cat vignettes

[snugglekitty]

This weekend, we needed to put the cats in my room. We do this for half a day or night every few months, whenever something is going to be going on that requires the doors being open or unlocked for a substantial period of time (like a get-together, or moving furniture, or moving people...)



So, there are about five of us ready to do our duty. Suzu knows something is up and she's hiding under the couch. We try to grab her. She resists and hisses and then bolts. "Only Mom's Room will save me!" She runs into my room and hides under the bed, so all we have to do is shut the door. What a breeze. It's a good thing we weren't trying to do something else, though, because once she's under my bed it's VERY hard to get her out. The space is too short for a human to get underneath, but it's very deep because it's a queen-sized bed.
The next time we need to do this, I should try the "Time for Bed!" command, which is what I say when I'm going to be in bed and I want the cats to come in too so I can cuddle them. It works about sixty-five percent of the time, I think. She'd probably be less bothered if we didn't try to grab her.

Later in the weekend, we needed to give the cats flea medicine again. It's good for a month, and fleas take 3 months to die off, so you repeat it three times and then you're done for a while, as long as they're indoor cats. HRH was on my bed sleeping. I had Jim lurk outside the door where she couldn't see him. I petted her and then grabbed the back of her neck. I dread the day that will stop working. I said, "Easy, easy," to her, which is a command I've been training her on for a few months, which basically means, "Stop fighting and let me get this over with." I use it when I trim her claws. She didn't struggle, so it only took a few seconds to get it over with. It's better for everyone that way, and then I told her she was a good girl and let her go. She went right back under the bed.

Sometimes we do her claws at the same time but she was already acting very stressed, so we'll do that in a few days, once she's calmed down.



Back when we had Charlie, we used to think that it was hard to do stuff to Pretzel. Hah!

ETA: Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention. This time, it became obvious as a pattern - Pretzel totally loves to go and hide somewhere cryptic after he's been shut up so that we run around like crazy people trying to make sure he didn't somehow get out of the house. Favorite spots for this - sleep under the couch, under a blanket, underneath a chair cover, or in one of our roommates rooms.

Comments

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

My mom just had to switch flea meds for her pets--the cats are indoor cats but the dog has to go outside, so they all get the medicine on their necks every month. My mom will call me up and tell me, "It's flea medicine day! The cats have greasy necks, the dog has a greasy neck, your father has a greasy neck. It's a good thing you weren't here or you'd have a greasy neck too!"

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

That's really funny. :)