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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  • 145 comments

m_barnette

June 22 2011, 19:29:54 UTC 6 years ago Edited:  June 22 2011, 19:33:12 UTC

I have a pair of cats of unknown parentage. I suspect there may be some bengal or other water loving cat breeds in their background as they both LOVE to play in water. I have to keep toilets closed or they go for 'swims' which mean they then have to have a bath. I think it's an evil plot on their part to have ALL the water.

They won't drink out of water dishes, but they will play in them until they and the floor are covered in water. They drink only from running water in the sink, and if I don't supervise they will lay in the sink and get sopping wet.

Opposable thumbs! ODG. Not these two. They already get into stuff, if they had thumbs the mind boggles at what they'd be doing.

BTW, my avatar shows the two of them at 4 months old. They're 4 years old now. They were very small and still are pretty little as cats go.

seanan_mcguire

June 22 2011, 19:38:40 UTC 6 years ago

They're beautiful. And they do much the same as Thomas and Alice, although without quite as much hair lending swamp monster powers to their mischief.

m_barnette

June 22 2011, 21:44:10 UTC 6 years ago

I'd just lost my cats to a tragic accident--that poisoned cat food incident--and I was heartbroken. I went to the vet's office to pay off a final bill from the efforts to save one of the cats and saw these little darlings in a cage.

Of course they had to come home with me. Precious is the brown tabby, Baby is the dilute tortie. Baby is my constant companion. She sleeps on the bed with me at night, and under my desk during working hours. Precious is a more independent soul, and wanders the entire house, usually tormenting my roomie's tuxedo boy, Carabas. They have a game much like tag, wherein they take turns touching each other's tails then running off.

starmalachite

June 23 2011, 09:39:01 UTC 6 years ago

How awful. Do you mean the 'from China with toxins' pet food incident? My dad breeds beagles & lost one of his favorites ever to that.

m_barnette

June 23 2011, 16:01:07 UTC 6 years ago

Yeah that was it. Lost my 17 year old Burmese and our rescued stray who was only 6 years old to that. My mom was heartbroken as the stray was hers, so was I over the loss of my poor Burmese. She'd been healthy up to that point.

seanan_mcguire

June 23 2011, 16:09:04 UTC 6 years ago

Oh, that's horrible. :( I am so glad you found new companions to take care of you.

m_barnette

June 23 2011, 20:50:35 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you. It was a terrible loss, but these two are great companions. Baby likes to cuddle, get under the covers and play with her person. Precious likes to try and trip me... err rubs up against me when I'm trying to walk. Obviously I should be petting her instead of wandering around.

I'm very glad my pair can't work the doors. We have coyotes here and they're not that bright when it comes to running from bigger animals. They've attacked our friend's dogs several times.

taldragon

June 22 2011, 20:29:08 UTC 6 years ago

"if they had thumbs the mind boggles at what they'd be doing"

conquering the world internet

m_barnette

June 22 2011, 21:44:51 UTC 6 years ago

Probably, yes.

Or turning the water on at all hours of the day and night.

arcaneblades

June 24 2011, 09:42:39 UTC 6 years ago

I too have a cat who insists on running water. To solve the pestering, and leave it available to him at all times I ended up with a big stainless bowl full of water, in which I have submerged a fump for a fountain, with connected tube sticking out so that it has some running out to joing the rest of it. While he still whines in the tub, it does keep that down to a dull roar.