The Other Cat – Precious Moments and Life’s Indignities

Posted on by Claremary P. Sweeney

Meow! It’s Roxie here. Dad and Mom are out on another date night and I’m stuck here babysitting for ZuZu, aka “Mommy’s Widdle Snookums Puss”. No one ever seems to consider I might have plans of my own. Plans that don’t involve free kitty day care and playing endless hide and seek with a dumb ball of fur ! She hides and I take a nap! Clueless Snookums never figures out she’s the only one playing!! 

If you ask me (and no one ever does, I might add), I’m the one who could use a night out after the stressful day I had.

I spent a good part of the morning helping Mom and Dad paint the kitchen. For this I received not one bit of thanks.  At one point Mom even threatened me with a wet paint brush.  Now, there is a woman who needs to cultivate an attitude of gratitude!

The dining room table was a mess with stuff from the kitchen cupboards. I knocked off some of it to make room for us to have lunch. When Mom came in, she yelled so loud, she scared ZuZu. And then of course she had to pick up her “iddy, biddy, widdle pumpkin puss” to console her and to apologize  sincerely for frightening her “iddy, biddy, sweet widdle, pumpkin puss”. Seriously, those two need to get a life! They’re downright embarrassing. It makes me just want to hack up a fur ball.

After lunch Dad announced it was time to go  on an adventure and got the travel bags out. I have my own. (I refuse to share with ZuZu. I need my space.) When we arrived at our destination, I stepped out in happy anticipation and was hit with a nasty feeling of Deja Vu. Fate had played another cruel trick on me. I found myself standing on the same examining table as last year. We were at the Veterinary Clinic! The antiseptic smell, the white linoleum, the cold, hard scale, the frigid stethoscope, the sounds of other animals out there panting, waiting for their turn on the fluffy quilt. I hate the Vets!

And so I promptly jumped from the examining table into the sink. While ZuZu  let them weigh and poke and probe and reward her with treats, I hid out. Let them come in and get me! I was not giving up without a fight. They tried to bribe me with a treat, but unlike some tabbies, I have my pride. If they wanted me, they’d have to come in and get me. I hissed and scratched and bit, but to no avail. Little Pumpkin Puss just kept on nibbling her treats, ignoring my plight. I put up a valiant effort but it was four against one and then they threw in the towel. A large pink one and I knew I had lost the battle along with my dignity! Mom kept commenting to Dad about how cute and precious I looked. Precious! Moi?!  I was mortified.

So here I am, home alone (except for Baby Snookums). Mom says I have to write an apology letter about the biting and the kicking and the scratching and the hissing to the Vet and her Lovely Assistant. I feel this request is totally unjustified. If anything, they owe me an apology. So, instead, I might watch some cat videos  and since we’re in a the middle of rousing game of hide and seek, I’m going to take a long nap. s1kf2

53 thoughts on “The Other Cat – Precious Moments and Life’s Indignities”

    1. Gib, Everyone loves ZuZu. Mom wrote a whole book about her adventures. But no one ever appreciates my personality, wit and charm.I think my trials and tribulations would make a best seller.But, The world is a cruel place for cats like me….Roxie

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Roxie, you could have a great career on the stage. Your portrayal of a poor, persecuted cat forced to seek refuge in the sink is heart-stopping. And you can carry off a pink towel in a way not many cats could.
        – Gib.

        Liked by 3 people

    2. Friend Roxie, I am shamed. I revisited to admire your sink performance, and was dismayed to see that in my first post I writ Zuzu’s name, when I should have writ “Roxie”.
      I’m sure she wished herself into my paws, so thus it was her name came forth, not yours.
      Is there no end to her sly dealings?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Yes, this happens quite often, as she is more famous and therefore, more memorable. But Gib, like you, I will have my day when my book is published and it sells millions! Thank you for showing me how it is done! your friend, Roxie

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Ah, Lynn, you were not in the Vet’s office with her.It’s a day we dread every year. We get the notice, put it on the fridge and remind each other every day for a month that someone has to call to make the appointment.This year \ I tried to get Charley to make two, one for me and ZuZu and separate appointment of him and His cat. No deal!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      2. Thanks,, Lynn. It took all four of us to get her out, hence no photos of the hissy fit. It was a doozy! Right now she’s lying in the middle of a carpet of catnip she spilled on the dining room floor. It might prove to be a very long night!

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Right now Roxie’s reacting to the contents of a baggy of cat nip she apparently found from when I emptied the kitchen cabinets.To say the least, she is worse on drugs then when she is sober and being sarcastic. There is catnip all over the dining room floor. I left her lying in the middle of it after attempting to clean it up and getting swiped at. She is a challenge!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. Oh Roxie, my sincerest sympathies for all the indignities you’ ve been forced to suffer. Dad should have to write an apology letter to you for the dastardly trick he pulled!!
    And as for ZuZu, well, I’ll just keep my lips zipped so I don’t have to end up writing an apology letter!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Poor, Roxie! Will the torture and indignities never end? I’m glad you can share your plight with the world. Won’t somebody please stop the madness and help this poor victim of kitty persecution? No wonder you overdosed on catnip! What else could you have done under such dire circumstances?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. If you could see the mess she makes, you would be more empathetic. I could do a blog post just on the breakage that occurs daily! Roxie feels that anything on a table, counter or ledge is there for her to knock down. The world is her oyster!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  11. Roxie! This is your friend and compatriot, The Bean (aka l’Haricot Merveileuse) … I am with you every inch of the way here. I feel you pain. And I feel that vets should be banned. Destroyed. Annihilated. Put out of our misery. I too endured the Veterinaire this week (it was Friday) – he is on my hit list. He will not survive the revolution. As for the widdy pumpkin puss …. she’s clearly what we here call ‘un peu speciale’ – this does not mean special in a complimentary way. Your friend, Bean

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Dear Bean, Quite by accident, I have found a remedy for our depressing situations. This week, Mom and Dad were painting the kitchen cabinets and I found a package of catnip in among the dishes stacked on the table! It was the evening of my Veterinary Nightmare, but after rolling around in the delicious dried leaves for awhile, the horror of it all faded into a lovely blue blur. I will share my stash with you when you come to visit! (I’ve hidden it from the little, special one) Votre Amie, Roxie aka The Other Cat

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. So adorable and speaking of the crisp fall air, our cat – Amanda, has become super cat. She is very energetic and frisky, She zooms from one room to another and then she is all tuckered out. I believe she is trying to justify her naps.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Ah, Roxie, I feel your pain! I hope all is well for you now, and Zuzu isn’t being too terrible! 😉 Nelson sends his love and understanding as well; Shikari, however, related more with Zuzu. 🙂 (And now is wondering if Nelson has been napping when he’s been trying to play hide and seek..)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It sounds like I would love Nelson. If he ever travels to RI, he can stay with us and we’ll send ZuZu outside to live under the shed where she belongs. If Shakira comes, she has to go under the shed, too. Nelson & I will tell them it’s a game of hide & seek.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I told Nelson and he is totally on board with that idea!! He says that sounds wonderful; you two can have the house to yourselves while Zuzu and Shikari have to weather the elements under the shed. (However I read this first, so I may have to intervene and let Zuzu and Shikari go somewhere a little safer.) 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      3. That’s the truth! Same here; I keep trying to lock Shikari outside, but Mom always realizes what I’m up to and lets him back in. One of these days.. Love, Nelson 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    2. It sounds like I would love Nelson. If he ever travels to RI, he can stay with us and we’ll send ZuZu outside to live under the shed where she belongs. If Shakira comes, she has to go under the shed, too. Nelson & I will tell them it’s a game of hide & seek.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. You’ll find, in reading posts from Roxie’s perspective, that she is a huge drama queen. But she has enlisted the sympathy of many fellow bloggers and I’m sure she will truly appreciate your concern (and use it to her best advantage). Right now she is watching me type this on my IPad and “patiently” waiting to see if I’ll show her some cat videos on You Tube. (PS. I adore your mom!)

      Like

      Reply
  17. Pingback: Roxie’s Resolution | Around ZuZu's Barn

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.