Day Twenty Eight

Observations

Today's post will be a little different. I'm running short on time, so I'm going to post observations.

1) Feral cats don't know what to do with toys. I write about Fancy a lot, I know. But he has a special place in my heart. As a kitten, he had to struggle to survive. His "toys" were not plastic, fake mice, birds and snakes. His were real. He doesn't know what to do with pretend toys. He wants to be like the other cats, I can tell. This morning I found him playing with a spring. He was trying so hard to get into playing with it, but he couldn't quite figure out the point. I love that cat.

2) Jack has figured out ways to get us to do what he wants and they all involve his massive paw. When he wants out and we're debating whose turn it is to get up, he will take his giant paw and scrape it down the door. If he thinks we aren't watching, he'll just open the door himself. He wakes me in the morning by scraping the wood on the side of the bed. Jack doesn't bark or whine or (God forbid - beg) - he just lifts that paw and gets things done.

3) Cooking with cats around is virtually impossible. Doing anything with cats around is near to impossible. (In the time it took me to write those two sentences, I removed Fancy three times from the countertop where I had just put a salad together for supper. And, I removed a string from Chance's mouth.) I made the mistake of giving Fancy and Eli scraps of chicken from the roasted one I was using for the salad. Finn and Chance were busy doing something that created a sound similar to fabric being ripped apart, or a cat hacking up a hairball. I found out later they were pushing an empty box around the living room. Anyway, F and E decided they would prefer to have the whole chicken, so we were in a battle of wills as to who got the chicken. I won, but it was close.

4) So, in an effort to get Chance to consistently use the litter box, I have been trying any and all suggestions. Jackson Galaxy, of My Cat From Hell fame, suggested putting aluminum foil or plastic carpet protector upside down with the nubs exposed on areas you would like the cat to not pee. I bought a roll of that nasty carpet stuff. I cut pieces for two bathtubs and hurt my own self while cutting it! I wondered how Chance would react to this new sabotage. Now, who would intentionally step on that stuff? Those nubs hurt! I watched in awe as Finn stepped into the tub and walked around like it was no big deal! He looked at me like, "Hmm. This is new." Go figure. He's not my problem child, thank goodness.

5) I was reminded of one of the dogs we had in college. Two was the second Border Collie Andy and I rescued. She lived in a frat house, and they were giving her beer to drink and tossing her around like a football. I just picked her up and walked off with her. Even though Andy wasn't playing football in college, he was built like a linebacker. And, he looked like somebody you wouldn't want to mess with. Nobody challenged us. Two had many issues, not the least of which were her terrible potty habits. We lived in a basement apartment and she used to poop on the steps going to the outside. Any time somebody would visit, we'd yell, "Watch out for the shit!!" Most of our friends were stoned all the time anyway, so they didn't care.