June 2005 – Page 4 – Love & Hisses

The kittens are exactly two months old today.

My lord, I’m such an idiot. In the mornings when I go into the cat room, I tend to leave the door to the room open, because the big cardboard box is there blocking Mia and the babies from the rest of the house, and they like to run out there and sniff around, and rather than chase them back into the room, I let them stay out there for a little while if they want to. What’s the harm, right?

Well, this morning I heard a loud thump and when I went to investigate, I found that one of the kittens had figured out that he could pull the cardboard away from the wall a little, and slip through to the other side. I was a bit freaked out that Mia might try to run through the gap – though she was flopped over on her side and wasn’t even paying attention to what her kittens were doing – and so I picked up the can of compressed air that I leave sitting right by the door, and I herded Mia and whichever kittens were in the cardboard area back into the cat room. I shut the door and then went after the kitten who had escaped, who happened to be Oy. He might be little, but he’s smart, that one.

So I found Oy in the spud’s bathroom, with Miz Poo sniffing at his butt, and when he turned around to look at her, she hissed and backed up. The reaction of our cats to the kittens – especially Miz Poo and Mister Boogers – is hilarious, because these kittens are a tenth the size of either of them, but they react like they’re seeing the most threatening things ever put on the face of this earth.

I grabbed Oy up and took him back into the cat room and stayed for a few more minutes until Edgar pooped in the litter box, then tromped through it, and then bounced across the room to bounce across my leg and leave a big nugget of poop on my pants leg. I can take a hint, plus I had errands to run, so I said goodbye to the kitties (and yes, I ALWAYS say “hello” and “goodbye” the kitties.) and came downstairs.

I spent a few minutes checking my mail, made a quick phone call to Fred, and headed for the door. As I was almost to the door, I heard a loud bang from upstairs, and I paused and thought about going to check it out, but then remembered I’d started the washer and decided that was what I’d heard.

I went to the bank and the grocery store and then to McDonald’s for a Diet Coke. When I got home I started putting away the groceries, when I heard a loud wailing sound from upstairs.

“What the – ?” I said to Miz Poo, who was looking more than a little freaked out. She shrugged at me, and I went upstairs to see what was going on.

What was going on was that Snoopy was sitting outside the door to the cat room, every piece of fur on his body fluffed up as far as it could fluff, wailing to be let back in with his family.

“What happened, baby?” I said to him, and he turned and saw me, and ran toward me as fast as his little legs could carry him. He was TERRIFIED. I guess it had been fun to wander around for a little while, but when it came down to it, he really wanted to be with his brothers and sisters and his Momma.

I took him into the cat room, where he immediately started running around and jumping on his siblings. Then he saw Mia laying on the floor, and he ran over and started trying to nurse. She wasn’t up for that, though, and walked away. He kept following her, until she turned around and smacked him, which is when he decided that the kitten food in the bowls was just fine with him.

Poor baby. I don’t know if he got out when Oy escaped and I just didn’t realize it, or if he ran out of the cat room when I was leaving and I didn’t see him, or what. I guess I need to start counting kittens before I leave the cat room, huh?

He’s such a Momma’s boy. He follows his Momma around a lot. When he’s not chasing his siblings around, that is.