey.

This week's pin-up is a ferret.

This week's pin-up is a dogsbane beetle.

Boll, having a siesta on her favourite garden chair this afternoon

Jess managed to get onto the roof this evening, which confused Bollinger. Boll isn't much of a climber thanks to her gravitational challenges and looked astonished that he'd managed to get up there.

I've no idea what I was supposed to do today or whether I did it.

This is because my entire schedule was on my whiteboard and Bollinger knocked it over, sat on it and fidgeted around. Being somewhat rotund and exceedingly fluffy, she managed to act as a giant board eraser.

Jess and Boll had a relatively amicable chat tonight, with only the occasional threatening howl. At one point, Jess ran into the house, grabbed the tail of Boll's favourite brown mouse and skidaddled out with it in his mouth. I apprehended him as Boll looked on in shock. They then got bored with each other and Boll pottered back into the house. It's all very dramatic stuff. I fear they may be turning into emos.

This week's pin-up is a ring-tailed lemur.

Ring-tailed lemurs (named after the 13 rings on their tails) are from Madagascar. They live till they're about 27. Lemur groups are ruled by the females who always win in fights. Lemur mums keep their babies in their mouths until they're big enough to sit on their backs. They always keep their tails up as a sort of signpost to keep their group together. And they enjoy eating flowers and sunbathing.

Jess

The Jane Austen (sorry - Pawsten) romance continues between Bollinger and Jess.

Jess darted into the house last night and sprinted comically all over the living room then upstairs, before settling down for a snooze in the olive tree pot. Boll just looked bemused. At least she's stopped hissing at him now. I'll keep you posted.

Bollinger posing this morning

I slept very badly last night and was lying awake at 2am feeling peeved about my shoulder which was aching after I pulled it at the gym.

Suddenly - a gentle scratch on the door. It was Boll.

I let her in and she leapt straight up onto the bed, snuggled up to the precise point where my shoulder was hurting and stayed there for several hours till it was better.

Bollinger has been assisting me over the last few days as I've been dubbing some of my video archive onto DVD. Here she is in the gallery, guarding a DVC tape.

This week's pin-up is a baby chipmunk.

This week's pin-up Louise kindly agreed to do a photoshoot yesterday in the grounds of Hertford Castle. James was the art director and official stick thrower. Louise was accompanied by her friend Nancy the labrador.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Louise from Hertford. Louise is James's cuddly canine companion. She enjoys food, strolling through town and sitting in the car (with her seatbelt on) chatting to James who is her best friend.

Introducing Jess, who lives nearby in a wooden house and visits Boll most evenings for a chat. It's been a bit on-off. At first, Boll hissed and growled at him. But she's mellowed and they now sit near each other in the garden and exchange smalltalk and pleasantries. However - I feel that Percy the Persian, who lives in a cottage by the river, may be a more Bollinger-friendly match. Percy has blue eyes and looks like a cross between a lion and a poodle. I'll keep you posted.

Boll enjoys her daily grooming routine and often leaves her tongue sticking out afterwards by mistake. This is a pic of her grooming today.

Bollinger spent today planting some cornflowers and French lavender, then impersonating a tiger in the bushes, then having a nice rest.

This week's pin-up is an opposum.

Bolly, looking regal

This week's pin-up is Bug the Parrot

Bollinger had her tail between her legs this morning - literally. See pic.

A French friend emailed me regarding last week's pin-up (a cat grooming a guinea pig).

Her comment -

'Mmmm. Wonder what it would taste like lightly sauteed in garlic with a herb butter dressing.'

I emailed back to say this confirmed my suspicion that the French ate cats, but she denied this, saying she was referring to the guinea pig. She clearly felt this was more acceptable.

Thank goodness for the English Channel.

A cat and guinea pig who are best friends (more great guinea pig stuff at cavymadness)

A pensive vole

the cube thing in the living room

my garden chair

the ironing cupboard

I saw and heard a cuckoo in the garden this morning. My first ever sighting. It was like encountering a mythical creature from a medieval bestiary and cheered me up enormously. It was quite scraggy-looking but had a beautiful voice. A perfect metaphor for a radio presenter.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Bollinger. I took these pix of her at the weekend.

A Mini Schnauzer Puppy

Persephone

More Persephone Pix

Here are some pix taken today of Bolly's morning routine...

Introducing the delightful Daisy from Wiltshire

Boll, trying to open a birthday present intended for her friend James. She eventually did open it and got inside the bag.

Thank you to this week's Herts Mercury for catapulting Bollinger to even dizzier heights of feline fame.

Boll was joined in the Mercury by her friend Shirley Basset, who used to live next door. I spotted Shirley modelling in an article about Pet Week at Photography by Louise on St Andrew Street.

Bollinger will be appearing alongside Lenny Henry, an amazing family from Norwich, a [male] cat called Daisy, a forgetful curate, an ugly dog and - um - me, in a Comic Relief real-life story today (Thursday 15th March) at 10.03pm on BBC Radio 2. It's called It Could Be You.

Boll appears in the programme because Daisy was rather taciturn and I needed some cat sound effects to boost his presence.

Below is an exclusive excerpt from Bollinger's cameo. I feel she deserves an Oscar for Best Supporting Pet.

Bolly's BBC Appearance

Having been an indoor cat for quite a while, Boll is now spending some supervised time in the garden which is enclosed and cat-friendly. She spent her first few trips sitting on the doorstep happily eating plants. But this morning, she was alarmed to find a duck sitting on the wall. She wasn't sure what it was, so she ran indoors and hid under the coffee table.

Bollinger is sooooo useful sometimes.

The new DVD player has arrived and has been officially inspected by Boll.

A kitten sticking its tongue out

Bollinger was grooming herself this morning. Then she stopped. But she left her tongue sticking out. Just the tip. Why?

I suspect she'd just forgotten it was out. But one theory is that it's a sign of affection and indicates that your cat's totally relaxed with you.

Animal Planet discussion of the cat tongue question

Apparently, dog owners are healthier than cat owners, because they walk more and because dogs are more easy-going.

I've always had cats, but I'm neither a cat person nor a dog person. I like both. And I think they're much more similar than most people think.

Boll is very affectionate and sociable, like a dog. So she's very relaxing to be with. This could be because she was partly brought up by an extremely friendly dog - Charlie.

But I also think it's about your approach. If you treat a cat like a stereotypical cat, it becomes one. If you show it affection, it returns it.

Bolly celebrating Christmas in her inimitable style

Bolly on my parents' sofa

Bolly's at my parents' house for Christmas. She went up early as I was supposed to be moving house today and I didn't want to ruffle her. But I'm now moving in the first week of January - I think. Mum phoned tonight to say Boll was watching a documentary about lion cubs and was trying to get inside the TV to play with them.

Bollinger of Cricklewood

Bollinger has a namesake in London. The 'other' Bollinger is a 14-year-old Abyssinian who also likes snoozing upside down and gets on well with dogs. He even has his own Blog. Thank you to his human for getting in touch.

Bollinger's had a very odd week. She sprained her elbow on Monday and had to have an anti-inflammatory injection.

The injection then made her sick. So she had to go on a 24-hour starvation diet.

Now she's on a chicken-only diet for a day or two. She's still limping slightly, but seems perfectly happy now she can eat again.

I put a box file on my bed earlier while I was tidying my bedroom. And where did Bollinger decide to have a nap? On the nice cosy duvet? No. On the box file.

Mouse, impersonating a nun in the Sound of Music

Breaking News. There are new photos of Mouse on Fran's website.

Alfie the Jack Russell lives with Matt and Jaime in Banbury and runs his own website which also features his friend Molly from Oxford.

Alfie, celebrating Halloween

Molly, looking very cute

This is my next door neighbour answering the door. We often go for walks together. Yesterday, we went to the pet shop for some dog treats.

Boll, posing at the top of the stairs this weekend ...

... and doing a spot of mousing

Sad news. Fran's cat Teddy died last week during an operation which revealed he had an aggressive and terminal form of cancer. I didn't meet Teddy but I was a big fan and followed his progress. Here's an excerpt from Fran's tribute to him:

Three days ago I had to make the awful decision to have Teddy put to sleep.
Even if he came round from the anaesthetic, he would only live for a day or two. So the best thing was to give the go-ahead for him to go while he was still asleep. Which was what I did. I went in a couple of hours later to say goodbye to him. Emma had wrapped him in a towel, and she and Danny were incredibly kind to me while I held him in my arms and told him how much I loved him.

It's so hard to get my head round how quickly he's gone. He's left an enormous hole in my heart. I miss him from all his favourite sleeping places; I miss him rushing downstairs when I got home in the evening, then jumping up onto the table to examine any plastic bag; I miss his gorgeous orange mackerel markings and slightly scabby pink paw pads; I miss playing fish on a string with him; I miss his enormous motor-boat purr; I miss his great furry bulk draped over my knees; I miss him at night when he'd jump up onto the pillow next to me and gently put a paw on my hand. I miss him and I want him back.

Teddy, you could not have been a more wonderful cat. I wanted to spend years with you, but at least we had five months together. It's not nearly long enough but I hope I made you as happy as you made me. Goodbye, my bold boy.

Bollinger, demonstrating the artistic principles of chiaroscuro and contre jour

Alfie lives with Matt and Jaime in Banbury and is quite a character, as you can see.

Alfie with his friend Molly from Oxford

Boll had a long lie in this morning as it's Sunday.

Here are some photos I took of Monty on Friday. Monty's 17 and lives in Wymondham in Norfolk. We brought him up as a small child in Cambridge. As you can see, he's on very good form. His hobbies include sitting on the lawn and under his favourite shrub.

The fabulous and very sweet Bollinger is seven today. She's been celebrating by eating organic chicken cat food and watching TV.

Alfie lives with Matt and Jaime in Banbury and is a real character, as you can see.

The cat next door and her kittens having a siesta this afternoon

And another siesta indoors

Fran's cute cats Teddy and Mouse (Mouse is the one who looks shocked)

More Pix

Oh dear. I got a cat video for Boll and she liked it. That was fine. But now she's obsessed with the TV and watches it whenever it's on.

Yesterday, she watched BBC Breakfast News and was fascinated by the traffic bulletins - particularly the Hanger Lane Gyratory System.

Then she watched Big Brother last night and Popworld this morning (yes - I have very highbrow tastes).

What am I to do? She's supposed to get as much exercise as possible. And my psychologist friend Aric says she may get ADHD. This is all my fault.

Boll, watching Mastermind

Bollinger has a new video. It was made exclusively for cat viewers, so it consists of mice, bluetits, blackbirds, gerbils, fish and so on - all scuttling around the screen, accompanied by a cacophony of bird and animal noises. As soon as I put it on, Boll shot into the room and was gripped from start to finish. She was absurdly excited by the partridge section for some reason (I felt the plot dragged at that point) and tried to catch them by launching herself at the screen.

Boll interacts with a partridge

Bollinger, getting uncontrollably excited about the World Cup

Bollinger may be eccentric, and may often act like a human or a dog, and may often be mistaken for a boy cat, and may have an obsession with technology and radios. But she is not - I repeat NOT - an alien in disguise. This is a wicked rumour started by my friend Henrietta, who is convinced that Boll is spying on humanity and secretly relaying messages to her mothership. Henrietta has just seen the fridge-top photos and emailed me the following:

'Pictures on Peacockshock confirm my fears that Boll is transmitting.'

No. Boll is not transmitting. She's just sitting on a fridge next to a radio. End of.

On windowsill sentry duty

Keeping an eye on me in the office

Relaxing in the living room

This week's pin-up is Dostoyevsky the hamster from Waltham Abbey in Essex. He's quite old and short-sighted, but very active. His hobbies include eating grapes and running on his wheel.

This week's pin-up is the lovely Teddy from Tottenham. Fran has adopted Teddy and Mouse from a cat shelter. They're both doing well following an initial attack of shyness.

I did some gardening yesterday assisted by Baby Basset who helped by carrying an old gardening glove around and digging random holes.

Some Cockerpoos

I noticed a very cute dog outside Waitrose the other day and asked its owner what it was. "A Cockerpoo," he replied. "A cross between a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle. Poodle combinations are very fashionable. They had a Labradoodle on TV last night."

A Labradoodle

This week's pin-up is the lovely Monty from Wymondham in Norfolk.

Mo and Flo's hutch/run has a new home, which I'm sure they'd approve of. It's now in my neighbour's mum's garden and is occupied by Hagrid.

Hagrid's a giant rabbit who arrived on Halloween, hence his name.

My friend Fran has written this tribute to her wonderful cat Livia...

In memory of my darling Livia, who left for rainbow bridge early on Monday morning.

Livvy chose me when I visited a rather dodgy rescue centre in Sept 2000...she sat on a box and gave me a look, and that was it. Livvy was never a lap girl...but she loved her spot beside me on the sofa, and always herded me to bed at night. She quacked rather than mewed, hence proving that she was is fact that rare breed, the duck puss.

Her favourite spot was on top of the kitchen work surface, where she had a fleece bed. There she could keep an eye on me and the food bowl. She was also very fond of bags, and thoroughly investigated each new arrival. She was the most affectionate girl, and loved having her neck and ears rubbed.

She gave me six wonderful years of love and quacks, and I miss her most terribly. My house isn't a home without her.

Sleep tight, my gorgeous girl, and run free at the bridge.

My lovely Florence died this morning. She was running around the garden only a few days ago and spent yesterday afternoon sunbathing in the garden while I was sitting out. It was all very quick and she was in no pain. She developed a balance problem early today and just fell asleep at the vets. I was with her and told her I loved her.

She was a fantastic friend to Mo and always groomed and looked after him. She was depressed when he died, but started to be pretty lively again over the last week or so. Flo and I became better friends than ever over the last few days.

I first met Florence when I went to a pet shop to look for a new friend for Mo after his brother Chandon died. She kept coming up to me in the shop and was definitely saying hello and asking to live with me. She was one year old and she'd lived in the pet shop all her life.

When she first arrived in Hertford, she was quite nervous and would sometimes run up the ramp and stamp her foot in a huff. But she gradually became tamer and tamer and more and more affectionate.

She loved sitting next to Mo. But she sometimes sat upstairs in the hutch by herself, looking out at me through the corner of her eye. And, every now and then, she'd build herself a nest in the hay.

Here are some snapshots of Florence from my diary, starting in the pet shop when she introduced herself:

Rabbit with big ears and pointy nose kept coming up to glass. Very friendly. Florence. One year old.

Introduced Flo to Mo. Alternated between chasing and grooming. Flo's ears much bigger than Mo's.

Florence burrowing and generally wrecking the garden.

Flo grooming Mo.

Flo protecting Mo.

Florence building a nest.

Took Florence to vets for jabs. Behaved impeccably. Sat up and put paws on catbox while being poked.

Flo sunbathing.

Flo sprinting round garden.

I'll miss her terribly. She was a real sweety. I can't believe both Flo and Mo aren't here any more. Well, they are here in my heart and I'll always love them. Bless them.

Flo grooming Mo

This week's pin-up is Bollinger, snapped this morning by the catarrazzi while peeping out from the cubby hole in her fluffy blue tower.

Florence doing a rain dance (click for nice big pic)

It's April. Sunny one minute. Rainy the next. That means I spend all day running in and out of the house, putting Florence into her sheltered run/hutch and then letting her out again.

The problem is: whenever I put her in, the sun comes out. And as soon as I let her out, it starts raining again.

She seems to be turning into a sort of English groundhog, causing changes in the weather. I fear she may be personally responsible for global warming.

As you probably know by now, Mo the rabbit passed away last weekend. I still feel very sad and miss him a lot. I keep imagining him in the garden and I kept expecting him to interfere sweetly when I was cleaning Flo's litter tray yesterday.

Florence seems OK and she's eating fine, but she has been looking around the garden as if she's searching for him.

I also mislaid loads of things this week - like my watch, which went awol for days. A classic sign of bereavement.

I'm still going to keep all my Mo entries on Peacockshock (in the garden, with all the pets) but you may have noticed I've put a photo of Bolly on the right of the front page instead of Mo. It was lovely to see him, but it made me feel sad every time I checked the site.

I'm sure he'd understand, being a very understanding rabbit.

My lovely rabbit Moët passed away peacefully at the weekend. I was with him, stroking him. And, even though he was too weak to stand up, he was looking at me all afternoon with his little nose twitching sweetly. He just fell asleep gently. He wasn't in any pain or distress at all. It was just old age. He was almost seven.

I'm very sad about it, but he was an amazing pet and friend and had a really nice life. He also had a huge number of fans. Even people who didn't like rabbits liked Mo. He was always sweet and calm and never harmed anything or anyone.

I first met him on July 17th 1999, when I got back to Oxford on a Saturday evening to discover two baby rabbits in a hutch on the patio. They were a surprise present from my friend James. At first, I said: "No. I'm not having rabbits. Too much responsibility." But, after ten minutes, I'd changed my mind and already fallen in love with them. We called them Moët and Chandon as they were a silky silvery champagne colour. They were brothers and had matching white noses. But Mo was slightly larger, with a more rounded white nose patch, and a white paw too. They were great friends.

A neighbour made a large hutch for them, with a run connected to it and they lived in the garden. But they often came into the house and got on very well with Bollinger the cat when she arrived (her name continuing the champagne theme). They loved the lawn and used to both stand in a queue to jump onto my lap when I sat with them. Their favourite sitting place was a paving stone on some bricks, inside the run. They nearly always sat on it symmetrically. And their favourite food was Spring Greens. Mo also loved green beans.

He was extremely tame and friendly, but was shyer than Chandon and liked to hide his face in Chandon's fur. They often made a nest of hay to sit in. And, one winter, a fieldmouse moved in to live with them for a while. Mild-mannered Mo and Chandon seemed perfectly happy about this. In fact, Mo seemed to get on well with all species. I recently found him nose-to-nose with a cat in the garden and he was totaly unruffled. He was just curious.

He loved his toys and was very keen on moving them. He really enjoyed picking up his pink and mauve plastic ball and throwing it out of the way. He also enjoyed helping me when I cleaned out the litter tray and always stayed around to watch. Sometimes, he just sat in the tray chewing a bit of hay when I moved it.

He was extremely good at sitting around looking vague, which led to quite a few health scares - thankfully all false alarms. But that was just Mo. He was unbelievably calm and tame. He loved eating Suparabbit out of my hand and was always complimented by the vet for good behaviour when he had his jabs. One diary entry reads: 'Mo complimented by vet for being sweet and well-behaved.' He even made fans when I carried him to the vets in the catbox and people would compliment him in the street for being so cute.

He loved sitting in the rain too - even in the snow - and often had to be dried with a towel. But, on very cold nights, he'd come inside and sleep in my room, usually waking me up with chewing and scuffling noises. He wasn't mad on hot weather though, and lay flat-out on hot days, molting in ridiculous clumps. I described him once in my diary as a 'scruffy urchin.'

When the rabbits were three, I moved from Oxford and they stayed at Danny and Viv's down the road in the garden next to the aviary. The rabbs then moved to Newcastle for a while, as I was staying with my parents before moving to Hertford. They lived in a run on the patio, and we watched them more than we watched the TV. My parents loved them. And, as Mum wasn't too well and I was away a lot, Dad looked after them for a few months. Mo and Dad were very good pals and, after little Chandon died (when he was 3½), Dad made a special fuss of Mo. But I wanted him to have some bunny company, so he moved down south again to stay with Frank, Henrietta and their rabbits.

Then, after a slightly peripatetic year, he moved with me to Hertford, where he's lived for the last three years. It was here that he met Florence. Flo was one when I got her from a petshop. And they were introduced in a cardboard box in the back of a friend's car, being driven around Essex. This may seem odd, but putting rabbits in a strange situation, in a confined space, is a classic way of helping them bond.

It worked very well, and they were best pals from the day they met. Flo, being larger and more extrovert, was very protective of Mo and was always grooming him and letting him hide his face in her fur. They nearly always sat together, as if watching an invisible rabbit television. She taught him how to burrow too, and my diary reveals that he became more and more adventurous the older he got:

'Super-Mo attacked cardboard box.'

'Mo and Flo attacked box and destroyed tree trunk.'

'Moët high up in rockery on top of blue pot.'

'Rabbits running round in insane circles.'

'Mo up on rockery. Tips of rabbit ears moving around visible from upstairs.'

And, only last week, I had to send out a search party at dusk as it looked as if he'd disappeared :

'Discovered Mo hiding behind plant pots.'

But Mobes enjoyed nothing more than sitting cosily in some hay. My diary from a few weeks ago reads: 'Moët made a nest and sat in it with his nose sticking out.'

He loved his food and is always described in my diary as 'wolfing' it. Just last week, he wolfed a 'honey stick' rabbit treat (a small wooden stick coated with seeds and honey - his favourite.) And he ate quite a lot of small apple slices at the weekend even though he was frail.

He only became frail a couple of weeks ago - just looked a bit old and smaller, but the vet said he absolutely wasn't suffering. He was just getting on a bit. He came up to stay in my room at the weekend and, on Saturday, Boll and Flo popped in to see him and Florence groomed him.

When I was ill in hospital last year, one of the things that kept me going was thinking of Mo and Flo in the garden sitting by the foxgloves, and looking forward to seeing them again.

I'll always remember how Mo used to run up to me at the gate when I went into the garden to see them. I'd stroke him and he'd nudge my hand when I stopped, to ask me to stroke him more.

He was such a sweet rabbit. I'll always love him and I'll miss him terribly. But I'm sure he's in heaven now, looking down on us all and happily nibbling some nice green beans. Bless him. Mo was totally amazing and brought so much happiness to my life. I'll never forget him.