"What a Good Cat!"

   We have the usual national big-box hardware stores near us, but for any paint job that involves more than a couple of square feet, we go to a local paint store for both paint and advice.  This started several years ago when Pat decided to repaint the kitchen cabinets before putting our former house up for sale.

   One of our questions involved the timing of the job, because due to my work schedule, we could paint only at the end of August or the end of September.  The man at the paint store did not hesitate: August will be too hot and humid, he said, so do the painting in September.

   On the first day of our September painting vacation, a thin young stray cat ran into our yard.  We fed him and gave him something to drink, and he hung around with us the rest of the afternoon before moving on.  The next day, he came back, but we couldn’t do much painting because it rained.  The day after that, it rained some more and the cat came back once more.  In fact, it rained so much we didn’t finish the job that week.  But we did adopt the cat –- or maybe, he adopted us first.

   That was 12 years ago -- September 24, 1995, to be exact.  We don’t have a big celebration planned for our Kelly cat, unless you count my telling the World Wide Web about it on this page.  He won’t be getting any special treats or treatment, either, just the usual good food, love and affection that he gets every day and which he seems to like a lot.  One Saturday morning not long ago, I was awake, but still in bed, and I could hear Pat trying to get Kelly to go upstairs and convince me it was time to get up.  I called down, "Where's my Good Cat?"

   That must have been what he wanted to hear, because he raced upstairs and made a flying leap onto the bed with me -- except he had so much momentum in his 19-pound body he almost went flying off the other side of the bed.  We had some Quality Time together, I rubbed his tummy as he purred loudly enough to drown out traffic, and when he rolled over for a nap I got up.  It was a very good start to the day.

   Oh, I mentioned the September weather that year was rainy and damp.  And the August weather? It was perfect all week.  But we still buy from that paint store, and we always listen to what they tell us, because of that one occasion years ago when they gave us the bad advice that led to our adoption by a Good Cat.

We've all probably seen this in animated cartoons:  someone is sleeping near a window where the shade is pulled down.  Suddenly and for no reason, the shade rolls up and scares the daylights out of the sleeper.  Well, it happened at our house and it wasn't funny, but far from it being a tragedy, we're glad it happened.

   It happened to Lizzie one afternoon, and of all our cats, it had to happen to the one who is the most easily frightened.  While it would be too much of a cliché to say she is afraid of her own shadow, it wouldn't be far wrong, either.  She was napping on top of the cat tree next to a window in the main bedroom when the shade rolled up by itself and snapped loudly.  The panicked cat screeched and leaped to the floor, landing with a loud thud.

   For a cat, a leap from a height of maybe 4 or 5 feet normally wouldn't be a cause for concern, but Lizzie is heavy and doesn't make those kind of leaps under ordinary circumstances.  She appeared to be in pain when Pat found her, so we took the cat to her vet as a precaution.  X-rays didn't show any broken bones, but they did reveal something we hadn't been looking for:  three bladder stones, which the vet removed a few days later.

   In the past, Lizzie frequently developed urinary tract infections, for which Pat had to give her antibiotic pills.  Both cat and Pat enjoyed this much less than you might think.  Now, since her surgery the little cat has been free of infections.

   Along with the stones, the x-ray showed that Lizzie is beginning to develop arthritis in her back legs, but the vet told us that medication isn't necessary yet.  However, we're still beginning to make allowances for Lizzie's condition.  There is now a footstool at the end of the bed to help her up when she wants to sleep next to Pat.  Also, around the house there are cat trees and other furniture placed so she can continue to climb in the window, which she regularly does.

   And finally, there have been no further strange episodes of windowshades flapping around and scaring our cats.  While all this good news may not be someone else's idea of comedy, seeing Lizzie climbing and moving around without discomfort sure makes us happy.     (Originally posted 12 September 2003)

   Ah, the joys of being a young cat on a nice day!  It's warm with lots of sunshine, and the sidewalk feels so good to roll around on.  There's green grass and fresh catnip and plenty of other interesting smells, too.  And butterflies!

   Back inside, lots of tasty wet food.  The humans may expect you to lie down for a nap, but you're still raring to go.  You have so much energy, you just want to chase someone!  Why, there's Caitie-Belle -- all right, you'll chase her!  Through the house, down the stairs, around the corner, hot pursuit, another tight corner, into the kitchen...

   Wait!  What's this?  Lizzie is in the kitchen.  It's fun to chase her, too!  Stop!  Turn around!  Skidddddd across the kitchen floor...but wait a minute, Caitie-Belle is getting away.  And now Lizzie is running away too, but in another direction!

   Which one do you want to chase -- Lizzie or Caitie-Belle?  Lizzie!  Caitie-Belle!  No, Lizzie!  No, Caitie-Belle! 

   Hey, where did they go?  No Caitie-Belle, no Lizzie either.

   Oh well, you can still sniff the direction they went.  They can't get away from Nicky Cat, the mighty hunter.  You can hunt them down one at a time and pounce and chase them some more.  First, a quick wash, and then off you go again...

   The upcoming Labor Day weekend means the end of summer isn't far away, and we can take a look at what's left of the garden.  All the rain this spring and summer didn't help the tomatoes, which don't have as much flavor as in past years; however, the zucchini did very well with the extra moisture.  Pat has done her best to keep up with the picking while they're young and tender, but with the zucchini population explosion it's just about inevitable that she'll look under a leaf every so often and find a zuke the size of Barry Bonds's baseball bat, and with a similar woody texture.

   Since everyone else's zucchini has been growing at the same rate or better, giving away the excess is not an option.  Facing a growing stack of the green stuff, Pat went online with her customary resourcefulness and found some good recipes.  Last week she made pineapple-zucchini cupcakes, which taste especially good warmed up and served with vanilla ice cream.

   Now at our house, where there's ice cream, Caitie-Belle is soon sure to follow, trying to wheedle and cadge a little taste.  We wouldn't do it with some of our cats, but since Caitie-Belle has the original cast-iron stomach, she gets the empty plate and she licks up the last traces of Häagen-Dazs with gusto.  If we could only get her to eat zucchini with the same enthusiasm, we wouldn't need the cupcake recipe.

Research indicates that cats don't really taste sweet things.  Here's more information about what happens on a cat's tongue.

In case you have more zucchini than you know what to do with, here are some recipe ideas.

In 1996, when this feature (then called "Moore to the Point") was just getting started on Geocities, Pat drew the cartoon and I wrote a little ditty about gardening success and (mostly) failure.