Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Una and Luke hang out

I'm still struggling to recover from the illness I've had since the week I returned from Vermont. From talking to my brother, it seems he has the same thing. I'm on antibiotics now, even though he told me he doesn't think they help you heal any faster.

All I know is, they're kicking my butt. I've been taking long naps, and I feel wiped out much of the time. Fortunately, this doesn't prevent me from taking my dog, Una, on her daily walks.

When Una and I take walks, we often walk past a house with a number of cats and kittens on the porch. I had never seen the person who lives in that house until recently, and I asked her about the cats. She sighed and said, "They always seem to find me." She told me that at first she'd been flattered when one momma kitty decided to have her kittens there, until she realized it meant four more stray cats.

At least one of these local strays has found a home, as I found out by talking to one of my neighbors whom I often run into, walking his scruffy older dog, Benji, whose face is always filthy.

My neighbor told me he'd adopted one of the white kittens, at about the same time that The Gryphon and I adopted our kitty, Luke, from a local pet rescue organization. I asked my neighbor what he'd named her, and he said Snowflake. This was an easy decision, since he'd already jokingly named all the white kittens Snowflake 1, 2, 3 and 4. This particular kitten, though, came from a new litter. He says he thinks it was Snowflake 6.

Snowflake and Benji are not getting along as well as Una and Luke. Benji, who's old and crotchety, doesn't like the intruder and keeps growling at her. Snowflake, for her part, has begun to swat back.

While dictating this, oddly enough, I ran into that same neighbor, who gave me an update.

He mentioned, without me asking, that the reason Benji's face is so filthy is because he bites anyone who comes near his face. In fact, sometimes it's even hard to get his leash on for a walk. Benji, being a poodle mix, has long fur around his muzzle that gets filthy from food and dirt.

Snowflake has seen fit to begin chewing electrical wires, which is similar to a problem a friend of ours has with his cat. I suggested my neighbor throw balled up paper bags at the cat and yell no.

Benji, meanwhile, has decided he's no longer house trained. He's been peeing on the floors when people are out. My neighbor isn't sure whether it's because he's really old, age 16 1/2, and has bladder control problems, or whether it's his way of getting even for the cat.

Apparently, my neighbor and his wife just went to Boston and took the cat with them but left the dog behind for a pet sitter, who stopped by the house to give him walks and feed him. But instead of waiting for the pet sitter to arrive, Benji simply pooped all over the house and then tracked it everywhere, as well.

My neighbor theorized that Benji got sick from the pet sitter giving him too many treats. This is a possibility, but to me, it certainly seems like acting out.

As I say good-bye and continue my walk, I can't get over how warm is. I don't even need a jacket while taking a walk, for the second day in a row. This makes it doubly disappointing to be sick. At least I get to go home and hang out with a very sweet dog and a very sweet cat, both of whom are clean, poop where they're supposed to, avoid electrical wires, and get along.

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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