Cat Update

The cats are crazy. Over the past week or so they’ve made an appearance more and more during the day and in the evenings when we’re up and about, even sleeping on our bed when we happen to leave it unmade and especially kitty-friendly. But it always seems to be in a creepy “kitty stalker” kind of way. Or maybe I’m just paranoid. When I’m making dinner I’ll look up and there will be a cat sitting in the hallway, staring at me. When I sit on the couch in the living room watching tv I’ll look up and there will be a cat sitting by the dining room table, staring at me. When I’m in the bathroom a cat will sit outside the door, staring at me. When I’m on the computer, a cat will sit on the other side of the bed by the door and stare at me. You get the idea. It’s not that they want attention. The minute I stand up and move toward them they jump up and run away.

I almost had a heart attack the other day. I was in the bathroom, smartly closing the door behind me having learned that I’d have an audience if I didn’t. I was going about my business when there was a loud thud against the door. Then a paw shot in underneath it. Apparently Ted had gotten a hold of one of my earplugs and was batting it around. It got away from him and went under the bathroom door. He obviously failed to notice the door was closed and ran right into it. He then stuck his paw under it to get the earplug back. Scared the crap out of me. (I’d say “literally” here, but that’s kind of gross and TMI.)

Speaking of bathrooms, for some reason both Ted and Conner just love the bathroom. Ted is particularly fond of the shower stall in mine. Right after I’ve taken a shower. I thought cats didn’t like water but apparently I was mistaken. He sneaks into the bathroom before I’m even completely dressed and prances around in the wet tub. Then he scampers back out onto the carpet with his wet paws. Grrr. I even caught him in the kitchen sink a few nights ago. Conner prefers sitting on the toilet or the rug in front of the shower. That’s much more appropriate cat behavior. Although the one time Ted tried to jump up onto Adam’s toilet was the one time Adam had forgotten to put the seat down so the cat got a little wet. Somehow I don’t think he minded too much given his other forays into the water but he was probably a little surprised.

The past few nights I’ve been sleeping in the computer room in an effort to allow both Adam and I to get a decent nights sleep. With the never-ending cold I’ve had for the past three weeks it’s hard for me to breathe and I apparently snore quite loudly and disturbingly. The first night this confused the cats a little since they were used to having the run of the house after the lights went out. I only got jumped on once and I think both the cat and I were equally startled. Last night was better and they got comfortable enough we me being in the room that they even sat in the window and ate while I was there.

We were in litterbox limbo of sorts last week. We got tired of the mid-night poop fests the cats enjoyed sharing with us (they’d take a frighteningly huge dump and then not bury it so it stunk the entire house up at about 2 am) so we decided to try an automatic litter box to see if that might eliminate the smell a bit. Unfortunately we got one litter box for two cats and apparently one of them wasn’t able to figure that concept out. We had a couple “presents” dropped in the corner of the living room before putting one of the old litter boxes back up. I guess male cats don’t like to share. And ultimately I think the one cat that did use it used it more as a big toy. He'd jump around in it to set off the sensors and then sit and wait and watch the rake move back and forth. So we scrapped that idea and returned the fancy electronic litterbox for these Omega Roll 'n Clean ones. They are enclosed litter boxes that you tip over and the poo drops into a removable drawer thing. It's pretty neat and so far seems to be working quite well.

We continue to slowly make progress. Adam is still bummed that we don’t have cuddly lap cats yet but I’m hoping eventually they’ll be a bit more personable.

Here's Ted. Conner wasn't feeling photogenic this afternoon... (ok. so he was hiding under the bed. That's almost the same thing.)