CAT-SITTING LITTLE BITEY

 

First and foremost, I’m an animal lover. If I ran the world I’d give them the right to vote.

Animals all have individual personalities, proclivities, and levels of intelligence just as people. And I feel that if a person can afford it, they should own a cat and a dog, to give both a home.

This was my second cat-sitting job. The first, was back in the 1990’s during the Democratic convention when Bill Clinton was nominated. The cat, Tinky-Poo was an older one, who lived across the street. Her family paid me $100 to stay in their home while they were away to keep Tinky company.

I was given the choice of bedrooms, I chose the one with the waterbed since I’d never slept on one before and I wanted the experience. Often, I’d wake up to find Tinky in bed with me. I was told later she’d never jumped on that bed before.

When the couple returned, Tinky came to me and ignored them. I loved that cat; she was a sweetheart!

Fast-forward to 2024, now I was Molly’s cat-sitter. Earnest Hemingway famously stated that cats should be given names with a dominant S sound. But it seems I’m the only one who has ever taken this great man’s advice.

Molly is only ten months old and lives right next door. I was given full access to the house including their pool & movie channels; creature comforts I don’t have and can’t afford. Now for a week they were mine to enjoy!

Besides feeding and cleaning the litter box, interaction is an important part of the job, along with keeping the cat happy.

Molly was feisty and a biter!  Every time I’d pet her, she’d grab my arm and start biting it along with my hand! I ended up with bloody punctures in both. In fact, my neighbor showed me the medicine cabinet where I could find iodine & bandages in the event Molly got carried away.

My nickname for Molly was The Brat Cat!

I recall in the past our neighbor Trudi went to the Emergency Room when my Tasha drew blood on her. However, this was the neighbor’s fault! Apparently, she didn’t know that you never touch a cat’s belly, it’s a forbidden zone!

And I myself was injured worse by a neighbor’s cat a few years before that. I was walking home late one afternoon from my job in town when a white & orange cat emerged from a house. Meowing, it ran out to the street to greet me, rubbing up against my legs. I stooped and began petting it. The cat was purring.

Suddenly without warning, it bit me hard in the ankle! I screamed and then it clawed me in the calve! I walked the rest of the way home with a bloody ankle & calve.

Reaching home, I cleaned the wound and treated it with mercurochrome. – No Emergency Room necessary! The hospital was just a block away too! My wound healed just fine without a doctor.

The next day, that same creature came running out to greet me. This time, I hollered, “You stay away from me!” and quickened my pace.

During my recent cat-sitting job I was on medication for a swollen foot & ankle. My left heel felt as if hot, broken glass was under the skin. As I napped in their recliner this foot was hanging over, suddenly I was awakened by sharp teeth sinking into that heel!

I told Molly “How would you like it if I bit you? My mouth is bigger and I could take that ear off with one bite!” She looked at me as if to say, Who do you think you are, telling ME what to do!

However, Molly had her affectionate side, or perhaps she was using me as furniture, but sometimes she’d sleep atop me in the recliner. Also, she’d sit on my lap and we’d watch movies together.

Usually, she was within sight. When she wasn’t, I worried and went looking for her. All of a sudden she’d spring out of nowhere and grab the back of my leg and biting it!

She reminded me of a teething puppy. Molly also drank out of the toilet just like a dog, only she’d balance on the seat to do it. -- And she had fresh bowls of water stationed in almost every room!

When I arrived, or left, she was always right by the door. Since Molly is an indoor cat, I fretted about her getting out. – I had a dog that if the door was open a crack would seize this opportunity! And once out was hard to catch!

But I have pleasant memories from this job.

Although I must admit after my expensive ordeal with skin cancer, a pool held less appeal for me. However, I got around this issue. I’m an early riser, so at 5:00 AM, before breakfast, I sometimes took a swim. Since the pool area was landscaped for privacy (and beautifully so) there was no need for a swimsuit.

It was still dark at that hour, and I enjoyed swimming & floating on my back gazing up at the stars. It’s a wonderful memory I will always treasure.

What was supposed to be my last day came news that a major hurricane was on track to hit us. Because of this, the owner’s flight was cancelled, they experienced an ordeal returning!

The next day this would have been impossible until after the hurricane; meaning bitey & me would have been weathering the storm together. Thankfully this wasn’t the case.