January 2, 2010

• Let's start 2010 off in the best way possible--with a post about my cats!

  I try to give my cats a bath at least twice a year--not like a full-on bath in a tub or anything, but with these wet nap-like towelettes for cats. I used to give them real baths, but they hated the water and freaked out the second I put them into the tub. They would just start clawing at everything in an effort to find a way to escape--and then I'd get clawed up because was trying to keep them still. It was a nightmare that always left me covered in scratches.

  Of the three cats, Pepper was the hardest to bathe. Turnip and Walnut were somewhat easier because all they did was scramble around the tub, so I'd just put shampoo in my palms and lather them up as I held them still. Pepper, however, was different. She is definitely the smartest of the three, and she made this very, very apparent when I tried to give her a bath back in 2008.

  It started out like any other bath. I was wearing my protective gear, which was really just a couple of old shirts and two layers of sweat pants:

  

  Pepper, of course, became scared the minute I turned the water on...

  

  And began freaking out and trying to get away....

  

  I tried my best to keep her in place, but she managed to slip out of my grasp.

  

  Once Pepper got away, she ran to the shower door and started clawing furiously at it.

  

  She kept clawing and clawing at it, and I realized she was trying to slide the door open. So I mocked her.

  

  And she handed my ass back to me:

  

  She opened the door! OMG! She slid the freaking shower door open! To this day, I still cannot believe it!

  Anyway...

  

  Pepper, still soaking wet, had run out of the bathroom...and I was running after her, trying to get her back before she got the rest of the apartment wet.

  

  I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't even notice the puddle of water on the bathroom floor...

  

  And then...

  

  

  I figured out that the game plan that worked on Turnip and Walnut would not work on Pepper. And as sweet, cute, and cuddly as she was, she was not going to make bath time easy. No way.

  Since she knew how to slide the shower doors open, I decided to make it make it so that she couldn't do so anymore:

  

  

  Pepper wasn't struggling this time (which I took as proof of my victory), and let me rinse her fur. At one point, she even stood up on her hind legs and almost looked comfortable...

  

  I should have known she was tricking me! The moment I let my guard down, she took advantage of the opportunity and started to climb me like a tree!

  

  Her nails! Her sharp nails!

  She perched herself on top of my shoulders and waited for my next move. I didn't have one. The only thing I could do was admit defeat:

  

  She hasn't had a bath since...

  Happy New Year, everyone!

  • 12:51 am
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