Friday Kitty Corner

- Joseph Wood Krutch

Good afternoon my dear friends, it's Friday!  I am ridiculously excited at the prospect of this upcoming weekend.  Besides the regular sleeping in, it's also the weekend when I'll be transplanting all my seedlings into the garden.  I can hardly wait.

It's been a while since I talked about our kitty cats.  Ever since Nibble took residence in our home, their lives have been turned upside down with a little squirrel running about the house and them not being allowed to touch it.  And that said squirrel has been stealing all the love and attention that they have been enjoying exclusively until now. I can imagine, that must be very hard for a cat.  I do what I can to ensure them that all the love and attention is still there for them but I have a sneaking suspicion that emotions are running high sometimes.  Especially with Oliver.

Hercules is of a mellow nature and handles added temptations and adversities pretty well. I often find him sprawled in front of Nibble's cage, observing him closely and thinking his secret cat thoughts. Once Nibble is out of the cage however, Hercules gets out of the way and observes him from a distance.  I don't really have to worry about Hercules attacking little Nibble although I never take that chance.

Oliver is quite a different story.  I always thought that Hercules was the THE hunter around here but it turns out that Oliver has him beat. Or maybe it's that Hercules is getting older and doesn't want to bother the way that he used to. Either way, I'm quite sure that Oliver's heart desire these days is to catch Nibble and teach him a profound life lesson that a cat is only capable of.  When we take Nibble out of his cage we always have to make sure that we know where Oliver is and if he is close by we don't let Nibble to roam freely. Oliver is extremely fast and it would only take a second for Nibble to get hurt.  As a matter of fact, we had a little scare last week when Oliver came out of nowhere and attempted to pounce on our little friend.  I was outside with Nibble, letting him run in the grass for a bit, and I thought Oliver was in the house.  Apparently not.  Nibble realized the danger and assumed a battle pose with some grunting sound effects included, but I was there to stop Oliver from fulfilling his desire and it all ended well.

As terrifying as the concept of Oliver getting the best of little Nibble is, there is a positive side to it all. Nibble has to learn that cats are predators and danger is ever so present and lurking around every corner.  If anything, Oliver is teaching him that.

Our cats are learning a much needed lesson too.  You can't have all that you want.

Namaste