We had the pleasure of watching my furry brothers (cats) for a week while my parents were on vacation. My mom won’t entrust their care to anyone else, but myself and boyfriend. She knows that we will take care of them just as she would.
One of my brothers is named Oreo, and is by far the biggest trouble maker of the bunch. Oreo loves to come and visit his sister because we have special food (canned) twice a day and we pull out the catnip. Plus he gets a different view of the outside world and gets to destroy…oops I mean be curious in a new house.
Oreo can jump like no other cat I have seen before; from a sitting position or while running. Oreo is fast! He loves to play and he will play with anything…string, ball, feather, hair scrunchies, your hand, anyone else’s tail, and well his own tail too. I think you get the point. He loves to play.
My other brother is Mason and is the complete opposite of Oreo. Mason would rather lay on you than play. Mason second favorite thing to do is eat. Even though Skip is the oldest (by 2 months on the youngest) and the largest of the boys, Mason weighs the most. Mason is part Ragdoll, so when you pick him up; you can feel how much an 18 pound cat really does weigh because Mason goes completely limp.
Mason is a talker. If you talk to him, he answers back. It at least gives you the feeling that he is listening to you. Mason loves to be touched and prefers both hands to be used. Boyfriend likes having Mason visit because he has a buddy for the week. If Boyfriend sits, Mason is there. Mason is also odd in that he prefers to be covered most of the time. Once Boyfriend finally gets Mason to lie down next to him and then puts covers over most of Mason.
For the sake of Mason, it is better that Boyfriend be the primary holder. Skip is very jealous of Mason, so Mommy has to be careful with how much I pet or hold Mason. Mason used to be my son and since I live in Kentucky it’s ok that he’s now my brother. 😉 Back when Mason lived with me, we had some transferred aggression occur where Mason was the aggressor and Skip was the victim. Skip has never forgotten and therefore could do without Mason.
But, the boys all get along well enough with Oreo being the glue that holds them together. Skip will play with Oreo and Oreo will…hmmm…try to play with Mason? Mason will just go and find the humans to lie on which leaves Oreo and Skip to play. This is a huge treat for Skip and why he deals with Mason.
The boys immediately got catnip once my parents left the house after dropping the boys off. This kind of sets the stage for a week without their parents. PARTY TIME FOR THE KITTIES!! Given that all 3 boys are 11 years old, they all promptly sacked out after the catnip. Mason was of course near Boyfriend.
The week goes by and nothing really major happens other than Oreo acting out when he wasn’t allowed canned food due to his nervous stomach. He just can’t handle it twice a day. Oh, and by acting out, I mean knocking things over or off of a table. He does that when he’s mad and our house has not been Oreo proofed. My brother is a big brat…see I admit it, but of course my mom won’t. 😉 Parents never listen to the child that sees the truth. 🙂
The night before mom and dad are to come back through and pick up their kids, boyfriend had to work late. He called me and said that he was almost on his way home which take 45 minutes on a good day. So, I went through the cabinets and decided on a junk food night. I could have chosen the leftover KFC, but I looked around me and there were 3 cats. Umm…No, I’m not going there.
Well, boyfriend comes home and asks what I had to see if there were any leftovers. I said, nope, I went the junk food route. He went into the kitchen and started to scrounge for food as well, and he came across the leftover KFC. Boyfriend politely asked if I had plans for it, and I said no, it’s all yours. I was all smiles. [Please insert an evil sounding laugh in your head here.]
Boyfriend grabs the chicken and coleslaw and heads to the couch followed by Oreo and Mason. Skip was lagging a bit (not that he’s allowed any table food which might account for the lag). Boyfriend sets his coleslaw down on the table and pops open the container with the chicken.
Here was his first mistake; he looked away for a second to answer a question I asked. Did I ask purposely, is the question? The answer is that I really wanted to know if he wanted to watch Big Brother. Well, in the split second he turned away, Oreo hit from behind the couch and was up on the table in a flash.
Boyfriend exclaims in a deep primitive voice, “Get away from my coleslaw.” Coleslaw from KFC is Boyfriends favorite. He then proceeds to knock Oreo off the table. Oreo in a flash is in the front of the couch attacking. Mason decides on the high route of the back of the couch at the same time. Boyfriend was literally waving both arms…one in front and one behind to hold off the attack.
Me you ask? I’m laughing my a** off. Oreo not to be defeated runs back around to the back of the couch while Mason tries again from the back of the couch. Oreo jumps towards the table and boyfriend gets him in mid air with the back of hand while exclaiming, “Back off, it’s my chicken.” Boyfriend has yet to eat a bite. I’m telling you people, it…was…funny!
So, I see Oreo heading around my side of the couch and feeling sorry for boyfriend; I snatch up Oreo and proceed to hold him. Boyfriend with a sigh of “Thanks” starts to take a bite with Mason’s head right next to his. Mason figured that you just never know…Boyfriend might miss his mouth and instead feed Mason. Boyfriend waves his arm in the air to get Mason Back.
Cue the Skip-ster. Skippy seeing that Oreo was subdued and Mason was losing the fight, decided to help out. Skip took the couch seat route, and in laying claim that it’s his Papa proceeds to place to paws on boyfriend leg leaning in to see if he can have some. Boyfriend is handling these two quite well, and Oreo can’t have that. In a quick move, he gets away from me.
Ok I admit it; I wasn’t holding him very well. I want him to remember the fun and not the bad times, so I couldn’t be mean. I know…Poor Boyfriend. Oreo taking the floor route heads right into the fray. Boyfriend is growling like I imagine a bear would when defending his food, but is actually getting food into his mouth. The boys backed down a level.
Picture if you will, boyfriend leaned over his chicken container with elbows out to prevent an unwanted helper with Oreo sitting on several books on the floor, but right where he can grab if needed, Skip standing with two paws on boyfriends legs leaning in to see if Papa will share, and Mason sitting on the back of the couch hoping for a piece to make its way up there.
Thank the heavens boyfriend didn’t actually share or pandemonium would have erupted. Our rule in our house (before Skip’s food allergies) were if you don’t push, but sit politely we will share. If you push, we don’t share. It’s our way of teaching manners to the cats.
I sent my parents a text message with a picture of Boyfriend trying to eat chicken with KFC. Mom said that dad couldn’t stop laughing. And dad’s reply was, “Our boys like chicken!”
And that my friend is the story of Boyfriend trying to eat chicken with 3 cats in the house. For the record, Boyfriend did indeed finish his chicken and as soon as he got to the coleslaw, the boys slowly left as they realized that chicken was not in the cards for them this night.