Cat Herding, er Sitting

I'm cat sitting again. Actually, I've been cat sitting since 5/3 except the
neighbor came home for one day before leaving again.

I love her cats. They're really sweet boys. But I've said before she lets
them out during the day and would prefer they be inside at night. Trying to
get them inside in the evening is exactly like trying to herd cats.

Granted, they have gotten much more used to it being me who is coming and
going. They recognize I'm the one who is feeding them when she's gone. For
the most part this time they've been fairly cooperative.

This time, however, things were complicated by the fact that she had me
taking care of the cats and the neighbor on the other side of her bringing
in the mail and watering her lawn & plants. So the first evening I went
over and Schwartzie was already inside. Huh? I didn't know if Fedders was
or not. I searched the house, only found Schwartzie. I found Fedders
outside and got him to come in. I guess Schwartzie came in with the other
neighbor when she brought in the mail. This happened a couple of times and
it got confusing. So I asked her to please have the other neighbor leave me
a note if one (or both) of the cats come in when she's bringing in the mail.
[Frankly, I know how to water plants and turn on a sprinkler system and I
can certainly bring in her mail so I don't know why she divided up the
chores this way.]

Then a couple of nights ago I couldn't get Fedders to come in at all.
(Previously we'd agreed I could leave the sliding door open just a tad but
there are way too many creepy-crawly things this time of year so I couldn't
do that.) Well, I couldn't stay up all night going over there calling for
her cat. She'd told me not to worry about it if I couldn't get one or both
of them inside, but of course I DO worry.

This evening Fedders came right in. I couldn't find Schwartzie. It was
still light out. I went over an hour later, still no Schwartzie but Fedders
was ready to run outside again. Sorry, boy, you're in and you're staying
in!

I went over again an hour later. By this time it's pitch black outside.
You have to understand, there are no street lights on this island. And
porch lights only shed so much (or should I say so little?) light. You
can't see your hand in front of your face, much less a black cat. (I had a
flashlight but it sucks.) I heard Schwartzie meowing at me from her back
patio door. The patio where the lightbulb is burned out. (sigh) I opened
the door but Schwartzie hesitated and Fedders tried to run back outside!

I stepped outside. I saw Schwartzie by the beam of the rather weak
flashlight. He meowed at me but wouldn't come to me. I tried coaxing him.
He sat down under the patio table and meowed at me. If I tried to approach
he ran to the other end of the patio. If I tried to "herd" him back towards
the door, he'd run in the other direction. This went on for about 10
minutes. (BTW, all you folks who have been talking about snow.... it was
still 85F when I was trying to herd Schwarzie at 9PM... a dose of snow would
have been a blessing at that point!) I finally said screw it.

I shut Fedders in the master bedroom and walked back to my house. At 10PM I
went back over, opened the back door, called to him and sat down on the
couch. After a few minutes I heard him... MEOW! Saw his eyes shining at me
through the open door. I called to him again then went into the kitchen and
rattled the bowl of kibble. Then I ran some water in the sink. He finally
waltzed inside. I shut the door. I let his brother out of the bedroom.
Gave them each scritches and said, "See ya tomorrow!" This will go on until
Monday evening.

It's just as well. I'm flying back to TN on 5/18 and she'll be cat-sitting
for Persia for the first time. I can guarantee you, however, Persia will
not be any trouble. She stays indoors. She'll hide, sure. Chances are
she'll never even SEE Persia (more's the pity).

I'll clean Persia's Drinkwell fountain the day before I leave. She won't
have to do anything with it other than make sure it's topped off with fresh
water in the morning. I just picked up a new bag of her R/x food; all she
has to do is give her a 1/4 c. scoop in the morning and a scoop in the
evening. I bought a new container of kitty litter, too. I'll wash out the
box and put in a new liner before I go, too. Persia doesn't require herding


Jill