Category: dogs and cats

When my mom’s friend Bob came to visit, he remembered Creampuff. He had visited Cathy in New Mexico, when her cats were Creampuff and Tiger.

Bob has always been very nice to Cathy’s cats. When she moved to New Mexico from Florida, he kept them for about six weeks till she got settled. Cathy was sure she’d never see the cats again but no such luck. Bob put them on a plane for Tucson and Cathy met them at the airport. They even managed to change planes in Dallas without getting lost.

Bob told Cathy, “You need to give Creampuff more attention.”

“No problem,” Cathy said. “I’ll send her to you. I bet there’s room in your luggage when you fly back tonight!”

Way to go, Mom! You’re finally catching on. This household would be greatly improved with one less cat.

Ophelia: A Cat With Personality

My mom says Ophelia has more personality than any cat she’s ever had. That’s not saying much since most cats are kind of wimpy. She was talking about Ophelia on the phone to her friend Bill (so what else is new).

Today mom heard crunching coming from the kitchen. “Gracie, stop eating!” she yelled.

Then she remembered I was in the Dog Lounge.

“Oops…now, which cat could that be? It’s Ophelia!” Sure enough, Ophelia was diving into a plate of crunchies. When she saw my mom, she looked up with that guilty “Caught in the act!” expression and dashed away.

“If Cathy thinks I’ll eat those crunchies,” Ophelia seems to be saying, “then I’ll never get the canned food and the other crunchies I like better.”

Dogs are smart. We never look guilty. When I get caught, I give my mom the “What’s the problem? I’m not doing anything!” look.

Too late, Ophelia. Mom’s on to you.

Mom psyched by WNBA Seattle Storm win

The mom is psyched. She came home very late last night, following what should have been a brief excursion to a Seattle Storm game against LA.

“Los Angeles games are usually boring,” she said when she finally got home and took me out for a long overdue walk. “This one was exciting. Triple overtime! I’ve never even seen ONE overtime in basketball.”

My mom considered writing a post for one of her blogs about lessons learned from the game. Persistence? Advantage of the home court?

“This isn’t a game you win on the road,” someone said during the post-game interviews. “You’ve got all the fans screaming for you.”

Many people get through tough times when they’ve got their own private network of screaming fans, Mom said.

Well, I have a HUGE network of fans all over Seattle. Strangers come up to my mom on the street, saying, “Is this Gracie? I know her from the Dog Lounge.” Or, “We’ve met at the dog park. Hi, Gracie!”

Of course, Ophelia offers another version of screaming fan. She shrieked at Creampuff, who’s the most harmless, ditziest cat I’ve ever met. Ophelia seems to think Creampuff has the ferocity and firepower of a US Marine, when in fact Creampuff has the toughness and consistency of a marshmallow.

Back to my nap. Mom wishes she could do the same, but she’s got a call to prepare for.

Food for Ophelia, but what about me?

My mom Cathy just discovered a pet food delivery service. She was getting pretty desperate because we don’t have a car and she’s not supposed to pick up those big bags for awhile…maybe ever.

Sounds good to me! Running out of my food would be a major crisis.

But what did my mom do? She ordered samples of cat food for Ophelia.

“Ophelia’s such a fuss and I want her to learn to eat healthy food,” she explained on the phone. “Gracie? No problem. Gracie eats everything.”

Huh? What about samples of treats for me?

“Gracie’s never met a treat she didn’t like,” my mom said. Notice how she talks about me? Alas, it’s all too true.

Cat sleeps vertically

Did I tell you our housemate Creampuff is a little odd?

My mom says, “Creampuff spent three months living in a cage in the Silver City, New Mexico, Humane Society. The staff adored her. They really wanted me to take her home, since she couldn’t stay forever. They let her run around a little so she wouldn’t go cage-crazy, but even so…”

Creampuff loves to look for adventure and live on the edge.  Here she’s balanced precariously on the back of our sofa, almost vertical. Somehow she manages to stay on her cushion. Notice how she sleeps with one paw over her eye, shutting out the world. I do the same thing sometimes.

Frankly, the whole thing makes me sea sick.

Ah, the pressures of royalty…

My mom Cathy showed me a news story about Britain’s Prince Harry, the younger son of Princess Diana and Prince Philip.

“When princes and princesses take trips,” she said, “they are supposed to carry out works of charity. They visit people who are sick or disadvantaged. They inspire everyone who sees them. They show their flag.”

OK, mom, what’s your point? I do good things, too.

Today when we were in the dog park, I stood patiently next to people who wanted to give me a good back rub and butt scratch. Ooh, that felt good. But hey, it’s not about me. People feel good when they pat a dog. Their blood pressure drops. I am contributing to the health of our nation’s citizens.

I’m especially good to people on buses. When I’m sitting in my mom’s lap, people come over and talk to me. They rub my head. They tell my mom all about the dogs they owned years ago. Some of those people look like they haven’t had a conversation in ages.

True,. some of the conversations are a little offbeat. My mom just smiles and nods. I sit stoically and say nothing. I never bite anyone, even when they smell like tobacco or booze, which I hate. I never lick anybody. OK, I might give them a good sniff, but my mom pulls me back when I get too close.

And then there are people walking by or sitting on nearby benches, smoking or just drinking coffee. These people almost always need a dog fix. They need to give me a big hug. It’s called two-minute therapy. That’s what I do best.

Dog takes over cat’s bed: victory at last!

My mom rarely buys a dog bed or cat cushion. But a couple of years ago, she wandered over to the Cat Show at McCaw Hall. She admired the purebred cats and found someone who was selling handmade cat beds.

“The cats need their own space,” she said.

Huh? There are two cat condos in this apartment, plus two cat cushions. Mom didn’t buy the cat condos. She’s much too cheap. She inherited them from cat owners who were upgrading.

But Mom brought home this wonderful cushion. I immediately took it over. See? Purr-fect fit. After all, if you look at previous entries in this blog, you’ll see our ditzy housemate Creampuff in my bed and my crate. Stand back, calico cat! It’s MY turn.

Dog too tired to pay attention to cat

So here I am, enjoying my dog bed. It’s been a tough weekend. Mom dragged me to the dog park on Saturday. Sunday I played in the dog lounge for hours. This bed feels so soft and comfortable.

Someone’s trying to sneak by me but who cares? I’m down for the count. Yes, I saw that calico tail on my left (your right). But my priorities are firmly fixed. Sleep first. Cats later.

At least we’re finally getting some sun.  Back to my nap as soon as mom puts away that darn camera.

Celebrity Apprentice: Should have got a cat (spoilers)

My mom was watching Celebrity Apprentice on hulu.com. She told me their task of the week was to make a YouTube episode for All Detergent. It was supposed to be viral and funny.

“They fired the wrong people,” Cathy told me, shaking her head at the computer. “But hey, it’s show biz! We like watching Clint and Melissa. The people they fired were…well, background. And sometimes that Boardroom is more like a Celebrity Therapy Group. Good for the ratings.”

Well, c’mon, guys. I may not be a celebrity (except on the Seattle Metro buses and in the dog park). But I could give these folks some lessons.

Team #1 made a raunchy soft porn video, where “doing the laundry” stands for…well, something I no longer do, now that I am fixed. Team #2 did something with midgets.

Midgets? Little people?

Here’s a short quiz. What stops everybody dead in their tracks? When videos get posted on yahoo, what do they feature?

A cat.

If I were making a video that’s what I’d do. We could have a cat playing with the laundry. A dog works too, but cats work with the female demographic. (I’ve been listening to my mom the copywriting strategist.) And yes, I have an ulterior motive…

If my techno-challenged mom ever gets the hang of her Flip video camera, we’ll have videos up the wazoo. Hopefully that will happen in my lifetime. I am not optimistic. My mom bribes the building manager to change her light bulbs and smoke detector batteries.

Meanwhile, if those Celebrity Apprentices want a cat who’s perfect for the leading role, we will lend them Ophelia. Ophelia looks very funny when she waddles across the room. She’s hilarious when she dives into her hiding place, one step ahead of Creampuff. (I think Creampuff lets her win.) My mom adores Ophelia and she wouldn’t give her up. But Ophelia would have a great life on the set, eating treats and sardines instead of crunchies.

Who knows? Maybe Donald Trump would adopt her. A dog can dream, right?

Oh well, back to my normal role. In my non-celebrity life, there’s always time for one more nap.