Cat parenting

10.18.2004

I put my cats on Time Out today. I wanted badly to sleep in, but still fed them promptly at 8am, then crawled back to bed. But cats have ways of irritating someone whose attention they require. Annie prefers to sit on desks & toss things to the floor, one at a time, pausing to stare; Sophie's content to find a piece of paper & start tearing it into little strips, slowly — a brief tear, pause, stare, start again. Usually I can sit up, point, and they stop. Briefly.

But moments later, a hear another "sshhtear" or the sound of a paw scooting something towards the edge. I've learned the importance of cat-proofing my apartment.

This morning they took a Time Out. I jumped outa bed, chased them into the living room, and closed the bedroom door (me on my side, they on theirs). I managed a good four hours of sleeping in. When I finally crawled outa bed, took a shower, and headed out, I let them back in, tails between their legs, lightly meowing apologies — and demands for more food.

Thankfully, cats have extremely short memories. So now that I'm back from a coffee shift, they happily sit w/ me on my bed, purring while we watch Sci Fi. After a year away from them, I have to teach them manners all over again.

Posted by Miguel at 01:31 AM

Comments

I just moved to a new apartment. There are no pets in the new place. And reading your post made me miss Snowy's purring in the old place!! =*(

Posted by: stephanie at October 18, 2004 09:29 AM

good god, miguel. why is giving them free reign over 2/3 of the apartment while locking yourself in your bedroom for 4 hours a time out for them, isn't that a time out for you?

Posted by: bay at October 18, 2004 04:06 PM

That post was really funny, it seems with your cats you don't have spare time to get bored!

Posted by: Daniel at October 18, 2004 04:24 PM

Well, since I wanted to be in my bed for four hours, undisturbed, and they wanted mu attention (or to feed them). Then I think it was a time out for them, not me. Or rather, a time out for me, but in the possitive sense of a break from them.

Posted by: Miguel [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 18, 2004 04:30 PM

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