Monday 21 July 2014

I Love Cats and Broc-co-li




Our cat Ollie is an escape artist.  When we adopted him from the rescue agency as a 6-month old kitten, we had to promise to keep him inside.  We don’t mind because we understand that indoor cats have much longer lifespans.  They have a lower risk of catching communicable diseases or being injured by cars, people or other animals.  Not to mention less likely to bring fleas in.  But Ollie likes to go out and rumble with the other neighbourhood cats.  He likes to chase (and catch!) birds.  And he likes to eat grass.  It’s a world of adventure out there for him, and he wants out!  

He waits by the door, so we have to kick as we come in the door to keep him from escaping.  (He’s fine, he backs away in plenty of time, so we don’t actually kick him.)  But sometimes we forget, or we’re carrying something in or out and he manages to escape.


Sometimes this leads to problems.  Lately he’s come back a couple of times with badly scraped carpal pads (the pads that go with the claw up by the “wrist” area on the forepaws).  Either it happened fighting or - more likely - climbing trees.  Then he bites them so they don’t heal well, so we have to put the “cone of shame” on him.  And he looks so silly, we can’t help but laugh.  Once he’s healed a bit, the cone comes off and he’s back to his usual escape artistry.

One day last week, Kid 2 and his grandma, Yan Yan, were walking back from the local outdoor swimming pool when they saw Ollie outside.  Kid 2 called him, and he came over, so they grabbed him and brought him home.  Then they realized that there were 2 identical black cats in the house!  Oops.  But which one was Ollie?

Fortunately, Calvin remembered that our cats like broccoli (they get really upset if we cook some and don’t give them any) and we happened to have some left over from dinner.  He put a piece on the floor, and once Ollie pounced on it, they kicked the other cat out.


Careful - they also like chips!  (No, we don't normally give them any... they just try to sneak them, and they eat any crumbs they find.)

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