Here is another picture from last weekend’s cold snap. The cats spent most of the weekend keeping warm on our bed. I love this picture because Floki is sticking his tongue out as if to say “Haha, we were here first.”
We don’t get cold weather very often in the Tampa Bay area, but when we do, it’s during the weekend. Saturday morning started out at 70 degrees but dropped all day until Sunday morning when it was 36. It was cold Sunday too and currently, at 8 a.m. Monday morning, it is 41 degrees, but it will improve throughout the work week, of course.
We have an old heater and don’t trust it so we leave it off at night, which means our bed has extra blankets on it to keep us warm. That does not go unnoticed by our cats who congregated there most of the weekend.
Where do your pets go on a cold day?
I’m sure almost everyone reading this understands the difficulties of making the bed with cats around. In my house, it is usually Chris who wants to be covered with a sheet or blanket, but the other day Frankie ended up under the sheet. When Puck saw him under the sheet he got all frisky and started attacking Frankie.
It’s funny to watch those two sometimes. Often we will see Frankie chase Puck through the house and a few seconds later we will see Puck chasing Frankie. It usually seems friendly but there are also many times when someone loses a big chunk of fur.
Recently I wrote about Puck’s Self-Imposed Exile when my stepson came for a week at Christmas. He was so fearful that he stayed in our bedroom whenever Nick was in the house.
Puck had no problem coming out to visit Rose’s Dad and his wife when they came at Thanksgiving or my best Friend, Rick, when he came here on New Year’s Eve, but for some strange reason, he decided he was afraid of Rick when he came to visit on Friday. Rick spent the night on our sofa and Puck spent the night in our room, afraid to leave.
I woke up early Saturday morning while Rick was still sleeping. I worried that Puck needed to use the litter box by then so I carried him to the patio and put him in the box. I tried that when Nick was here and got scratched up from Puck trying to escape my grasp out of fear. This time I made it all the way to the box and Puck just seemed slightly nervous. He stayed in the box for a couple of seconds and then jumped out and ran back into the bedroom. I assumed he didn’t have to go so I didn’t worry about it after that.
A little while later Rose was awake and complained that Puck either farted or he pooped somewhere in the bedroom. Normally, Rose’s nose is about twenty times more sensitive than mine and I usually smell nothing while she is acting like the world is about to end, but this time I smelled it too.
I looked around the room and as I was doing that, Rose told me she didn’t want me to use the bed sheets again because they keep popping off. “Okay'” I said, concentrating more on finding where Puck might have pooped. I checked the entire floor, including all the nooks and crannies. “I don’t see anything,” I said.
“Oh my God! It’s on the bed!” Rose suddenly yelled.
I looked and there was a big pile of mashed up poop. “oh, yuck!” I said. “That is gross!”
“It’s on me!” Rose yelled. “I rolled on top of it. Get a wet towel, Quick!”
I hurried into the kitchen and pulled a few paper towels off the roll and wet them.
“Hurry up! What are you doing in there?”
“Here,” I said, handing her the towels.
“No, it’s on the back of my leg. You need to wipe it off!”
As I was wiping it off I had visions of thirty years in the future. “There, it’s off,” I said as I threw the paper towels into the trash bag I brought with me. That is when she noticed another big spot of poop on her leg and the process started again.
The next priority was to pick up the poop off the bed. I had brought a roll of paper towels into the bedroom along with a small bag for garbage but the task was just too gross. Luckily, I remembered Rose didn’t want to use those sheets anymore so I just rolled them up and stuffed them into a garbage bag and took them out to the garbage can.
Puck got over his fear of Rick shortly after that, thankfully, and we now have something to look back on and laugh at but Saturday morning there was no laughing going on in this house.
After the commotion, I put a sheet on the bed to protect it while I washed the mattress cover. That is when Chris and Frankie came in to see what all the trouble was about.
Tomorrow is moving day and Puck is blissfully unaware.
The other day my stepson Nick flew down from Massachusetts to visit us for the Christmas holiday. Of course, bringing new things into the house is like a cat’s version of a new attraction at Disney World. Nick’s suitcase was of particular interest. They all had to take turns laying on it like it was their own personal bed.
First it was Frankie.
Then Frankie was distracted by Rose bringing food into the room and Chris took over.
After Chris got down Rose put a towel on the suitcase to keep the cat hair off. That is when Puck became interested in it.
Now that they have all had a turn, I wonder what will grab their attention next.
While Chris and Frankie still don’t get along, at least Puck is here as a good nap buddy for Chris.
Originally I was going to share only these two photographs, which were taken several days ago, but when I removed Chris from the keyboard and put him on my lap so I could write this post, he left to go hang out with puck on the bed. This is what happened next:
I want to start by wishing everyone a happy and prosperous new year. I hope you all have a great 2014.
About five years ago Rose and I were at a benefit for a local shelter called The Suncoast Animal League (Where I later volunteered briefly). They had cat beds for sale and since it was for a good cause we bought one that looked a little like Abbey. She took to it right away and it became her bed, even though other cats would sometimes lie in it.
Abbey and Tigger in Abbey’s cat bed.
Abbey’s bed could sometimes get over crowed.
Tigger had his own bed too but he was not as attached to it as Abbey was.
After we lost Abbey, her bed remained behind.
Today we put away all our Christmas decorations. I don’t know how but it seemed like we had less room than we did when I took the decorations out so I needed to make room. That is when I noticed Abbey and Tigger’s beds on the shelf. Since we moved, Chris and Puck don’t use them anymore so they ended up in the closet. Rose said I should throw them out, so I put them in a garbage bag and, as I closed the bag, the little cat face seemed to look back at me. I felt bad putting it in the trash, but I knew there was no room to store it for sentimental reasons.
“They say you die twice, one time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.” This quote is attributed to Bransky and It makes me feel like my memory of Abbey and Tigger keeps them alive and nothing else is needed.
Bad Cat Chris 