Life at the Critter Cabin

Life with Cora is interesting. A few nights ago, all the critters were telling me it had been at least a month since I fed them.  Even the fish get into that act, banging against the surface of the water until they’ve been fed. Sometimes they trick me into feeding them twice. Yes, I’m admitting to getting outsmarted by goldfish. I am a forgetful and distracted human and most animals are capable of more than we expect.

Cora often proves this in odd ways. It was just not a good night for her. She didn’t seem to be getting around well. She was frustrated. She is a vocal girl and was voicing her angst. I tried to do a bit of training with her, but didn’t get far so we switched to playing until Floyd took over. While I was playing with Floyd, Cora thwumped down the hall way and forced herself past the vacuum and baby gate and got into the cat room. She navigated the obstacles in there, complaining the whole time that they were in her way, and arrived at one of dogs’ forbidden pleasures –the litter box. She was not happy when I pulled her away. It’s amazing how determined a blind, tripawed puppy can be when kitty-Roca awaits.

As I’m pulling her away, I realize that Floyd has joined us in the cat room. There is a reason I call it the cat room. Access is not granted to litter-box eating dogs. Or cat herding dogs. Or cat food stealing dogs. In my experience, this means that *no* dogs are welcome.  I attempt to explain this as I urge Floyd towards the door and drag the resisting Cora (gently) by her halter. The cats were highly entertained.

Floyd has succeeded in breaking into the cat-room many times before. He has torn down baby gates, climbed through small holes. He has jumped over, pulled open and pushed through various earlier obstructions.  I now know any method of preventing Floyd admittance into the fantastic, feline space is only temporary. But this time, the situation was about to get serious, in Floyd’s opinion. As we all enter the hallway, Floyd bumps the dreaded and dangerous vacuum. I had placed the vacuum there a week or so ago, because it was close at hand and I needed something to brace the baby gate. Floyd, smart and determined, is terrified of the vacuum.  I didn’t think about this when I placed it by the cat room, but I had soon realized I had posted a very effective keep out sign.

Blind Cora, had not see the sign, which created the party in the cat room. Floyd may have braved the vacuum on the way in to join the fun, but our bumbling in the hallway caused a crisis. The vacuum had moved. Unfortunately on of Floyd’s primary strategies when frightened is to attack and he launched an assault on my vacuum. He’s destroyed a vacuum in the past. I know, I need to work on this vacuum prejudice, but there have always been bigger Floyd issues to deal with. I had released Cora and come to the rescue of my stalwart vacuum and I got Floyd in the living room. I then realize Cora is back in the cat room. I reversed direction to get Cora, walking past Floyd’s enemy. He once again launches an attack on the beleaguered vacuum. I had used up my distraction treats and my patience so I ushered Floyd outside. As I got Cora out, Floyd began to bark hysterically at the door. I hurriedly set up the baby gate so it’s fully blocking the door to the cat room and rush to get Floyd in, so he wouldn’t disturb the neighbors. Cora began to push with all her might against the secured baby gate. Her feet slipped wildly on the floor as Floyd makes a final charge at the vacuum. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Soon they were both sound asleep.  The commotion of a few minutes ago had been replaced by snores. The truth is I wanted to cry. I wondered, again, if I could actually cope with all the addition of Cora brings. All that happened, but then the whole thing began to seem rather comical. I chose to share my life with these creatures deemed “unadoptable”. That means it’s going to be a hard journey, but it certainly won’t be boring.

I wrote this earlier this week and wasn’t  able to post it (silly computer). It’s been a hard few days here and I’ll write more about that later.  But for now, I will say  it was good to reflect on that moment, where I was able to see the absurdity and find some peace.