Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: quixotic
  • Music: People. Typing. Tacka tacka tack.

Heat wave with cats.

My part of Northern California is currently experiencing its first really serious heat wave of 2011. I know better than to whine about this too much; by this point in the year, in a normal year, we'd be on heat wave three or four, and temperatures would be trending substantially higher than they are.

That being said, Thomas is only eleven months old, and this is actually the first really serious heat wave of his life. My house has air conditioning, but it doesn't run twenty-four hours a day, which means that it can get warm inside during the gaps. (Never dangerously warm. I am a good cat owner who does not bake her babies. But there's a big difference between "springtime cool" and "what is this shit?", especially when you've been genetically designed to go tromping around in heavy snow, mocking Jack Frost for his inability to nip at your nose.) Alice and Lilly are quietly miserable, but Thomas? Thomas is distressed.

Monday night, I got home from a hot, sweaty day at work, and promptly jumped into the shower, because sometimes, that's the only solution available to you. The Maine Coons thought so, too. In short order, I was joined in the shower by both Alice and Thomas, who splashed around in the water, got thoroughly drenched, and then took turns sitting on the plug so as to create a puddle for the other to swim in. Yes. My cats cooperatively filled the bathtub in order to have swampy funtimes.

After our shower, they squelched around the house like extras from Sigrid and the Sea Monsters until I chased them down and toweled them off. I think they're still annoyed about that. Sadly, their inability to understand "don't walk on keyboards while wet" is why they can't have a wading pool.

Heat wave with cats. It's going to be a long July.
Tags: alice, cats, silliness, thomas, weather woes
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herewiss13

June 22 2011, 20:23:10 UTC 6 years ago

That is amazing, and really useful (except for the walking on keyboards while wet). We've got a Turkish Angoran who nearly stroked out the last time we needed to bathe him (really really skitzy).

Last year we did an amateur trim job that seemed to help (even if it made him look ridiculous). This year we've got a pet comb called the furminator. Looks like a minature thatching rake and every single week I've been pulling about a large tribble's-worth of hair off of him. Really helps loosen up that second coat and pull it out.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:10:19 UTC 6 years ago

Furminators are AWESOME.

all_ephemera

June 22 2011, 20:42:25 UTC 6 years ago

This is probably the best thing I've read all day, especially the part about Alice & Thomas taking turns filling the tub.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:12:56 UTC 6 years ago

They work together distressingly well.

gwynnega

June 22 2011, 20:49:36 UTC 6 years ago

I love your water-loving kitties.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:13:03 UTC 6 years ago

I do, too.

druidspell

June 22 2011, 20:53:49 UTC 6 years ago

*grins* I'm awaiting the birth of my first Maine Coon kitten, and reading these posts gives me an excellent idea of what I can look forward to :D

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:13:11 UTC 6 years ago

Hooray!

calico_reaction

June 22 2011, 21:20:01 UTC 6 years ago

I was joined in the shower by both Alice and Thomas, who splashed around in the water, got thoroughly drenched, and then took turns sitting on the plug so as to create a puddle for the other to swim in. Yes. My cats cooperatively filled the bathtub in order to have swampy funtimes.

Thanks for that story! That is AWESOME.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:13:29 UTC 6 years ago

Smart cats are their own punishment, and their own reward. Their own damp reward.

thedorkygirl

June 22 2011, 21:49:32 UTC 6 years ago

My favorite cats I've owned were named Alice & Thomas :) but my Maine Coon was named Bob.

I can't believe they got in the shower with you! That sounds like it was kind of awesome.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:13:39 UTC 6 years ago

It's also kind of crowded.

jadis17

June 22 2011, 21:55:15 UTC 6 years ago

When it got that hot, our short hair cats got wrapped in sopping wet towels, and no one had to be traumatized by a bath or shower.
They would be offended for a while but the improved cool meant we were soon forgiven

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:13:55 UTC 6 years ago

My cats aren't traumatized by the shower. They're jumping right on in.

sirriamnis

June 22 2011, 22:04:29 UTC 6 years ago

We have a grey and white short hair tuxedo cat who LOVES water. And in the place we're moving to shortly, we'll be able to put up her wading pool again. I'm so glad I have a rolltop desk.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:14:08 UTC 6 years ago

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah. Good thing to have, there.

tenaya_owlcat

June 22 2011, 22:14:57 UTC 6 years ago

Fellow NorCal person here, suffering the heat wave as well. Our cat Gryphon (the little smug kitty in the avatar) likes to play in water, and during hot weather will wade into the filled sink up to her shoulders. Never had her join me in a shower, though! She usually just scolds from the sidelines. :P

Your cat story gave me a giggle though. Gotta love feline antics!

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:14:23 UTC 6 years ago

I like the picture of her scolding you for your human crazy.

yellowblackhaze

June 22 2011, 22:18:55 UTC 6 years ago

My mother had a dog with the same heat aversion. She used to get clipped early in summer to help her with the heat, but she was a very fluffy Cavalier and you'd find her in summer flopping all about the place, tongue hanging out, trying to find the coolest spot in the house.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:14:31 UTC 6 years ago

Poor baby!

Kristin Guido Whitehouse

June 22 2011, 22:48:30 UTC 6 years ago

Ok, this? Needs pictures. My cat would claw me to shreads if I tried to put him in the shower.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:34:17 UTC 6 years ago

I was soaked and naked at the time, so no pictures.

peachtales

June 22 2011, 23:05:22 UTC 6 years ago

Oh my word, thank you for the images of cats cooperating to have a wading area. That definitely makes it into the fantastic moments of the week. My 2 cats (in the icon, Matilda and Sunny) were wondering why I was laughing. :D

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:36:58 UTC 6 years ago

They're beautiful.

vincentursus

June 22 2011, 23:14:20 UTC 6 years ago

Intelligent cooperative cats. Add opposable thumbs and that could become a horror movie scenario.

Entertaining story, thank you for sharing.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:37:08 UTC 6 years ago

One day, they will end us.

ravenclawed

June 22 2011, 23:58:35 UTC 6 years ago

ROTFL I have to wonder where Lilly was while the Maine Coons were playing in the shower. Staked out in front of the nearest vent?

My anticipation for One Salt Sea is building, as are my wild theories inspired by Late Eclipses. I won't mention any here, but they get wilder with each passing month.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:37:23 UTC 6 years ago

Sitting in the living room, judging her siblings harshly.

ravenclawed

6 years ago

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paksenarrion2

June 23 2011, 00:29:42 UTC 6 years ago

Roarke loves to play in the shower as well. He hasn't learned the trick of sitting on the drain to let the tub fill up yet. Mainly because there is nobody there to help. *looks at Roarke* Don't get any ideas there buddy.

He is usually pretty good though about getting out of the tub and waiting for me to dry him off before running around the apartment.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:37:32 UTC 6 years ago

Good boy.

notalwaysweak

June 23 2011, 00:39:27 UTC 6 years ago

Toby had me terrified his first summer because he was panting like a dog and lying pathetically on the tiles, and he's only a DSH. I rubbed him with a wet washcloth so he was just damp, not dripping (he too is a keyboard-walker) and that seemed to help, once he got over being unimpressed about being damp.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:37:49 UTC 6 years ago

Unimpressed cat is unimpressed.

aircrash

June 23 2011, 00:53:02 UTC 6 years ago

fslkdjf POOR KITTIES ;____;

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:38:00 UTC 6 years ago

They fixed it for themselves.

aircrash

6 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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aircrash

6 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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aircrash

6 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:38:13 UTC 6 years ago

You're very welcome. Is Jenn doing better?

wfw_sj

June 23 2011, 01:04:16 UTC 6 years ago

That's a unique pair of cats, and what's wild is that both of them came into the shower. I've yet to meet ONE cat that likes to be sprayed with water, let alone two. (Leo will inspect the shower after I'm done and lick up the "fresh" water.)

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 18:52:58 UTC 6 years ago

Maine Coons are special.

falnfenix

June 23 2011, 01:58:27 UTC 6 years ago

<<< CACKLING. utterly. i have two hydrophobic cats, thankfully, though one insists on sitting in front of the AC unit in my office...which means her fur EVERYWHERE.

i'd prefer water-lovers, meself.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 18:53:11 UTC 6 years ago

I get wet cats AND fur everywhere.

indilwen

June 23 2011, 04:11:25 UTC 6 years ago

Silly kitties! The mental image of them taking turns sitting on the drain to fill the tub is so cute.

Oberon, my Maine Coon mix, freaking loves water. He walks around in the shower, tries to jump into the bath when I'm in it, and if the lid isn't left on the toilet he tries to climb in.
When he was a baby, he was too scared to come out into the rest of the house so he just chilled in the bathroom sink until he grew too big to fit anymore.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 18:53:20 UTC 6 years ago

Aw, baby.

hoppytoad79

June 23 2011, 05:26:21 UTC 6 years ago

Your bebbies iz funnies! Extras from Sigrid and the Sea Monsters, indeed. Maybe cover your keyboard with plastic?

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 18:53:30 UTC 6 years ago

I'd need to cover my HOUSE with plastic.

wee_warrior

June 23 2011, 07:33:51 UTC 6 years ago Edited:  June 23 2011, 07:37:05 UTC

...er, wrong entry.

I had a cat once who loved to sit in the sink and drink from the faucet. She also liked to turn on the printer at night.

And one of my friends has a kitten who is part Russian Blue and she loves staring at the drain when someone has showered. She doesn't even mind sitting in the water then.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 18:53:41 UTC 6 years ago

Cats and water are awesome.

firynze

June 23 2011, 14:11:52 UTC 6 years ago

That is AWESOME. Go, Maine coon brainpower, go!

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 18:53:49 UTC 6 years ago

Awesome, and terrifying.

firynze

6 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

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firynze

6 years ago

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ladymondegreen

June 23 2011, 15:42:20 UTC 6 years ago

Given Alice's previous attitudes toward water, this is utterly unsurprising. *sigh*

You need one of those SFnal doorways that dries you when you walk out of the bathroom.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 18:53:55 UTC 6 years ago

I really do.
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