Wednesday 27 April 2011

My terrible kid

Sometimes, having a cat home is like having a kid: they both can be unwillingly very burdensome.  My cat is only turning 6 months old and she sometimes forces me to work on my patience.  Particularly these last days.

The first strike was on Thursday evening.  I had prepared a very good Easter dinner since we were to leave for four days on Friday morning, and this came with a glass of red wine.  I was enjoying it in the living room when I had a phone call.  I went to the bedroom to take it and since my interlocutor asked for a video conference, I needed both my hands and I put my glas on the floor for a minute.  At that moment, my super-excited little Naomi rushed in the room and, of course, hit the glass. It wasn't broken but all the wine spit on the floor and on the white bed-dressing.  This is a particularly big piece of very thick material that is always a trouble to clean.  And red wine is always a problem too. So... since we were leaving the next morning, all that I could do was to mop it the best I could, cover it with salt to soak the wine for an hour or two, then let it drench in a bucket of water until we came back.  And later during the night, we found Naomi, who gets fresh water in a nice little glass cup and wouldn't drink it if it's not changed several times per day, drinking from the salty and dirty bucket. We had to cover it with paper for her to stop.  

Then we left and spent the week-end at the Bear family's mökki.  It was really sunny and I thought Naomi would enjoy being a little outside, but I wouldn't let her roam free since there were no fences  and a few dangerous animals. So I kept her on a leach, and when I had to work, I would sometimes attach the leach at a pole so she could go around but not too far.  Until I found out that she had managed to slip out of her harness and had disappeared...  Panic ! (not mine, I knew she couldn't be far, but the Bear parents were very worried).  After an extensive search, we found her under the terrace of the building where she was enjoying a rest in a fresh place... 

The last day we were there, I had her around on a leach again, and since she was behaving nice and I wanted to take pictures of her, I let her go freely but followed her closely. It went well for a while, but then she saw a very appealing tree and started climbing.  She was so fast that before I realized what had happened she was out of my reach... and unable to go down, of course.  However, she was clever enough not to climb too high (that tree was huge !) and by the time we brought a ladder, she had managed to slip down and jump to safety.  

Only five minutes later, she found another terrace under which to lie.  She was just out of my reach and wouldn't move from there.  I was getting worried because we had to leave rather soon, but she wouldn't come back.  I tried to attract her with toys and moving things, I called, I waited, but it took her about 45 minutes to come !  No need to tell you that she was kept on a each for the rest of our time there !

After all these adventures, she was an angel in the car on the way back home.  On the way, we picked up a friends' cat to host him for a month while his masters are on holidays. Naomi wasn't mean at all, and the other cat is very friendly, so we thought everything would go well; only we hadn't counted on our little girl's playful mood and curiosity.  As soon as both cats were released in our appartment, Naomi starting to follow and tease her guest.  She wanted to play and wouldn't let him alone !  The poor cat got upset and ended up hiding in a closet until Naomi understood that he needed a little of space... By chance it took them only a day to get on friendlier tones. 

So next morning we humans had to go back to work. We were ready to leave when some strange smell filled the appartment. Naomi had just been to her litter and had stepped in her poo, carrying it around all the place !  We had no time to clean everything but we had to grab her and wash her in the sink - at least she doesn't mind being wet - and because of that I missed my train to go to work...  

Plus of course, in the evening, after a hard day, I was left with cleaning up the all appartment. And also the bed-dressing that had been in its bucket for four days.  That needed to spend the night in water with bleach to get rid of the stain, but then I couldn't let it in the cats' reach, Naomi might well try and drink it.  Only when I tried to carry the full bucket on the balcony for the night, of course I dropped a good deal of water...  For sure it's not directly Naomi's fault this time, but come on, I had just cleaned the floor ! 

Anyway, after all that complaining, I suppose I'm just like the parent of a terrible kid: I love her all the same. She might do any mischief she likes, she just needs to come and softly brush her head on mine like she does when she wants to display affection and I'll forgive her everything.  Just click on her picture down here and you'll surely understand how irresistible she is...




6 comments:

  1. J'veux pas dire, mais, malgré tout ça, elle est quand même super mignonne !

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  2. LOL la photo de Naomi sur l'arbre.

    C'est clair elle t'en fait voir de toutes les couleurs. 6 mois, elle est encore jeune et avide d'exploration. Le mien à 8 ans est un grand calme. Parfois ça lui prend d'explorer un peu, récemment sur le balcon. Mais au moindre bruit il décampe. Je n'essaie même pas dehors (j'ai une laisse aussi), il aurait trop peur de tout ;-) Ca fait 6 mois que je l'ai et il ne m'a pas fait de trop grosses bêtises.

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  3. C'est bien aussi, un chat qui a peur, ça rassure un peu le maître... Naomi n'a peur de rien, elle poursuit l'aspirateur dans tous les coins et vient renifler le derrière du berger allemand du voisin ! A ce stade-là c'est de l'inconscience qui peut lui coûter cher :D

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  4. Ah ouais, téméraire ta top model. Le mien se cache dès que je sors l'aspirateur (même pas mis en marche !). Il s'est même littéralement pissé dessus quand je me suis approché trop près du coin où il se cachait :D

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  5. La plus grande de mes deux chattes était comme la tienne mais un jour elle s'est faite mordre par un chien et a eu une hémorragie pulmonaire et a failli y rester et depuis elle est froussarde comme tout :)

    Espérons qu'il ne doivent pas lui arriver comme la mienne pour qu'elle se calme :/

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  6. Elle reste magnifique et porte divinement bien son nom !!!!
    Elle est aussi téméraire que mon Chips (9 mois)!!!!

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