BerthaBlog

This morning Duchess was sitting on the coffee table staring intently at a moth on the ceiling.

I climbed up on the couch and used the remote to nudge the moth, prompting him to fly down where Duchess could play with him. She chased him around a bit, and then he flew into the super-bright floor lamp next to the couch.

The floor lamp is moth Armageddon. They roast on the super-hot bulb.

Duchess sat on the arm of the couch and stared up at the lamp, then at me.

“I can’t get him back,” I told her. “He’s gone for good.”

She stared at the lamp, then at me.

I went back to bed.

Several hours later, when I came out again, she was sitting on the arm of the couch staring intently at the lamp.

I saw that there was a new moth on the lamp, a slightly larger one, sitting just inside the rim. I turned the light off for a few minutes to let it cool, then reached in and scooped him out so she could chase him. She had a wonderful time.

Now she thinks I can get moths back out of the lamp.

A couple of people have asked about yesterday’s post—specifically, Alpha Geek rescuing the cat.

One of Duchess’ favorite toys is the cat-fishing pole. If you don’t have a cat, picture a toy fishing pole with a big bunch of feathers at the end of the string. Some cats aren’t all that into these; I tried to entice Phurball with one, and he was pretty much “meh.” But Duchess goes nuts for her cat-fishing pole. She used to be afraid of The Artist (he’s just so damn BIG), until they both discovered a mutual enjoyment of the cat-fishing pole: she loves to play with it, and he loves to dangle it for her.

Yesterday one of the boys left the cat-fishing pole out on the coffee table. I try to prevent this; if I find it out I put it away, or remind the kids to do so. I don’t want her playing with it unsupervised, because she could get tangled up in the string.

Which is exactly what happened yesterday. She found it, she played with it, she got her left hind leg all tangled up in the string. She was panic-stricken. The thing was chasing her, and it had her leg, and it was noisy, and she couldn’t get away from it! She pelted from one side of the house to another, upstairs and downstairs, trying to escape. The Director reported that her tail was as big around as a Coke can.

Finally Alpha Geek and The Director were able to corner her and hold her long enough to cut the string and free her.

By the time The Artist and I got home, the crisis was over and Duchess was on the couch recovering from her fright. I had a talk with the boys about making sure to put the toy away when they’re done playing, for Duchess’ sake. I think knowing it’s a safety issue for our little cat will motivate them to remember.

Now I need to get a new cat-fishing pole.