Because she gets short shrift around here…
Has to eat dinner off the floor
And after everyone else…
This post is dedicated to Puss Puss.
Our cat.
She is a Dragon.
She is a Philosopher.
She’s an Elegant Buffoon.
She’s our eldest daughter, really.
She is horribly neglected, at least she thinks so…
Recently, oh, two weeks ago or so, Puss had an appointment at The Vet.
It was her well check – she was very overdue for a well check… like two years overdue
Tho her carrier lives in our shed, I always like to bring it in the night before an appointment to give her time to get used to it – let it warm up and soak up the smells of the house and all that. I was getting ready for bed and realized that I had forgotten to bring it in – so ran out to the shed in the dark – not my favorite thing to do – grabbed the carrier and set it in the kitchen where it sat till I unceremoniously shoved Puss into it in a race to get to her appointment on time (because I am always late for everything lately, but that’s another blog post – maybe next week…).
We made it in time and had a nice chat with another Maine coon owner in the waiting area.
Eventually we were called in to the exam room and I let Puss out to explore and relax; she had been out for a few minutes – long enough to do a first round of sniffing and then settle at my elbow – when I looked down and noticed what seemed to be little… mouse turds on the floor…
I thought, “could it be? here? in the vet?” then I looked at where they lay and realized that they must have fallen out of Puss’s carrier – I have never been so mortified. Out of a morbid curiosity and concern for Puss’s well-being I started to investigate further – there was a blanket in the carrier – it lives in the carrier – it’s the carrier blanket, I made the dreadful mistake of pulling the blanket out to see what might be in there and literally, yes I mean literally, hundreds of mouse poops fell to the floor.
I went into shock, panic mode – what to do? I began to kick them – there was nothing to push them under, break them up into pieces? Not enough time. Out of desperation I bent down and started scooping them up with my hands – it was awful. But here I am at the vet – not only are they going to know I brought mouse poop into the vet’s office they are going to know that my poor cat had to ride in a carrier that was awash in mouse feces…. I am certain my ability to cat-parent would have to be called into question at that point…
Ugh.
Poor Puss.
It seems that the pack rats that had been time-sharing in our shed a year or so ago had used Poor Puss’s carrier as a lounge… the bastards.
Well, needless to say, out of guilt, remorse, and a renewed sense of ardor Puss Puss has been getting a bit more love and attention in our house lately.
Oddly enough, we also recently had a similar experience with Lil’ Chaos.
The world came crashing in and said, “Enough!’
She didn’t have to ride in a cage with mouse poo – but she was acting out at her pre-school in such a way and on such a regular basis that out of desperation she was sent home. It became clear we needed to examine our choices as a family and make an adjustment.
It was time to press the reset button.
And it worked.
Isn’t it amazing and peculiar that sometimes it takes a really stupid mistake, a grievous error or a big consequence to set you to rights?
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