Sunday, August 19, 2012

Velcro's Routine


Velcro is becoming as set in her ways as a 70 year old woman who hasn't been married in 35 years.  Because of this the 70 year old woman is trying to decide if she likes having to follow the non-verbal signals from her formerly feral cat, who now allows almost anyone who comes to the house to pet her!

Here's the routine.  Starting with early morning.........say some time after 6AM.  Velcro jumps on the screen door and rocks it to make noise.  This door is the door from the patio to my bedroom.  It is 5 feet from my ears.  Needless to say, it is hard to ignore. Sometimes just to see how long it will go on, I lay in bed and see if she will persist.  She does.  It's easier to just get up, let her in, and go back to bed.  She goes and eats, I presume, then comes down, jumps on her corner of the bed (the one farthest from me) and settles down til I get up.

The minute I get up, she jumps on the counter by the bathroom sink and waits for me to fill the bowl with water.  So I ignore her, brush my teeth, put in my contacts, take my pills then fill the sink.  She is patient.

Next intrusion is when I go upstairs and get my coffee to sit and look out the window, enjoy the view and think about the day.  IF I have made muffins or home made banana bread, then she is up next to me waiting for a very tiny piece.  Not much - just a taste.

Then we kinda go our separate ways.  She to a place to stretch out and sleep.  Me to get on with the day.

IF she wants to go up to the roof terrace to catch lizards, she'll sit on the steps to the roof and each time I walk by those stairs she'll run up, look at me and wait to see if I'll go up and open the door for her.  I usually don't.  When I do, she makes a bee line and is out the screen door up there.

Later on in the day, if I'm on the chaise in the living room watching the news, and Jeopardy, she comes, sits on the edge of the chaise and watches Jeopardy.  I mean at attention.  Darndest thing I've ever seen.

At bedtime, she back on the corner of the bed, farthest from me and sleeps.  Well she sleeps til 3:15AM every morning and then wants to go out.  I've TRIED ignoring her.  She has three ways to make sure that I hear her.  First she jumps up on the back of the headboard and walks across it.  Of course I hear her.  If that doesn't work, she starts pulling on the drapes across the windows and door.  If that doesn't work, her newest trick is she comes over to the rug next to my side of the bed and crinkles it all up, which makes noise.

It's just easier to get up at 3:15 and let her out and go back to bed.  Once, just once, I threw a pillow at her at 3:15 and she did go and lay down and wait til I got up.  But, I worried that she REALLY needed to go out and hardly slept anyway.

My question is, "How can a creature who doesn't speak get their way almost all the time"?

At least I don't have to go walk her every day and every night.
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8 comments:

sparks_mex said...

I just bought a cat door which I'll install when I get back. My screen door is not self closing and teaching my cat to close is out of the question. We'll see next week how it works

Babs said...

Sparks, that would solve all my issues! Velcro knows how to push the screen door open to go out....unless I'm sitting nearby then she glares at me to open it for her! Truly!
My problem with a cat door is my concern that the other cats, black squirrel and the occasional skunk might use it also........
Any thoughts?

ThisOldSpouse said...

I'm thinking the more important question here is how exactly do you know the cat is getting her way?

Dan in NC said...

Babs, here in NC we have scads of critters that traverse the property, and visit, giving Lacey plenty of exercise, and a mild case of frustration. We have had two dog doors (upstairs and down) for the last 10 years and have never had an issue with unwanted visitors.... Get one of the newer cat doors that operate with a collar fob for Velcro if it is that much of a concern there.. It is well worth giving the pet the freedom to come and go without having to be their personal "doorman".....
Dan in NC

KJHUTZ said...

Dear Babs,

I will be moving to S.M. in a couple months. Do you think there is any need for a U.S. attorney there? Perhaps for estate planning?

Thanks,

Ken

Babs said...

Dear Ken - Welcome to San Miguel. My advice to others who want to work in Mexico is, it is very difficult in some job classifications to get a work permit.
With that said, there are already a few "estate planning attorneys" in San Miguel.
When you get here if it were me, I would contact them to find out the path...........
Best to come here expecting to live on what you have. I do it on Social Security retirement quite comfortably.
Good luck in your move.

KJHUTZ said...

Thanks Babs. If you have emails for any estate planning attorneys that would be helpful. Thanks again.

Ken

Babs said...

Ken, I don't - I don't even know their names. Some advertise in Atencion which is the weekly newspaper. I believe you can read it online. I don't know if the ads are online also.

I did have a tenant here who has since returned to the US to practice. He tried for two years to get a work permit, to no avail, and moved on.

Just an FYI