It’s Zaturday, the day we (Ziggy and Zorro) take over Mommy’s blog.
Ziggy here. Zorro and I have a really good home—lots of yummy kitty food, comfy places to sleep, people that love us and fun stuff to watch out the windows. But there’s one thing I wish would just disappear. This is it:
Mommy says it’s compressed air, but she calls it CatAway, because when she sprays it, cats go away. Usually it just sits on the desk, unless I get up on the dining room table or kitchen counters. Those are such fun places to lie down. I mean, look how comfy I am:
But Mommy doesn’t like it when I get up there, so she gets the CatAway and sneaks up on me. When she pushes the button, it makes this really scary sound, like a loud hiss. Sometimes I don’t get away fast enough, and I can feel it blow my fur. I don’t like it at all.
Mommy hardly ever squirts Zorro with it. She says I need it more than Zorro does, because I’m more of a rebel. I’m not sure what that means.
Sometimes I like to sharpen my claws on the woodwork, too. Grandma’s window sill is a really good spot. Door jambs and baseboards work well, too. But today, Mommy put something stinky on the window sill. She’s putting it on the other woodwork, too. She calls it frankincense and thinks it smells good. But I think it stinks. She has ordered something else that she’s going to try called peppermint oil. I hope it smells better than frankincense, because she’s ruining all my favorite scratching places.
But Mommy and Aunt Kim are building us something new to scratch on. It’s not finished yet, but Mommy brought it upstairs today. She says she’s going to put two perches on top, one for Zorro and one for me. But even without the perches, the bottom makes a really nice place to lie down.
And just in case my new scratching post wasn’t tempting enough, Mommy went and rubbed catnip all over it so I would use it. How am I supposed to resist that? Zorro can’t resist it either. I mean, look at him.
Now I’m losing interest in the woodwork. It just doesn’t have the appeal it did before, especially with the stinky stuff on it.
Hmm, I wonder if Mommy planned it that way. Do you think she’s trying to outsmart me? I think it might have worked.
People have done studies that show having a cat around releases calming chemicals that lower stress and anxiety. Other studies have shown that a lot of people sleep better with their pets. I know that’s true, because in the wintertime, I crawl under the covers with Mommy and help keep her warm. When we’re in North Carolina, I snuggle with Grandma when she takes naps on the couch.
Our Aunt Kim has a cat that likes to get up high, too. (Aunt Kim is Mommy’s sister, so I guess that makes Kassie our cousin.) She jumps from the counter to the top of the refrigerator to the top of the cabinets and walks through all the breakable things Aunt Kim has up there. But Aunt Kim says she has never knocked anything down. I think she’s pretty talented.
When we meow, usually it means we want something, like food or attention. When Mommy is getting ready to feed us, Ziggy meows all while she’s cleaning our dishes, opening the can of kitty food and putting it in the bowls. I wait quietly. I’m more patient than Ziggy is. I know Mommy’s going to put the food down, and it doesn’t get there any faster, no matter how much Ziggy hollers. Although if Mommy or Daddy are too slow, I stand up for it.
Ziggy and I always greet Mommy and Daddy at the door when they come home. Sometimes we meow at them. Then we’re saying “welcome home” and letting them know we’re happy to see them.
I don’t know how many miles it is between Florida and North Carolina, but it seems really far, because Zorro and I are in the car all day. Zorro doesn’t mind it much. In fact, he seems to like it. He curls up in Mommy’s lap and stays there through the entire trip. I don’t know how he can be content just laying around so long. I think he’s lazy.
One place I like to be is on top of the seat back, because I can see out the window really well. When Mommy stops, I get up there to check everything out. Mommy doesn’t let me ride there, though, because she says it’s not safe.
I like Mommy’s lap, too, for short times, but Zorro always beats me to it. When Daddy is driving, I sometimes get in Mommy’s lap with Zorro. He doesn’t seem to mind, but I think it’s a little bit too crowded.