Life's Sad Little Lessons

[ladysprite]

Thankfully, at least this time I wasn't the student.

Unexpected post-surgical conundrum #73 hit today. Which is to say that I am not allowed to lift anything heavier than about five pounds. This includes my little orange kitten, who is now well on his way to becoming an orange cat of significant length and heft.

So when he decided he wanted to play in the bathtub this morning, right at the time that I desperately needed to take a shower (hot showers apparently decrease my need for pain meds rather significantly), we had a bit of a problem.

No amount of coaxing, coercing, reasoning, or emphatic gesturing on my part could get him out of the bathtub. I swear I tried.

So now I have a rather damp and bedraggled orange kitten, who is looking at me with an expression of hurt betrayal that words cannot do justice to. I feel like a traitor... but not quite enough to regret my actions. We all need to learn painful - or at least soggy - things as we grow...

Comments

[arachne8x.livejournal.com]

Poor cat, good on you for not risking your recovery to spare the cat the life lesson.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Aw, the poor little thing. But next time he'll know better! When Mommy says get out of the tub, you need to get out of the tub.

I've had to chase a kitten out of our tub that way at least once. Every time I picked her up and put her out, she jumped back in -- so finally I just turned on the water.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Aw! Sad but necessary. I'm sure he'll accept comforting snuggles later.

[grum]

Poor kitty!... I've done that before.

[tpau]

he will not melt :P but i bet he looked funny :)

[warinbear.livejournal.com]

At least you had the decency not to post pictures of Mr. Soggy. I'm not sure whether that would have been adding insult to injury or the other way around.

I remember a sentiment, attributed to Mark Twain, to the effect that one should not take too much learning from an experience, lest we be like the cat who sits on a hot stovetop. The cat will never again sit on a hot stovetop, and this is good -- but he will likely never sit on a cold one either.

[glinda-w.livejournal.com]

One of my earlier feline owners liked to balance on the edge of the tub and bat at the bubbles if I was taking a bath. I'm sure you can see where this is going...

(No, she didn't leave clawmarks on me as she was scrabbling to get out, but it took her a while to forgive me -- not so much for the wetting, as for the laughter at her expense...)

[gmkieran.livejournal.com]

Mine insists on pettin's in the bathtub almost every morning before I'm allowed to shower, but he's also learned the phrase, "time for waterin's" which is usually his cue to get out. Of course, I can evict him when he chooses not to listen, so that hardly counts. Master Pink-nose will forgive you as soon as he's dry again, I'm sure. :D

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

You didn't laugh at him, did you?

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

Hopefully, he's not the kind of cat that will silently plot his revenge.

One of Ann's previous cats used to love showers, but only if he could hide between the side of the tub and the shower curtain so he could stay dry.

[feetnotes.livejournal.com]

some cats - and not just manx cats ime - decide they like water. fang liked batting drips from the hand basin & bath taps and would play like this for hours, sometimes (and not be interested at all, other times, of course :-) ) - and *look hopefully* at us, if the drip magic wasn't working when she wanted to play... biff at 42 bath street - the grottiest house in lancaster - used to go out into the rain if it was heavy enough (!), and sit in the middle of the back garden lawn, enjoying the downpour... (he was a densely-furred, large and dense-because-well-muscled neutered tom, who never saw why he should move, just because some mere dog thought he should - or wanted a toy to chase: he saw off several far larger than he - a well-aimed feline martial arts clawstrike to a canine nose can be very educational - that i saw him face, from the low front window ledge at the front of no.42, where he'd been sunbathing.) others, as i said, even learn to swim, and seem to enjoy doing so - when they feel like it.

so next time, offer/try swaddling your soggy orange kitty in a warm, fluffy - and thick! - towel, hug whilst drying, and pamper a bit extra (edible pampers are good - ask glinda_w *g*), and see whether he decides wet is after all so bad, tolerable - or even good...