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The Oak Court Cats enjoy a relatively good life. There is always crunchie-munchies in the bowl; the water bowls are always clean and filled (only bottled water please, we don’t like tap water) and, of course, the daily ‘wet dish’, the canned cat food.
Ahh, the canned cat food. What delights are safely packed into those little cans? Hmmm….
Two of the regulars have long preferred to have a bit of wet food first thing in morning. So, instead of finding the coffee pot when I enter the kitchen, I first need to clean the bowls, open the can and spoon some of the wet food into 2 bowls, setting them on the floor exactly a foot apart. (Seems that Missey doesn’t want to have any other cat within a foot of her when she is eating).
As I prepare the meal Missey sits on the floor, patiently waiting. The sound of the pull top ring being pulled back will result in her standing up on hind legs. She awaits that first scent of the mystery meal as I toss the lid into the trash (yes, the lid is recycled; wash it off before tossing it into the recycle bin). Her tail switches one side to the other in anticipation, as I drop a spoon full of the meal into the bowl. Finally, the moment she has been waiting for, I lower the bowl to the floor and offer it to her. She approaches the bowl slowly at first, cautiously sniffing the dish. She lowers her head into the dish and takes that first taste of breakfast – then – just then – she stops.
The look on her face when she looks up at me is one of disappointment. She slowly backs away, looks up at me again as if to say “What’s in the can?” I’m speechless; don’t know what to say. “Missey, what do you mean, ‘what’s in the can?'”
Missey slowly turns away, not happy with what I’ve put int he bowl but she doesn’t bother to explain the problem to me; she just walks away, back into the dining room.
Don’t worry though, this is the daily routine for Missey. Every morning we go into the kitchen and run through the same script. She walks off then comes back in 5 minutes and eats whatever is in the bowl; if there was something wrong she quickly forgets about it and cleans the bowl. I’ve long since given up trying to find new flavors from this or that manufacturer. No matter what I put down I get the same reaction.
Maybe I should try fresh sockeye salmon? Or mahi-mahi on a bed of rice? Hmmm…
Later
As I mentioned in an earlier post, we are hosting 2 cats for the summer. Seems their “people” are in the middle of moving to a new apartment and their felines are spending the summer with us.
When the kitties first arrived, they stayed in my son’s bedroom and didn’t venture out into the rest of the house; they were a bit intimidated by the Oak Court Cats. I don’t know why; these visitors are both Maine Coons, one weighing in excess of 20 pounds while the other was at least 25 pounds. However, they went over a month without leaving the bedroom.
This lasted until mid July. Things changed.
Their “people” had told us that these cats had not been with other cats from the time they were removed from the litter and weren’t in to catnip, the occasional need to cleanse one’s butt in front of visitors nor did they growl, hiss, spit or claw. They were well behaved, didn’t jump up onto furniture and never touched the trash can.
Yeah. Sure.
It seems that the Oak Court Cats started to work on their inhibitions. The larger of the visitors has taken to rolling around in catnip for hours at a time (must be a 12 step program for cats somewhere). Missey has taught them to hiss and spit quite well; she greets all cats with a hiss and a swat these days. and they have started to run the length of the house with the regulars now.
Occasionally one of the pride will get the kittiy-crazies at times and will run the length of the house, turn around and run back the other way. Depending on which cat and the mood, this can be repeated a few times. Now I have not just my own cat running, I have 2 big Maine Coons running along side. Tails waving in the wind, they slam into furniture as they miss turns or hit a slippery patch. Chairs have been knocked over, plants are dumped; it may be good fun for them but it’s dangerous to step into their path, sort of like running with the bulls in Spain. With wood floors it can get quite noisy – especially at 3:00 in the morning.
I’ve learned how to read the newspaper with one of both the visitors sitting on the table, on top of the paper I’m trying to read.
At least once a week I find a trash can overturned, contents pulled out as if the cat needed more room for closer inspection (these guys are too big to crawl into the trash cans).
And, to demonstrate their desire to be accepted into the pride, they have begun to sleep on my bed – on my pillows – while I’m trying to sleep.
So, the vacationing cats have finally settled in; it’s going to be rough when they have to pack up their bags and go to a new home in September. Rough on me as I’ve finally gotten used to five cats underfoot. Rough on their “people” as these guys have started interacting with other cats and like the activity. I think that Missey is going to be the only one happy when they leave; she prefers not to share my pillow at night.
Nite.
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