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by Chris DeClute Kitty Kaos There is one fork left out of BOTH cutlery drawers. Sock avail- ability is at an all time low and it’s looking sparse in the fridge. Hmmmm...let’s get a cat!!! | truly believe people experience temporary moments of - for lack of a better word - craziness. A moment when the actual real- ity of your life is temporarily suspended in your immediate memory and within that split second a seed is planted. For me it was get- ting a cat. We have friends on Chandler Road who had a bunch of kit- tens — barn cats, fine. Over time and regular exposure something weakened in my dog favouring personality and now, yes we have a kitten (Boots). This kitten is OODLES of fun! Boots likes to pounce across my keyboard to attack the mouse pointer on the screen (I actually had to write this section twice due to involuntary deletion by you know who!). Boots likes to attack our dog's tail (150 Ib malamute mix); this begins a chain reaction of mentalness around here with both ani- mals running the marathon mile... difficult on wood floors. It’s ok, really, | would go so far as to say it's amusing BUT there are some things | was unaware of with cats. Did you know cats like to wake up at 3:30 in the morning, hunt you down and: - Attack your toe if it's sticking out? - Groom your head??? - Play with you fingers and chew on your rings? - Sit on your neck? Honestly the list goes on and on and quite frankly | am not OVERLY enthusiastic at that time in the moming and have no in- terest in sharing my neck real estate with anyone... ever. Sooooo, you devise ways to gently urge the kitten not to use you as a tree and climb you just because you are close to it and standing still. There's the water bottle, very effective to chase the little bugger out of my fern and off the kitchen table (kinda fun too) but | don’t abuse this device. There's the trampoline, a quick foot flick from underneath the covers will send kitty up about a foot in the air and temporarily relieve its attack on your sleeping body parts (pretty darn funny to watch the aerial act!). Aren't cats supposed to be mellow, solitary creatures with scat- tered moments of patting requirements? Is it possible that | man- aged to pick the only cat in the world with dog-like tendencies? Now I know this sounds whiny but truth be told we are all really enjoying this new experience. Mornings have taken on a whole new urgency and it has nothing to with MY mandatory coffee re- quirement. Waking up is easy with the cat on my head, the dog tap danc- ing urgently on the landing and the fish circling frantically in it’s bowl all anxiously awaiting breakfast, but that’s ok - | like it. Did | really need another animal to clean up after, another chore? Not really, but | wouldn't change a thing. Yes the house is in shambles and we are eating leftovers with our fingers and wear- ing mismatched socks. Things could be worse. And NO, we're not getting a hamster! website: www.focusonscugog.com Sou Jeers reoaned Uh ee 0 the prenuises. ¥ The damiond You recetve 1 Ie ually J We Gent Make promulses weet ee. 7 SOU ot Me best price In ME GTA S NevOns. Y “we uiike i personal’. vo BB “pcos Wee right at your doorstep_suhy | go pee A atee? 186 Queen 3. Pert Perry 905-985-2953 We’ kelp you keep it that way. FOCUS - OCTOBER 2007 17