What We Do To Our Cats!

I saw the funniest thing last night and it reminded me of one of the reasons why I have cats as pets.  Of course, I have cats because I love them, they are affectionate, interesting and fun to pet...
Also, I found after my eighteen year old cat died a couple of years ago, I just couldn't sleep well at night without that feeling of a cat in the room. Weird!  The room felt less comfortable, odd to say.

Anyway, back to what reminded me about why I have cats at all... And the answer is, comic relief!
Sometimes, they do things that are just downright hilarious... 
So, basically, you are sitting there, minding your own business, and the animal that always lands on it's feet, doesn't.

Or, the epitome of grace that walks among us, walks, and is definitively not graceful...
And when they go off the rails, they are so totally shocked and appalled by what is happening, that it only adds to how funny the situation is!

Have you ever seen a cat fall backwards off a coffee table?  Their expression is priceless!  That's what I witnessed yesterday, and boy, I didn't stop laughing for ten minutes!
The other thing that's pretty entertaining what we do to them... They are so stiff with dignity, I don't think pet owners can really resist it!
I have a yearly tradition of putting these antlers I bought at a pet store years ago on whatever cats don't move fast enough to avoid me... (Yes, I tend to do this every year!)
But nowadays, you don't even have to do this type of thing yourself! 
The Internet is full of YouTube videos of cats in embarrassing situations, and they are funny, some incredibly so.
I feel sorry for the cats, but on some level, I know they deserve it;-)

The Killer Instinct!

Misty-the mouse slayer!

On this past weekend, my year+ old cat had an epiphany...  She caught her first mouse!
I live in a 100+ old house (renovated of course!), and the basement is separate, so mice in the fall can get in if they are determined. And believe, cold mice can get pretty determined!
So, every fall, they come in, and after about a dozen get caught in the mouse traps and it's done.
Mice are pretty gullible, they can't resist the lure of cheese, so the traps work, year after year... Stupid mice! Learn guys, learn!  Sorry, I digress...
Misty, (the cat!), heard a noise in the kitchen and figured out that it was terribly interesting. I watched her and saw her develop her stalking style, pretty cool.
Finally, the mouse came out and she got it!
You could definitely feel her excitement, and when my son whooped, she dropped it. A first-timer mistake, she'll never do that again!
The result of this is a cat that is totally obsessed...




Undersea Fantasy by me.

She looks at birds out the window, wants to KILL them so she can find out what they taste like! 
She's wandering around wired like she had ten cups of coffee, and only naps intermittently.
And believe me, naps were the point of her day up until now...
Unfortunately, lovely cat though she is, I believe she could go too far on this one...
She doesn't want to sleep at night, she wants back downstairs (NOW!). The mice might come back!




Cat Dreams by Teresa Young

Really, I'd leave her out all night, but she has a bad tendency to destroy plants when not supervised...
I keep telling her, they're not salads, but she isn't listening!

Back to Misty, she can eat, but sleeps intermittently, and as soon as the sun comes up, she figures, at last! And everyone in the world probably knows it's time to rise because of the racket she makes...

I'm really hoping the honeymoon phase ends soon, I'm so definitely NOT a morning person, and cute as she is, this could get old fast;-) 

What's the cure for a mousing obsession?

Reading the whole night through!

Well, two nights ago I did it again...  Indulged my secret addiction and ended up staying up all night to do it.  You'd think by middle age it would no longer be a problem!

Nope, not talking about sex, but reading... I have a terrible habit of not being able to stop! I can stop a movie in the middle and take a break, I can stop a game after awhile and do something else, but I get a really good read going on a quality story, and bang! I'm done for.

When I read a great story it transports me into that world, I get connected to the characters and care about what happens. It's almost like I'm there, I literally almost feel immersed into it. I've never gotten that type of experience out of other mediums. Maybe I'm a freak of nature, but ever since I was eleven years old and I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy in a weekend, I've had a problem with moderating my reading habits...

Sure, read before you go to bed, it'll definitely help you get to sleep!