Morning Chores & What The Pets Are Up To
The sun is shining this morning. There is scarcely a breeze at all. I have cleaned the litter box, taken it down to the trash and finished my morning chores.
I’ve taken to cleaning out the litter box twice per day. Ivy seems to be particularly “stinky.” I think because she eats like she’s starved.
And I suppose she eats like she’s starved because she is a whirlwind of movement most of the time. Right now she has settled onto the pet bed on the couch next to Charlie and is sleeping.
I look at these quiet moments as her saving up her energy for another round. My sweet Ivy. She looks so innocent.
She’s already knocked the faux plants off the coffee table. And right after I picked them up off the floor.
Then she sat on the coffee table while I ate my oatmeal at the table and half-heartedly chewed at the plastic leaves.
I think she likes to test me to see what she can get away with. She’s one mischievous little girl, my Ivy is.
Charlie will often sound the alarm from his spot on the couch. He knows that Ivy gets into trouble pretty often, so he keeps an eye on her.
See, he’s trying to get my attention from my seat at the dining room table.
If I don’t immediately respond, he sits up and tries even harder to get my attention.
“Mom, Mom!” Charlie seems to be saying. “Look at Ivy! Mom, Ivy is into something!”
I’ll scold her. “Ivy, stop that!”
And she will look up at me to see how serious I am.
Will I get up and move her? Or can she chew on the leaves a bit longer before I get up?
Finally I get up and put her on the floor. Off she goes to the bedroom to eat her food.
Last night we were in bed where I was reading. Charlie was sleeping at the foot of the bed as usual.
Ivy came up to me to be petted. Then she went over and plopped down next to Charlie. He won’t move unless she starts pestering him.
Seconds later she reached out with her paw and touched him. He snapped at her.
Ivy bobs her head back and looks at him as if to say: “What’s got your boxers in a bunch?”
“Ivy,” I’ll say, “I told you to leave him alone.”
I will move her next to me, but that doesn’t last long. She is seemingly impervious to being admonished.
Before long she puts her paw on him again. I don’t know why she does this. He snaps at her again and I pick her up and move her.
Why can’t she just be next to him but leave him alone?
It’s like the kids when they were young and in the backseat of the car. “Mom, she touched me!”
Ivy’s nap was short-lived. Now she’s into something in the corner of the living room. Now I truly understand why they call naps “cat naps.”
Yesterday my neighbor two doors down appeared at the door. The mail man had mistakenly put some of my mail in her box. She came in and we talked a bit.
Suddenly there was this big black water bug on the wall. Where on earth do these things get in? Is it when I open the window a bit, as I did yesterday, to let some fresh air in? These windows are pitiful and the screens are worse.
This neighbor has told me that she is terrified of bugs, so of course I was even more alarmed. The neighbor steps back.
I tell her Ivy is my pest control and Ivy will get it. “Ivy,” I say, “Go get that bug.”
Ivy just stares at me. Where is the fierce lioness that goes after every bug???
I’m a bit embarrassed. This woman is as scared of bugs as I am of mice. Here I’ve told her how Ivy goes to war with every bug and Ivy is just sitting there.
I get up and get my yard stick and bat at it. The noise of the yard sticks scares Ivy and she runs and jumps in the bath tub.
Shortly after that the woman leaves. I can’t blame her. There’s a big bug that I can’t seem to catch and Ivy is doing absolutely nothing. I was shocked.
Then this morning I get up and find the bug dead on its back in the living room, almost in one piece. But not quite.
Now why couldn’t she have done that yesterday when I boasted about her?
Well, Nathan is here to do a little work. He has to go back home soon to babysit his boys while his wife goes to work, so I’d better go.
He just went outside to get his drill and I can hear Ivy into something in the kitchen. He must have left something out.
You quickly learn not to leave anything out around here. Because Ivy checks out everything.
This post was a hoot!
My own pets were looking at me strangely while I laughed & laughed!
I have a 16 yo soft tan Burmese kitty, & a 2 yo black Shih-poo, who is finally calming down into a more mature dog.
He used to chew more consistently, disemboweling every stuffed toy all over the house. He delighted in getting ahold of a kleenex, paper towel or roll of TP, & shredding it apart over 1 or 2 rooms..
He got the zoomies more often, and hassled his cat buddy relentlessly.
Now he chews his toys, but doesn’t destroy them like he used to. He finds any loose tissue, etc, but doesn’t scatter them everywhere. I find them almost intact. He still hassles my kitty, but they will sit right next to each other on my lap, and I find them washing each others faces. So sweet, when I drink my morning coffee, and they share my lap, warming my legs.
Eventually Ivy will calm down too.
In the meantime, it sure is fun to hear about her antics, & her effect on you & Charlie!
Thank you for your descriptive narrative!
Monkey does the same thing – she ‘tells’ on my old girl Lily when she has an accident, or on Molly if she’s doing something she shouldn’t! The other day Lily was trying to get off the chair and couldn’t (she has a hard time jumping down these days, I don’t know why she doesn’t just stay in her little bed on the floor…) anyway Monkey came to get me! She’s as smart as a whip, that one!
That’s funny! Charlie is a tattle tale! Great pics telling the story Brenda! Ivy is saying, “I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m an angel.”??
This is Charlie when she gets away with it! ??
I cleaned and baked today (yesterday). Woke up and cked ur blog, now I’m going back to sleep.?
I chuckled all the way through reading your post today, Brenda. Those two “kids” of yours are certainly entertaining. I could just picture Ivy getting up by Charlie and reaching over and putting her paw on him. It’s like she’s asking, “Aren’t we friends anymore?” But poor Charlie just doesn’t feel well and wants to be left alone. If I remember he was feeling better when Ivy first came and was a bit more willing to interact with her, so maybe she is somewhat confused now that he’s more stand-offish. But, oh my, what a mischief she is! Nothing is sacred, is it? I remember having young kittens when I was first married. They were into everything on every level of the house! The male one, who was a beautiful grey tiger named Timothy, once somehow got up on top of the molding over the bedroom door. It was quite wide molding, but I still was amazed that he could sit on it and that he somehow managed to get up there. I never saw him do it. He would also jump up onto my husband’s shoulders while we were eating and when my husband would lift a glass of milk to his mouth Timothy would dip his paw in it and lick it. He also would sit on my husband’s shoulders while he was riding his bike and ride along. He was a smart and personable cat. He and his sister were part of a litter that a friend gave us way back then. She was a beautiful tortoise shell that we named Nutmeg–Meg for short.
She was a bit more laid-back than Timothy. But they were a cute pair.
Anyway, hope your weekend is off to a good start. Glad your handyman was able to come and work again. Maybe we’ll see those shelves pretty soon, yes? I know they’ll look great once you fill them with your things.
Bye for now.
Entertainment for days! Lucky you.
If kitties can’t go outside, they do get pretty bored. They love chasing things and playing, crawling under bushes and hiding in tall grass. She’ll need to eat some grass too, for her digestive system. Both of our rescue cats give me “love pats” on the face.. and they try with our 13 yr old cat, but she doesn’t like it. I think it’s just their way of giving affection and acknowledging you.. so maybe at some point, Charlie will understand that.. and it’s not that she is trying to torment him! Ivy is so pretty and such a character! Marilyn
I’ll get her some grass.
My brother used to do to me what Ivy does to Charlie. He would barely touch me and I would scream like a banshee. It made him happy, it made me mad, and my poor mom got to be the referee. This was 65 or so years ago and I lost my dear brother about 25 years ago. I miss those “love taps” very much.
I guess they are love taps. Thanks for the great story!
I laughed at today’s post! I love the picture of Ivy and Charlie! He is trying to be big brother and keep little sister out of trouble! The bug episode was too funny. My little Lollipop (shih tzu) will kill and dissect bugs, too. We have lived here for 44 years, and we have not had trouble with those horrible water bugs until this summer. They move so quickly that I have a hard time getting them, but Lollipop chases them down with ease.
I couldn’t kill the darned thing. It kept going under stuff where I couldn’t reach it. I guess Ivy got it in the night.
Brenda: As a long time reader of your blog, and enjoy the adventures of your fur babies, I’d like to pass along some “cat mom” experience. I found with my own indoor cat, when I stopped feeding her food with any chicken by-products, the litter box odor vanished completely. It was bad enough before I switched that I would have to light a candle before acooping the litter box. There are several brands of food that you could check into. Good luck.
Well, thanks for telling me! Will remember this.
Cats are something and I do love them! They always have a mind of their own. We have found a safe way to discipline our cats but you can’t do it too much or they will learn to ignore it. We use canned air (like you clean electronics with) and if they get into something dangerous that could hurt them or cause a serious problem we get the can and spray it one time into the air over or near them. Never spray it at or on them as it could be dangerous. I guess the sound is like another cat hissing maybe because it works every time. Now if they are about to cause a problem we just pick up the can and they stop. We rarely have to even spray it. I do try to not use it much at all though. We don’t want to make them nervous or not trust us.
Charlie is so cute with Ivy – he does look like he wants to tell on her.
Have a good weekend Brenda!
I don’t have canned air. Will look into getting some.
My cat will often put her paw on my face, when it’s time to wake up in the morning. If I ignore her, she will keep it up, but try to put her paw on my mouth. Why?? Who knows. Maybe sign language that means “Feed Me”. And, of course I do get up, so she can eat her breakfast, before my husband or I even sit down to eat.
Charlie is really turning into a great little watch dog. So cute, that he knows she is being naughty. Oh, about that Bug…that just made me laugh out loud. If you tell a cat to do something, you might just as well talk to a rock…Funnier yet, tho, she did do the deed, later, on her own. Hugs and Love and Have a great weekend,Bonnie in WI
I know. She is so perplexing sometimes! Well, most of the time really.
I am about to get a black and white kitten and my house is totally not prepared to handle her. Help! My little Priss (Chihuahua) loves animals so hopefully things will work out. I so enjoy your posts, I hope I will be as understanding as you are.
You will. Let us know how it goes. Little Priss will probably enjoy her antics. How old is the kitten?
I had a good laugh today at Charlie trying to get your attention so you would reprimand Ivy. He knows she should not be doing what she does, and wants to to make her obey the rules.
I agree, a good squirt bottle works wonders and you do not have to get up. Make the squirt a steady stream instead of a spray, and it will reach farther and you won’t have to get up so often. But be aware, she will eventually decide it is a game and she will get down fast and run but be right back the moment she thinks you aren’t watching haha.
She likes being sprayed in the face. Go figure.
LOL- Cats do NOT act on command!!! It is like wind in the air to them. Love that Charlie keeps an eye on her.
Hope you have a great weekend and that the maintenance guy gets a lot done. xo Diana
He at least got the shelves up. But tomorrow he will have to paint them and the wall behind them. He painted the wall first last weekend, but then when putting up the shelves they knocked into the walls and messed up his paint, he realized he should have just put the shelves up first and then painted.
A well-timed spritz from a spray bottle.
Yes, I have one of those! But she likes the water.
Is there something you can add? Maybe a tiny bit of vinegar?
I think it is very sweet that Ivy wants to befriend Charlie.
She is wanting him to acknowledge him more I think .But poor Charlie does not feel well and he is old .That is the way our lil Mallory is by our cat she is old and just getting over surgery and Kramer cat wants her to notice him and follows her everywhere .He is a Maine Coon and they are a strange breed they act much like a dog and he is very big .They each want to sit on the loveseat with me and that sometimes becomes a problem and Mallory will growl and make Kramer move.
When you are home with your pets a lot like we both are it becomes very comical !
They make our day and give us laughter and joy that otherwise might not be in our lives.We both have health problems and they help to fill our days with joy !I am very thankful for them .
Have a great Saturday !
Suppose to be 60 here today in Tennessee!Yipee!
It’s pretty nice here too. I know she wants Charlie to be her friend. But he’s just not feeling up to it now.