Housebound and Driven Crazy by a Cat

Cat hair everywhere

Last month, I was at the end of a 12-day house- and cat-sitting stint for our son and daughter-in-law while they experienced London, Leeds, Canterbury, Dover, and Pars. It was raining cats and dogs on the Thursday afternoon we drove the 45-minutes to the airport to drop them off, and it kept raining all the way back to their home. Later that evening, the rain turned to snow. It continued to snow until early Sunday morning, leaving 18-24 inches on the ground. With a pile of books and much work to do, it shouldn’t have been a problem.

I didn’t count on the cat being such pest. The snow blowing in her face every time she begged to go out left her confused and very unhappy. The cat trying to sit on my lap as I worked left me, although not confused, unhappy; she’s heavy enough to leave me with aching hips and cat hair covering every article of clothing I brought with me.

I never knew both of us could be so happy—both of us to see the sun, the cat to get out on the deck, and me to back out of the driveway and make my way to a favorite bookstore, if only to browse!

By Nancy Jelinek
Broadening Horizons Blog