Mats generally don’t survive long in our house as they’re the natural prey of the Beanie monster. That’s why on our latest visit to B&Q I wanted to switch to the hard-wearing, spiky-bristled variety. I figured they wouldn’t feel nice in Beanie’s mouth, so they might not get chewed quite so much. Susan disagreed: “Just get a regular washable mat. We can take it up any time Beanie’s unattended downstairs”. I expressed doubts that we could remember, or even be bothered, to do that day in, day out.

I lost, and we paid £14 for a long, washable fabric mat. We popped it down in the hall when we got back, let Beanie into the garden, and went to check our email. Here’s the sight that greeted me when I returned to investigate some unusual sounds coming from the ground floor..

Still, that bit of a destruction is a sign that Beanie’s throughly back on form. Earlier in the week, we’d felt that she had lost some of her boundless energy and zest for life following a complete switch over to raw food. Her confidence also took a dent on Tuesday when we had our carpets replaced by laminate. The fresh clean laminate surface has already helped to reduce her itching, but for the first couple of days she was a bit like Bambi on ice. There was no jumping on the kitchen table, no running around like a crazy thing. Instead she just sulked on her bed and whined.

Well, that torn up rug is a symbol of her return to healthy, happy naughtiness. And if this morning’s session at the park is anything to go by, the switch back to regular dry food (Burns Active) has completely restored her energy reserves: