Random Acts of Kibble

Without going into many (and uncomfortable) details (suffice it to say: female troubles and no, I'm not pregnant), I spent the day on Friday in the emergency room, which was a barrel of monkeys! The last time I went to the ER (for a crazy migraine) everyone was so nice and efficient and, yeah, it took a few hours but I felt cared for and cared about. This time was a totally different experience and it was so upsetting. Suffice it to say I am going to write a sternly worded letter like the 90 year old woman that I am. The take-away from the whole day is that I need to be on bed rest for the weekend until I can get in to see my regular doctor on Monday. Which is okay, since I am basically exhausted BUT THAT ISN'T THE STORY THAT I WANTED TO TELL.

SO: I was laying in bed watching movies and I hear this cat fight outside, so I rush out to the living room, thinking that Ruckus has busted through the front window screen and is outside fighting someone. Instead, what I find is Ruckus yelling at some other cat outside on our patio. I had opened the door a little bit earlier for him to lay in the sun (his favorite 12-2pm activity) and left him unattended while I went back to TV in bed. It turns out that while I was blissfully unaware, watching The Comeback (excellent, BTW) another neighborhood kitty, some young'un, had let himself into our house and was snacking on Ruckus's dry food. HA HA HA. Ruckus was upset by this and chased little Mister back outside, yelling all the way. When I arrived on the scene, the little guy was giving Ruckus a 'whatever' smirk while Ruckus, poofed up in all his defensive glory, was yelling to beat the band. Little cat looked back at me and then hopped over the fence and went on his way. Needless to say, Ruckus was a wee bit peeved and kept marching around the house, huffing and sighing. I refilled his food dish and he ate almost the whole thing, just because.

I couldn't stop laughing. The thought of some random neighborhood cat who had the audacity to let himself into my yard and then into my house and THEN to help himself to food. Well, I find it funny. Ruckus disagrees and has been on House Patrol all evening. He has checked and re-checked the perimeter a million times and has assured us all that the kitty has not returned and the democracy is safe.

The funniest part (for me) is that this is exactly how we first met Ruckus. He was a feral kitten that was living around our apartments and would sometimes sneak into our patio and freak Monkey out. They'd yell and stare at each other through the window and so when the neighborhood kids delivered an injured kitten to us (thinking he belonged to us) a few weeks later, he and Monkey knew each other and did not appreciate ending up in the same house. But it all worked out in the end. I don't think this particular Opportunity Snacker is feral, just a young kitty who has recently been allowed to wander the neighborhood, but if he turns up again he just might end up being a permanent part of this family. It seems to be how it works. Animals just find us. I guess we're serving the best dry food in town! TELL YOUR FRIENDS.