Day Eighty Five

Life's Purpose

After living on this planet for over six decades, I have finally determined my life's purpose. It is to keep this little Abyssinian kitten alive. This is a major undertaking since he appears to have a death wish. Dash is not stupid - far from it. He just thinks he can do more than his little body can accomodate. And he thinks he rules the universe. Oh, to have such chutzpa.

First of all, he challenged Jack twice yesterday. I rescued him the first time; the second time I couldn't get out of my chair fast enough. Dash had narrowly escaped Jack's wrath in the morning when he crawled underneath Jack's elevated bowl while he was trying to eat his breakfast. I scooped him up as Jack was growling a warning. A few hours later, as I sat in my chair reading and Andy, who was home sick, was resting on the couch, I looked up to see Dash approaching a sleeping Jack. I was like a turtle on its back and couldn't get up to save him. As I struggled, the whole thing played out in slow motion. Dash went right up to Jack and bopped him on the nose. Startled, Jack freaked out. Of course, at that, I levitated straight up in the air, screaming bloody murder. Andy fell off the couch when he heard me screaming. Dash took off. 

Jack knew he was in big trouble. He went straight to timeout and we went looking for Dash. Andy found him first. He appeared to be okay - no blood - but his whole head was covered in Jack slime. He was clearly shaken. He also chose the biggest human in the house to cling to - Andy. We are hoping Dash has finally learned his lesson, but doubt it.

The thing is, Jack was raised around cats. Just not an Aby. They are different than your average cat. Abys are fast, smart, fearless, and curious. Dash will push a larger brother out of the way if he wants what's in his bowl. They want to be in charge. The problem is, so do Bullmastiffs. An Aby has no sense of proportion either. Dash weighs about four pounds; Jack 180. This means nothing to Dash. Somehow we have to figure out how they can co-exist without bloodshed.

Dash, staring at a sleeping Jack.
He is keeping his distance which is a good sign!

I believe the second thing I have been sent here to do is to also keep the lizard population from extinction. To an observer, I must look insane, crawling around the patio in my pjs trying to catch lizards. Baby lizards are emerging and I want to catch them before the cats do. My dilemma is the cats need exercise and they love being in the screened pool area. However, they are hunters and the only prey out there are the lizards.

So, I schlep out there, barefoot, in search of those potential victims I can save. I counted three. One was easy to catch. As a matter of fact, we bonded as he sat on my hand and didn't seem to want to leave. His siblings were elusive however. One was teeny, but I couldn't get to him with a huge planter in the way. I was dodging spider webs, stepped on what I can only assume was an old hairball, and got soggy from the dripping foliage. I finally decided one out of three saved was better than none.
 

There must be a lizard here somewhere!

No sooner did I let the lions out of the cage when they made a beeline for the spot where the lizards were hanging out. I ran out, but nobody had a baby lizard hanging from his mouth (good sign); or pawing at one (another good sign) or ganging up on a tiny creature. I can only hope they were as fast to escape the cats as they were to avoid my good intentions.

As anticipated, the cats eventually found a victim. Even Dash was in on it. He is much faster and has quicker reflexes than the Rags. When I got to them, Dash had a rather large lizard in his mouth. I shook it loose and it ran for cover. It was tailless and appeared to be older. I suspect he's been taunting the cats for awhile. Either that or he's incredibly stupid.

Since it is less hot today, I decided to clean the rabbit cage. Roxy uses a litter box but still manages to make a big mess. After about thirty minutes of crawling around on the floor, scooping stuff out of her cage, I was dripping wet and looked like I'd been through a car wash. My glasses were fogged up so I couldn't see. That was when Dash decided to first jump on top of the four Super Soakers stacked up on a table; knocking one to the ground. It sounded like the ceiling was caving in. Then he ran through the last pile of hay, rabbit poop and discarded food I had swept up from the rabbit cage, sending it flying in all directions. He is a one cat demolition derby. And is back inside, crying to go out again. Not happening.

For those of you wondering why an old woman with a debilitating condition would put herself through this insanity, I will tell you why. It makes me happy. I would rather live in a house filled with animals than be with a group of humans (except my family) any day. Animals are honest. They love unconditionally. I was going to add they don't play mind games but I am coming to the conclusion they are actually better at them than people! I just don't mind them. But that's a topic for another day.