Mixed Nuts
This weekend I went to Oklahoma. Both my parent's birthdays are in October and instead of buying expensive gifts, I usually make the trip home.
And there I was, at my grandma's house saying goodbye to her and my dad. He was taking her to an eye doctor's appointment and I was there for a brief exchange of crochet-covered hangers. When my dad pulled up, behind the house, he heard a cat crying. Now, my grandmother doesn't have a cat she has a part-Chow dog that is a proven cat-eater. Mindy, the dog, earlier in the month killed a stray cat that foolishly wandered into my grandma's yard. Knowing this, I wasn't going to leave this cat to hang around grandma's and surely get killed. Instead of running it off, to avoid his death, we gave in to his cries and fed him some dog food. Thus guaranteeing he would stick around for Mindy to eat.
So, with no other options, I decided to load him in my car and drive him less then a mile away to my mom's house. Where I was hoping he would stay and, in turn, I would have a cat. Turns out, the cat was wise to the whole load-you-in-my-car-and-drop-you-off-somewhere-strange scenario. I got him in the car with a lot of cuddling and petting, unfortunately I was not smart enough to roll the windows up all the way and he jumped out the passenger side. Now, I was left repeating the same process I just gone through, however, I added a can of mixed nuts from my car, hoping for the same results but with fewer scratches. I didn't know if cats liked nuts, but dad and grandma had already left and her house was locked up tight, so I didn't have access to any of the dog food. I reasoned that the peanut is similar in size to cat kibble and is salty too, with the cat starving, he shouldn't be able to tell much of a difference. And boy, does he like peanuts. Cashews too, and especially the Brazil nuts. As I trailed the nuts into my car, he really wanted to follow, but was shy about actually stepping foot in my car (the car of a now confirmed cat-napper, oh, in more ways then one), but he was close enough and I was quick enough to toss him in. He tried for the window (smart cat) but it was rolled up (smart human) and he bounced off it and over the passenger seat into the back window. Where he kept up a constant yowling as I headed for home. He kept getting scarily close to the back of my head, and at one point he was balancing on my headrest, and I kept saying "Don't you dare claw my neck! You're so going back to grandma's if you do!"
Then at home once released, he bolted out of the car and around to the back of the house where he hid in the cannas. I put some more peanuts on the patio and went inside to get him some water. When I opened the back door he darted off. And even after pathetic pleading and promising on my part, he took one last look at me as if to say, "I liked you, really I did, but you blew it. My trust in you is gone." and then headed into the pasture as I headed back to Lincoln, empty handed.
"His fur is very soft," I told my mother on the phone, "keep your eye out for him, he's nice. I think you'd like to keep him."
And there I was, at my grandma's house saying goodbye to her and my dad. He was taking her to an eye doctor's appointment and I was there for a brief exchange of crochet-covered hangers. When my dad pulled up, behind the house, he heard a cat crying. Now, my grandmother doesn't have a cat she has a part-Chow dog that is a proven cat-eater. Mindy, the dog, earlier in the month killed a stray cat that foolishly wandered into my grandma's yard. Knowing this, I wasn't going to leave this cat to hang around grandma's and surely get killed. Instead of running it off, to avoid his death, we gave in to his cries and fed him some dog food. Thus guaranteeing he would stick around for Mindy to eat.
So, with no other options, I decided to load him in my car and drive him less then a mile away to my mom's house. Where I was hoping he would stay and, in turn, I would have a cat. Turns out, the cat was wise to the whole load-you-in-my-car-and-drop-you-off-somewhere-strange scenario. I got him in the car with a lot of cuddling and petting, unfortunately I was not smart enough to roll the windows up all the way and he jumped out the passenger side. Now, I was left repeating the same process I just gone through, however, I added a can of mixed nuts from my car, hoping for the same results but with fewer scratches. I didn't know if cats liked nuts, but dad and grandma had already left and her house was locked up tight, so I didn't have access to any of the dog food. I reasoned that the peanut is similar in size to cat kibble and is salty too, with the cat starving, he shouldn't be able to tell much of a difference. And boy, does he like peanuts. Cashews too, and especially the Brazil nuts. As I trailed the nuts into my car, he really wanted to follow, but was shy about actually stepping foot in my car (the car of a now confirmed cat-napper, oh, in more ways then one), but he was close enough and I was quick enough to toss him in. He tried for the window (smart cat) but it was rolled up (smart human) and he bounced off it and over the passenger seat into the back window. Where he kept up a constant yowling as I headed for home. He kept getting scarily close to the back of my head, and at one point he was balancing on my headrest, and I kept saying "Don't you dare claw my neck! You're so going back to grandma's if you do!"
Then at home once released, he bolted out of the car and around to the back of the house where he hid in the cannas. I put some more peanuts on the patio and went inside to get him some water. When I opened the back door he darted off. And even after pathetic pleading and promising on my part, he took one last look at me as if to say, "I liked you, really I did, but you blew it. My trust in you is gone." and then headed into the pasture as I headed back to Lincoln, empty handed.
"His fur is very soft," I told my mother on the phone, "keep your eye out for him, he's nice. I think you'd like to keep him."
posted by Ellen at 2:38 PM
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