The Cats of Out

Lori, of Thunder sitting fame, has a boarder. A cat named Goblin that came to live with her while his people were in Europe. Have I mentioned that Lori is full of awesome sauce? But, tomorrow, Goblin and his people are headed to Florida on a plane.

I won’t even go into how bad I think a plane ride with a cat would be.

Lori and Goblin’s relationship started out a little rocky. He talks. A lot. She has a dog. But eventually they got used to each other and Lori taught him a whole bunch of new habits like eating junk food (I can’t remember if it was dry or canned food he didn’t eat when he got here) and going out.

A couple weeks ago, when I was in charge of Goblin sitting, I was warned about his new habit of bringing…offerings. Kristin, Lori’s roommate, mentioned that mice often showed up at Lori’s door. And, while Lori was away, Goblin had brought Kristin…well…squirrel bits. A bit here. A bit there. A bloody head at her door.

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to cleaning up bits. As it happened, I never saw Goblin that weekend. He was eating the food I left him but mostly he stayed outside enjoying the finally warm weather. A with no one to bring offerings, there were none to clean up.

Sensing, I think, that his time with Lori was drawing to an end, Goblin brought the ultimate gift this morning: a magic bunny.

She heard something under the couch and – since she is NOT a fan of squirrels – enlisted her nephew to help her. She roused him from a deep possible-only-as-a-teenager type slumber. Together, they lifted the couch and found the bunny huddled in the back corner.

Lori turned her back for just a second to keep Goblin from getting the rabbit. Her nephew never looked away. And yet, the bunny disappeared. In a blink of a bleary 18-year-old’s eye.

“Maybe he was a magic bunny.”

Unfortunately, magic bunnies get caught if they don’t magic themselves out of the house. Goblin found him in the office a little while later. No worries! Lori rescued the rabbit and set him free.

And Goblin spent the day locked inside to make sure he catches his plane tomorrow.

Bon voyage, Gobbles.

As I was contemplating this post, it reminded me of a night a couple months ago. The Boy and I were walking home from downtown. As we neared our house, we saw a big ol’ raccoon lumbering down the sidewalk. He got to the corner we were walking toward and gave us a look before disappearing down the drain in the gutter.

I’ve seen this happen before. Actually, I’ve seen this with a much bigger raccoon that kicked in the air when his belly got stuck in the drain and he had to suck in to get the rest of the way down. But on this particular night, what followed the raccoon was most interesting.

A little orange tabby was strolling behind the raccoon to make sure it left his territory. Not chasing, just quietly intimidating.

The cat walked up to the corner, looked down in the grate, then turned and strolled back from where he’d come. He paused just long enough to give us a look. “No worries, folks, the neighborhood is clear.”

Now, do you think his Girl ever wakes up to a raccoon at her bedroom door?

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What’s in a name?

Today was quite the day. It started with being run off the interstate on my way to work, about which I will only say that my Saturn once again saved the day and that I hate GM for making it so I will never have a car as good as this one ever again. I realize Saturn lovers weren’t making them any money, what with our fanatic attachment to our cars, but come on! And go ahead, send me another email about how the Chevy Malibu is perfect for me. I’m thinking about a phrase, GM, and it rhymes with Malibu…but I don’t cuss on this blog.

I mean, I don’t cuss. At all. Hi Mom; hi Dad; hi Grandma!

At lunch time we made dioramas with peeps for a contest amongst friends. I maintained that this was the only good use of peeps. Then I felt bad for condemning a food I have not eaten for well over 15 years. So I had one. Now I feel bad for considering them food. Really. I feel bad. Peppermint tea and ramen noodles for dinner type bad.

ANYWAY! Cats! We’re here to talk about cats! This is the first day Obi came to live with us. And the first time he used The Force to keep his brother from beating him up. Look at that masterful Obi-esque paw wave.

"You do not want to thwap me on the head..."

Cat owners have numerous names for their fuzzies and Kitten Thunder is no exception. I thought I’d let you in on the roll call and the reasons being the names.

Oliver – Well, this was not my most creative choice ever. He’s an orphan. He was little and pathetic. But I defend myself by saying that Oliver! is my favorite musical of all time. I used to sing “I’d do anything,” poorly I am sure, to Oliver all the time.

Bunny – Oli has big eyes, big feet and huge ears. And a cute little pink nose. He also happens to have fur that is as soft as a bunny’s. We noticed lately that if he left tracks in the snow they would be quite similar to a rabbit’s because he walks with his front feet in a line and his back feet slightly off set.

Handsome Grey Man – Well, he’s grey. And male. And a pretty good looking cat. He is also my Brown-eyed Boy. I do not sing the related song to him…mostly because I don’t know any of the words. But I think it at him.

Pi – Pi is Oli’s middle name because when he was little everyone said he was such a sweety pie…and a cutey pie. So I started calling him Kitten Pie. I dropped the “e” because my whole family has this thing against extraneous letters.

Obi Wan Kittenobi – So I know this will come as a shock to you, but I am a huge Star Wars fan. But I’m going to let you in on a little secret. And I am so shamed about this. The name Obi actually came from the week before I adopted him but after I’d decided we needed a second cat. It stands for…Oliver’s Brother. It wasn’t until I got him home and couldn’t stop calling him Obi Wan that he got the rest of his name.

Tail – When Obi is walking he holds his tail up straight. You can see it, much like a shark fin, when he walks past a bed or couch. “Hello, Tail,” we say. And, like that shark, if it disappears you know he’s about to jump up.

Belly – When Tail lays down and demands attention, he becomes Belly. We’re a creative bunch in this household.

Cricket – We don’t use this one much but, since Poco was Bear and Oli is Bunny, I thought he needed an animal name. As I’ve mentioned before we hold his previous owner in a highly negative light for calling him Tiger. So…Cricket. Obi has many meows and one of them is a high pitched, short chirp. Another is a trill.

Handsome Brown Boy – Male. Brown. Good looking. Hey, I’m creative for a living and for charity, sometimes I just have to give that half of my brain a rest and state the obvious.

It’s Thunder Thursday! THURSday ThursDAY THURSDAY! And Cousin Puck thinks it’s time for Smackdown.

“I crush my competition in the cage match.”

Puck is a handsome puddle of a cat. No really, when he sits he kind of puddles. He just kind of oozes out from the sides. Part of his size has to do, probably, with him being the kind of cat that lays down to drink water. But he’s on a strict diet so don’t blame my brother and his family – they’ve done all they can do. He looks good as a puddle, anyway.

 

In spite of his size, Puck is actually active when he wants to be. He plays with the kids. He terrorizes the dog. His favorite thing to do is sit on the top step of the stairs into the basement so the dog can’t get into the family room without walking past. She’s very pathetic, crying in the laundry room because a cat 1/3 her size is picking on her.

 

Here’s my second confession of the night: for a good two years I thought that someone in their family liked Shakespeare and named Puck after…well, Puck. Sad. Have I mentioned that my brother is the coach for, and my nephew plays on, the Riverton River Rats hockey team?