Overheard as I browsed the aisles at the pet store yesterday:
"If you want to get a pet with legs, why don't you just get a snake?"
I was at the pet store buying weaponry as part of an ongoing effort to get our cats, Fatty and Stinky, to leave us the hell alone in the mornings. They had been waking us up earlier and earlier, culminating in Monday's 0520 debacle during which Stinky clawed my back while Fatty jumped up and down on a plastic bag from Ol' Navy.
This caused me to go into convulsions of crazyness, including slamming of doors - more than one, but less than three - and a very angry cool-off shower which afforded me the opportunity to reflect on just where we'd gone wrong in our raising of and training of the Wonder Dumplings.
Realizing that this was going to have to stop - and soon, as I want to drop well-trained kitties off with the Husbear's folks in August, not insane voracious catbeasts - I took a little time out of my busy calendar-preparation schedule to research cat behavior modification techniques and the application thereof.
So - no more cats in our bedroom overnight with us. No more scoops of food directly into their bowl - now it's Twist 'n Treat all the way, baby, at least until we find a food ball actually made for cats. And - this is the real punch in the gut, as far as the kitties are concerned - NO MORE feeding them first thing in the morning.
It's been a bit of an adjustment, though not as horrible as I thought it might be. We've wedged a towel under our door nightly, to guard against carpet destruction, and we've been feeding the cats right before we go to bed, because (just like babies, I hear) a cat that goes to bed with a full tummy will sleep longer. They actually appear to be getting some enjoyment out of batting the food balls around.
However - this morning, 5 AM, scratchscratchscratch. The response, this time, instead of feedfeedfeed? Ignoreignoreignore. Seems to be working pretty well, as long as my next post isn't all about how I got home to a scene out of Category 6: Day of Destruction.
girlie
