Notes from under the bed

I thought all was right with the world. Craig had finished his hiking research for his upcoming backpacking guide and he promised to stay home for a little while. Heather had returned home after a week in Portland. And Scruffy and I were getting used to everything being normal again. Breakfast on time, all four of us hanging out in the living room reading the paper together in the morning, evening treats. The routine was just starting to get re-established.


(Above: Giuseppe inspecting Craig's sleeping bag, making sure it was going back to storage for the winter.)

That's when the ambush occurred. I was sitting downstairs, watching as the dreaded kitty carrier was brought into the house and the door was left enticingly open. Come on - it was obviously for Scruffy. I might be docile enough to let Craig and Heather cut my nails, but Scruffy tries to eat them alive. I know they pay the vet team to endure his attitude so they don't have to. So I had nothing to worry about. I was getting ready to watch Heather attempt to lure Scruffy into the carrier.

But then Heather leaned over (to kiss my goodbye, I was sure) and she picked me up and quickly shoved me into the kitty carrier. What??? When did she become quick as lightening? It must have been all that coffee she drank before breakfast. Dang it! And the next thing I knew I was in the back seat of her car being whisked away to the vet! AAAAH!

In case there was any doubt, I was a brave kitty. Contrary to the rumors, I did NOT drool like a St. Bernard and I did not shake with fear the entire time. And I did not wrap my body around Heather's neck in hopes that she'd save me from the vet. Nope. Do not believe a word of it. I will have to have a talk with Scruffy about those nasty rumors he's been spreading....

Everything will go back to normal, I'm sure it will. But for now, until I'm absolutely sure, I will be hiding under the bed. Just in case.

GOOOOAAAAL!

Scruffy Gray won. Fair and square. It was just like a soccer game, long and drawn out with a lot of posturing and scrambling and changing of positions without gaining anything. But finally, it happened: Scruffy Gray 1, Heather 0.

Heather had arranged a visit with the vet - Scruffers needs his nails cut and his back needs to be shaved. Poor guy, he's so arthritic he can't clean the fur on his back. And no matter how much time Heather spends brushing out the mattes, the fur just keeps getting worse. And on top of that Scruffy has been doing his pirate trick again where he lifts one side of his upper lip funny like he's saying "Grrr, matey!" So the pulled tooth site probably needs to be looked at since the pirate look should have ended months ago after the broken tooth was pulled.

So Heather began by pulling the dreaded kitty carrier out of the garage. Scruffers took one look at it and hid behind the couch. Heather moved the couch and Scruffy ran (limped quickly, really) upstairs. But Heather was quick and had already closed the doors to all the rooms upstairs. Scruffy was trapped. "Should be no problem now," Heather thought. Except that the door to her office wasn't really closed all the way and Scruffy snuck in and hid behind a heavy desk.

Well, after a lot of hiding and trying to lure Scruffy out, Scruffs somehow escaped and ran under Heather's bed. Heather slunk in under it and tried to pull him out. And that's when Scruffy hissed at Heather. But she was determined. So she pulled out the green towel to wrap him up and he lunged at her. And scratched her pretty good all over her hand, enough to draw some blood. And then he hid for the rest of the day.

That was Tuesday and Scruffy has yet to sit on her lap again. He'll sit next to her, but doesn't really want Heather to pet him and he won't purr for her. And every time she walks into the garage he runs behind the couch - just in case.

I don't know what his problem is. I sat in the kitty carrier no problem. In fact, I watched almost the entire game from inside the kitty carrier. Pretty good view and I was guaranteed not to be approached by Scruffy. It was probably the safest place in the house for me to watch the fun.