12/29/2023
Today it’s Whines Wines and Felines.
I don’t write much about the cats. I’m not really a cat person, but none the less, we have 6. 6! Sigh. Keeping cats in line is a bit more difficult than dogs. They are on counters more than a beagle, shed worse than a Rottweiler ( why rottie instead of say husky? I assure you Huskys got nothin on rottie hair). Have to have nails cut more often than a dachshund and are don’t come when called.
We have had a bathroom issue. Manufactured home woes. When I noticed a dip in the floor I ripped up the vinyl to discover a collapsing floor and a serous leak. A sneaky leak that had been dripping onto the floor joists for years. We lucked into a local company that only wanted an arm and a couple of toes to fix. It required removing shower in pieces as it was installed when the house was in 2 halves but could not exit the same way. Floor pulled up and the horror of rotted wood removed. I did my own mold abatement to save a little money. Yay me. So for several days there was a large hole leading to the crawl space. Then as repairs proceeded a smaller hole. I was terrified a dachshund would think that badger removal was necessary and attempt to explore hole. Door was removed during this time but I had baby gates and other anti dachshund barriers in place. I forgot about the darn cats. 3 of them too fat and lazy to attempt any exploration, 2 of them too terrified of bedroom dachshunds to enter and Smidgeon. The first cat and Queen and the only feline mouser. At dinner time she failed to appear. We searched. We opened tuna. We sent Fizzy into closets to roust any hidden kitties. No Smidgeon. As darkness and cold descended I went out to the hatch and stuck my head in the crawl space. I do not like the crawl space. I do not ever want to go under the house. It would have been worth several more toes to have repair guys hunt for cat under the house. I could hear a faint mewing. We shone all the flashlights , called, tossed cat treats , but no cat. Well we thought, cats can get out of all sorts of places. I made a cat ladder out of a board and a towel and set in the hole. We left the hatch open with an ex pen around it to keep dachshunds from exploring. I texted repair guy offering a toe and cookies if he would go back under house to get cat the next day. He texted back that he would find her for cookies.
I understand Edgar Allen Poe a bit better now. For hours we heard pitiful mews, Demanding Mawerrs! And pleading chirps. Under our floors. They seemed to come from all parts of the house. We pulled up all the heat vent covers and called. We tapped on the floors in every room. This lead to a cacophony of dog barking which muffled the cat cries nicely. Then silence. We agonized. Was she hurt? Could we beg 20 grand from friends to rip up duct work? Would the aroma of trapped cat haunt us all winter? What was HAPPENING? Around midnight the husband takes a dying flashlight and goes to check the hatch outside. He yells and I grab a can of cat food. Smidgy is at the hatch but won’t let him grab her , of course she won’t. I open the cat food and at the first sound of the lid opening she’s there. I risk her wrath by grabbing and hanging on and the night of the Tell Tale Cat is over… I baked Snickerdoodles. Repair guys deserved plenty as they went back under to replace insulation and finish install. Soon we will have our bathroom back. Donations to We Need a Shower accepted or donate to Alley Cats Advocates in our name. Have a Wonderful New Year!
