Joys of Pet-sitting
Our neighbors, Nicole, Christine and Ray, took care of our cats, Poudre and Molly, while we were in Oregon earlier this month. Nicole and Ray came over for a brief "orientation" about caring for the cats. Poudre, the big old famous cat featured in my book, came out to greet them, but Molly doesn't like guests, so she hid somewhere out of sight. I demonstrated how to clean the litter box, etc., and gave Nicole a sheet of paper with all the details, including our cell phone numbers.
About 10 minutes after we returned home from vacation, Christine and Nicole knocked on the front door and came in to share with us a pet-sitting horror story. A couple of days after we left, Christine accompanied Nicole to our house to feed the cats and clean the box. Poudre was there to meet them, as always. Molly was not. As they were leaving to go home, Christine noticed "something strange" on the front lawn near our lighthouse fountain. She told Nicole to stay on the porch and ventured over to the fountain to discover a cat's head and front leg and paw on the grass, along with some gross-looking entrails...
About this time in the story, I'm ready to lose my Burger King Whopper Junior on the living room sofa. I'm feeling very grateful that I've already seen both of my kitties, so I know the victim wasn't one of them. The story continues...
Christine says she whipped around and asked Nicole, "Honey, have you ever seen Molly?" Nicole said no. They both went back in the house and searched everywhere for the elusive little kitty, but couldn't find her. Christine didn't let Nicole look at the cat remains as they left to return home, and then she quickly called Animal Control to come and clean up our yard. She felt worse and worse about the situation and almost called us in Oregon to ask what Molly looked like in hopes of figuring out if our cat had met her demise. She told us she didn't think Molly could have slipped by them when they had the back door open to clean the litter box, but she wasn't "totally certain," which caused great anxiety. She didn't make the call to us because she wanted to talk to Ray first.
Ray came home to "trauma central," listened to the nightmarish story and said he'd go over to our house and search high and low to find Molly. Thankfully, he found her under our bed, no doubt noticing all the other embarrassing items we keep there, which will remain unidentified. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but still mourned the loss of what must have been a fine dinner for a local coyote. I managed to overcome my urge to hurl, and gave young Nicole a big tip for handling the situation so well. Actually, I think I told her to buy something nice for her mommy.
I hope Nicole and Christine won't give up on pet-sitting, but if they do, shy Molly and I will understand.
About 10 minutes after we returned home from vacation, Christine and Nicole knocked on the front door and came in to share with us a pet-sitting horror story. A couple of days after we left, Christine accompanied Nicole to our house to feed the cats and clean the box. Poudre was there to meet them, as always. Molly was not. As they were leaving to go home, Christine noticed "something strange" on the front lawn near our lighthouse fountain. She told Nicole to stay on the porch and ventured over to the fountain to discover a cat's head and front leg and paw on the grass, along with some gross-looking entrails...
About this time in the story, I'm ready to lose my Burger King Whopper Junior on the living room sofa. I'm feeling very grateful that I've already seen both of my kitties, so I know the victim wasn't one of them. The story continues...
Christine says she whipped around and asked Nicole, "Honey, have you ever seen Molly?" Nicole said no. They both went back in the house and searched everywhere for the elusive little kitty, but couldn't find her. Christine didn't let Nicole look at the cat remains as they left to return home, and then she quickly called Animal Control to come and clean up our yard. She felt worse and worse about the situation and almost called us in Oregon to ask what Molly looked like in hopes of figuring out if our cat had met her demise. She told us she didn't think Molly could have slipped by them when they had the back door open to clean the litter box, but she wasn't "totally certain," which caused great anxiety. She didn't make the call to us because she wanted to talk to Ray first.
Ray came home to "trauma central," listened to the nightmarish story and said he'd go over to our house and search high and low to find Molly. Thankfully, he found her under our bed, no doubt noticing all the other embarrassing items we keep there, which will remain unidentified. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but still mourned the loss of what must have been a fine dinner for a local coyote. I managed to overcome my urge to hurl, and gave young Nicole a big tip for handling the situation so well. Actually, I think I told her to buy something nice for her mommy.
I hope Nicole and Christine won't give up on pet-sitting, but if they do, shy Molly and I will understand.
posted by Shannon Ingram | 12:57 PM
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