Cat and Mouse

Girlie has a beautiful longhaired Ragdoll-Siamese mix cat.  She is predominantly white with pale calico tortoise markings and gorgeous blue eyes.  Peach – as she is called for the pale, peach-colored areas amongst her markings – is extremely tolerant of being picked up and petted, true to the Ragdoll reputation.  She is also an obsessive and very successful hunter.

Peach and her buddy Ian (Pembroke Welsh Corgi)

I suppose most folks who have indoor/outdoor cats have experienced the generosity of their magnanimous feline friend at some point or another.  Personally, I wish Peach were much more selfish.  I could do without her bringing in dead or nearly dead birds, mice, and snakes.  What we really wish is that she wouldn’t bring in perfectly healthy mice and then let them get away from her.  You might think we’d keep her inside, but no; in fact, Dearest and I were both raised in ‘animals belong outside’ homes, so the idea of a litter box is less attractive than indoor wildlife.

Because it happens fairly regularly, we’ve all gotten used to stopping whatever we’re doing until the mouse is located.  Girlie was the first one to perfect the art of catching a mouse herself, by grabbing a little box she had in her room and clapping it quickly down over the mouse as it ran past her.  One thing about Girlie that is to my mind, a bit unusual, is that she is perfectly willing to deal with any of the cat and dog messes you can imagine (and probably some you can’t) with a businesslike, efficient attitude.  How rare is that for a thirteen-year-old girl?

The best part about it is that I realize her lack of concern when it comes to managing the most unpleasant aspects of pet care is a potential job skill!  Since my oldest son’s first official job was as a kennel assistant at our veterinarian’s office, I know how difficult it can be.  Girlie could do it, and she would be good at it!  It just goes to show that it pays to think out of the box when it comes to future employment planning for children with challenges.

We live in a two story house with the bedrooms upstairs, so you can imagine how surprising it would be to open the bedroom door in the morning and see a live snake coiled on the carpet.  Even more surprising to have it happen more than once!  This knitted snake is a quick, fun scarf for those whose winter fashion is a bit more on the wild side.

Little Viper Scarf, knitted for Boyo in 2009