cat – Page 2 – Site Title

YIKES!

I walked out the front door this morning and all seemed calm and beautiful. The sun was shining and the tulips are getting ready to bloom. It was a peaceful world until I turned my head to the right and there lying on the ground was something small and pink. Thinking it was a chewing gum wrapper that some kid had thrown, not caring where it landed, I bent to get a closer look and YIKES!

It was a baby mouse, pink and grey with a sweet little pink nose. It wasn’t moving and it hadn’t been torn to shreds by a marauding cat in the dead of night either. My mind started churning. What do I do now? My first thought, “I’m not touching it!” However, I also knew that I had to do something. Rotting on the ground where it lay was a no go and calling someone to help get rid of the poor thing was a no go either.

Walking back into the house lost in thought, I came across Chachi, the cat, watching me intuitively. Little Einstein knew something was up. I also knew that if I let him out there, he would take care of the problem or he might just pick it up and bring it into the house, lay it at my feet as a small gift from him to me. YIKES!

Walking into the kitchen with my mind made up, I picked up two plastic bags. One for picking up the little creature and the other to secure him and then to put it in the garbage can. The predicament. I didn’t want to feel his lifeless body beneath my plastic covered hand. There was no getting out of it, it had to be done. “Tia, you can do this!” I told myself. My mind made up, I scooped him up and closing my eyes I put him in the plastic bag and secured the top. Mission accomplished? Not quite. I quickly ran into the kitchen turned the water on, lathered my hands with soap and scrubbed several times before rinsing off. I can still feel the chills going up my spine.

Living in the country, mice are a problem. I’ve seen several scooting by in the backyard and neighbors have complained about them taking over the garden sheds. However, this is the first time I have made contact with a dead one.

“In race, between cat and mouse, the mouse mostly wins….

Because the cat runs for its food……

But the mouse runs for its life……….

Purpose is more important than Need….” Unknown

Unfortunately, the little guy lost out. So goes the circle of life.

All I can say is YIKES!

Have an amazing day.

Einstein’s Check Up

Photo by Ermelinda Maglione on Pexels.com

Every year, Chachi, the cat or Einstein as he likes to be called gets a thorough check up. This involves everything and I mean everything.

I don’t look forward to it because Einstein usually has a panic attack and me more so. It takes preparation and lots of it. I trim his nails, give him a good cleaning and his coat gets a thorough brushing the day before the check up. The dining area needs to prepared. I usually lay a blanket on the table and his cat pass is close by.

This year was different. Half an hour before the vet showed up, I put Einstein in his carrier. He immediately put up a fight and let out a heart-wrenching meow. I spoke softly to calm him down but he kept on meowing making a strange sound. He wanted out of his confined space and pronto! When that didn’t work, he went quiet and bided his time till he could show me just how much he hated this procedure.

The vet showed up on time and we brought Einstein to the dining room area. However, the little guy was more than ready. The minute I unzipped the carrier, he took off like a bullet. The only room he could escape to was the fireplace area. He wasted no time doing just that. Taking refuge behind the sofa, he stayed there as quiet as a mouse. The vet decided to step in and somehow managed to grab him and brought him back to the table. It might have gone smoother had we gone to the vet’s office but too late now!

The vet proceeded to check Einstein’s ears, his teeth, his eyes and finally his butt! It was an all clear and then it was time to give him his yearly shot. I thought here we go again! However, Einstein decided to play dead and took it like a champ. The last part was the deworming pill and that was it. I picked Einstein up but I noticed that he had flattened the top of his head and his ears were pointing outwards like a little Yoda. What came next was totally unexpected. Einstein decided to show me just how PISSED off he was! He scratched me on the collarbone as I opened the door to let him out. He was gone in a blinding second as he dashed up the stairs and into the bedroom.

Shaking his head, the vet said cats are unpredictable creatures and they love to scratch and bite. The problem is Einstein never scratches but I guess he decided to show me that he was just going to put up with so much and NO MORE! The rest of the day was calm but Einstein kept his distance eyeing me with suspicion each time our eyes locked. It took a while before he thawed out and by bedtime, he snuggled up to me and spent the rest of the night there saying, “A cat’s life is not easy especially when you’ve got a human loving the hell out of you!”

This year done, next year is another story.

Cat Fact: Once you own a cat, the probability that you bring up cats in conversation increases by 200%.

@mickeyandmort

Ain’t that the truth!

Chachi’s Night

It was a night like any other or at least it started out that way. Chachi did his nighttime routine of eating, drinking, using the toilet and cleaning himself. All was calm in this household and I thought I was going to have a quiet and peaceful night. I thought wrong because the guy that wears the pants in this house had other plans!

First, he did the catwalk. Yes, the catwalk where he has this John Wayne stride and the only missing is his holster with the gun in it. I usually find it entertaining but not tonight. It went on and on. He would walk up to me, his back stretched out as he took one long stride after another and once he reached me, he would look me in the eye, rub his face against mine, do a turnaround and head to the other end of the bed. This went on and on and my patience was wearing thin.

Me: Chachi, stop that!

Chachi chuckles or what sounds like it but he wasn’t done yet.

Just as I was about to put him in his bed, he decides it is time for bed and for cuddle time with mommy. He pushes his back up against mine and stretches out for the night. Within minutes he is snoring and I mean SNORING! Cute but just a tad unsettling. I reach over and place a kiss on his head to reassure him that he is safe and he goes quiet.

Great! Time to get some rest. Just as I am dozing off and not three minutes later, Little Chachi decides he has had enough sleep and it’s time to play! He jumps off, goes to his toy basket, picks out the new stuffed bird I got him, the other one that tweets is gone now. At least, he’ll play quietly I thought. Well, I thought wrong. Chachi loves proving me wrong. He gets down on the floor with the poor frightened bird clutched between his paws and goes to town with it. It must be some sort of passive aggressive thing and if that bird had been alive, it wouldn’t have stood a chance against the onslaught. Within minutes, the stuffing was peeking out and he threw it aside as he jumped back on the bed and landed just inches from my face. I don’t know how he does that but he has got that down to a science, missing my face I mean.

ME: Are you ready for bed?

He grunts and plops down pushing his back paws under my back. Again, within minutes he was off in dreamland or wherever cats go in sleep. Half an hour later and having woken me up from sleep with a slight pat of the paws on the back of my head, he sits there staring at me. I swear he was grinning!

You guessed it. It was a very long night to say the least. I am thinking of getting some kind of “calm” spray to get him to settle down. The thing is, the little guy thinks he is king of the castle and he runs the roost and it might well be but I need my beauty sleep even if he doesn’t. He is beautiful enough as he is and did I mention as cute as a button? Well, he is. Now, if I can only get him to settle down and teach him that he’s not the BOSS, all would be well in my world. It will be a painstaking ritual and success might not be in the cards as far as that is concerned because “cuteness” knows it will be a losing battle!

Have an amazing day.

We Made Up!

Chachi, the cat, declared “Mutiny on the Bounty,” a night ago and decided to run riot for most of the night with no end in sight. The little “Night Terror” showed me that cats are unpredictable creatures but more than that, they have a mind of their own.

That was then. Today, the little sweetheart is back to his normal self. He is all kisses and is made of snips, snails and puppy-dogs’ tails. We went to bed early last night, lights out at around 8 p.m. and the little furball was pooped and so was I. We slept through the night and most of it was peaceful until I heard the snores. Yes, he snores and loudly at that! I decided that was nothing compared to what he put me through the night before.

If you’re wondering what happened? Read my article, Out of Control” and all will be made clear. I don’t know what that night was about but it was something. It could be that just like “humans” cats have their moments too. Whatever it was, I’m glad he’s decided to reel it back in and is behaving like the lovely thing he is.

However, I did look up about getting some training for him but nothing like that exists for cats. They have plenty of dog training classes but absolutely nothing for cats. I’ve come to the conclusion that cats are highly-evolved creatures and they don’t need training, it’s the other way around!

According to Laurie Fletcher:

Cats are fully aware of their regal and divine attributes and treat their humans accordingly.

Their meetings occur right in front of their subjects if they share a home. That staring contest? Ernest discussion. That burl/trill as they pass one another? A brief report or sharing of data.

Cats don’t do long meetings. They’re firmly in control and bureaucracy cuts into nap time.

AND

According to Margaret Smith, another cat aficionado:

Because dogs have owners and cats have staff.

Because the Ancient Egyptians treated cats as GODS, and cats remember.

That says it all, doesn’t it? Sometimes I do feel like “staff,” where Chachi is concerned. He decides when I get to kiss him, when I get to hold him and when we cuddle. He does expect that he has clean water, loads of delicious food and that his toilet is kept clean at all times! If that isn’t God-like status, I don’t know what is.

Anyway, we made up and royally! He seems calm and is content sitting in his window seat watching the world go by. It could be that he’s found a new-found interest. She’s black as the night with bright green eyes, a beauty no less and they’ve been eyeing each other. I call her the Girl from Ipanema and the neighborhood is her playground in more ways than one! Chachi is way too innocent for that kind of stuff but she doesn’t care. She sits on her perch on a garden hut facing him directly. She seems to be asking, “Wanna play handsome?” Or it’s more like:

He met Marmalade down in old Moulin Rouge

Struttin’ her stuff on the street

She said, “Hello, hey Joe, you wanna give it a go?

Oh, uh-huh

Gitchie, gitchie, ya-ya, da-da (hey, hey, hey)

Gitchie, gitchie, ya-ya, here (here)

Mocha Chocolate, ya-ya (ooh, yeah)

Creole Lady Marmalade.

ME: Chachi!!!

HIM: What mummy? I’m busy right now!

Me: Get away from the window!

Yes, something new everyday with little furball. If you thought he’s reeled in his rebellion faze, think again. He missed his toilet meaning “IT” landed just short of the toilet! He has never done that before. Perhaps, it’s a message that he’s not done with teaching me a lesson yet. Lord, have mercy!

Have an amazing day.

Out of Control!

It started out as a normal evening. Chachi, the cat, sat staring out the window saying goodnight to his TV as dusk started to settle in. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a peaceful and routine evening.

I grabbed him from his window seat to bring him upstairs but I noticed hesitation on his part. It almost seemed like he was saying, “Stop manhandling me mummy!” He’s found his voice and these days if something doesn’t go to his liking, he lets it be known without hesitation. A sign of a spoiled cat?

We made our way upstairs and after giving him a kiss on his forehead I left him to do what he needed to do. His nightly routine consisted of a thorough cleaning, his daily bath so to speak. I marvel at the diligence he puts into cleaning himself and that tongue does some heavy duty work. I got ready for bed and walked back into the room and there he was looking none the worse for wear, just a tad fluffier. He had his front paws crossed and there was no denying the cuteness. We stared at each other, sort of a Mexican standoff, and as I held out my arms, he dashed towards me. Thinking he was going to jump into them, I lowered myself slightly. He ran fast and just before he got to me he veered to the left, slid under the bed, came out on the other side, jumped on the bed, dashed past me and ran into the other room! I could have sworn, he yelled, “Wheee!” Chachi, the cat, had no intention of going to bed and my nightmare was just starting.

Ignoring the little brat, I climbed into bed ready to meditate and to watch another episode of “Seal Team,” on TV. Little did I know that Chachi had other plans. He walked back into the room, threw me a look of disdain, jumped on the bedside table and sat there staring at me with an unwavering look. Meditation was now out of the question. I asked, “Do you want to go to bed?” He let out a loud mummy meow. I turned off the lights and the little monster cuddled up next to me. All was peaceful, nice even, for about 60 seconds. Then he jumped off the bed, landed with a huge thud on the floor and took off running. This pattern went on for the next 10 to 15 minutes. I finally yelled, “Enough Chachi! It’s bedtime.” He threw me this look which said, “That’s what you think!” and took off again.

Ignoring him as best as I could, I snuggled under the covers pretending to sleep. Cookie Dough decided it was time to play football. He walked over to his dry food, grabbed a handful, threw it on the floor and started kicking it around. He was in the best of spirits and having a whale of a time. I sat up and gave him one of my sternest looks but he kept on playing. We were heading into the midnight hour by now and furball was in his element. Decorum was out the window and so was good manners. He was bent on showing me that he wore the pants in this household and that he carried a whip as well!

To make a long story short, Teletubby wasn’t giving up anytime soon. Football was fun but he needed more entertainment. Walking to his toy box, he pulled out a stuffed bird, the kind that tweets. He slapped it around for a bit and it tweeted incessantly. Looking over at me with a gleeful look, he seemed to say, “Mum, this is fun!”

Note to Self: Kill that Bird!

Finally, at around 2 a.m. all that energy was spent. Walking over to the bed, he jumped up and landed with a loud thud again. These days there is no soft landing, boss-man does what he wants. He pressed his whiskers all my face purring loudly and then he plopped down and within minutes, he was in dream land or wherever cats go when they go to sleep. I, on the other hand, was climbing walls by now! Did Chachi just get promoted to Lord and master? God, have mercy!

By the way:

He’s up for adoption! Any takers?

Just kidding.

Have an amazing day.