Just like Bob Barker says at the end of The Price is Right

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned. It has been almost two months since my last cat post, and my crazy Cat Lady badge is about to be revoked. Please accept my hearty apologies and this shadowy figure as a token of my gratitude. We're leaving for Mexico (not the good part, no, we will be visiting the same place we always do down there...El dentist-o.) tomorrow, and are currently in the middle of running around getting ready and paying bills, getting our brakes re-done and trying to catch up on email. Speaking of brakes...did you ever notice how any time you have an extra, oh, $500.00 or so just lying around the bank, collecting interest, something mechanical goes completely to hell and costs you at least that amount, if not more? I have. Murphy? I laugh at Murphy...dude was an amateur by comparison to yours truly.

Cats, though...the cats - they are funny little beasties. With the insane amounts of construction going on lately, they run from window to window, keeping watch on the neighborhood. I've had cab drivers, strangers on the street and neighbors that I hadn't met say, "Oh, you're the one with the two cute cats! They're just aDORable!", (Note: I can feel you rolling your eyes here - but I'm only quoting what other people said, ok?)

Edie has (finally!) learned her two basic 'tricks' - "Sit" and "Up" - Here she is doing "Up!" - I apologize for the overly-bright flash and evil cat face, but speed is of the essense when shooting
the furry ones. Note the presence of the fish-flavored (organic) treat in the top right of this picture. She's actually not nearly as interested in a) sitting b) watching me when I'm talking to or c) treats as Fynn is. She was actually looking at the camera strap and trying to bite it. Since we didn't get her as a tiny kitten, she isn't as used to responding to her name as Fynn. Plus, she IS a girl, which means a side of attitude with everything, extra catnip please.

I digress - my point was twofold: One, Yeaaah! Little Edie has finally proven she can be trained and Two: Cats are trainable....but the fact remains they are far more adept at "training" people than we ever give them credit for. Cat-owned people, think of the many nights your companion has patiently explained to you the benefits of excercise at night. Or the thousands of times s/he has repeated the phrase, "Stuffed MOUSE, not catnip cigar" to you before you realized what s/he wanted? The level of patience and firm but gentle way they use their little paws and big eyes to get their point across is admirable.

I've got them both to sit, stand 'up" (back feet on the ground, front holding my hand) jump from one place to another and back, and walk on a leash. Clearly, I should take up knitting or something - but really, it didn't take all that long. Cats, as anyone who's been around them knows, are very smart - but most of them* aren't motivated by a deep seated need to please. (Here is where cat-haters say, "Yeah, all cats are cold and heartless, that's why I don't like them. They have attitudes.") This is wrong - they have personalities, all different. They also aren't more than a half-step away from being tough, wild animals.
*Fynn is one of the few cats I've had that seems to really want to do what I ask him. He's a love-bug. He's also looked at me with clear annoyance and purposely bit me when we were playing rough and he'd had enough.

As I write this, Fynn and Edie have played together with a pin, looked clearly guilty when I told them, "NO!", flopped dramatically on the floor in front of Scott (because it is at least 80 frickin' degrees here, people. What was that fall drivel I was rhapsodizing about?) bit each other and 'talked' back and forth, lept over/onto/off the couch, each other and their toys, and made me laugh out loud.

I've seen them look embarassed (Never laugh at a cat. They know.), silly, uncomfortable, scared, irritated, amused (if you think you're being laughed at, you definitely are) and loved/loving. I swear I've watched them scheme together and seperately about how best to make us do things for them/to them. If the sight of a cat curled on someone's lap, gently snoring* or nursing in its' sleep** doesn't strike you as at least comical, you might want to have your funny bone checked. How could anyone call that cold? They make a heck of a foot-warmer at night.
*Fynn.
*Edie, occasionally Fynn.

One of our local animal shelters is offering a two-for-one "special" on cats and kittens right now. Reading the advert made me think about how many of these great little creatures will probably be put down, here and all over the country, just because of people's careless attitudes with regard to sterilizing their pets. I'd take another two in a heartbeat, but there will always be more little warm furries, waiting for a home. Another plea from me to spay and neuter your pets, and to go the extra mile, volunteer at a shelter or trap/fix/release any cat 'colonies' near your home, and please...get your next pet from a shelter. It'll be the best money you ever spend.