Hour 21: Now I’m feeling it

by | Saturday | November 7, 2009 | 14 comments

Oh man, doesn’t Mile 21 correlate with hitting the wall when you run a marathon?

That is about where I am now. My husband took the kids out to lunch to get them out of my hair, and it’s strangely silent in the house. The dishes are piled up, the china with the dog food waiting patiently in the sink to be cleaned. In just a bit.

Apollo and Brody are keeping me company, like they always do. Apollo looks the same as he did 9 years ago. He is aging quite gracefully. When I adopted him, he was a teeny 8 week old kitten with big yellow eyes and a crusty nose. I brought him home to Nuke, also newly moved in, except Nuke was 10, an elderly coonhound in need of crate training. 6 months later, Callie was adopted.

Apollo was with us for our first house, our marriage, a new kitten, three dogs dying, two children being born to torture him, his companion disappearing, and now a puppy to chase him. It just keeps getting worse for him. I should do something kind for the elder statesman of the house. He’s been good to us.

What would be a really nice treat to spoil him with? A sweet bed? Cat tree? Lay it on me. I have another bead to give away too but I’m too tired to come up with a good reason so, uh, tell me why you deserve said bead.

Filed: Blogathon, Daily Life Tagged:
  • elephant

    I have no idea what this bead thing is, but I’ve come to the conclusion that you can’t really gift a cat. You can buy them electrically warmed beds, and fence sunny windows off so the dog can’t get to them, but unless you’re into putting small baby birds or rodents loose on your floor for them to chase, it’s all just hit or miss. Though my cat has fallen passionately in love with those supersoft fleece blankets from target. The deep thick giant ones that are like rolling around on an expensive teddy bear. He kneads it with four legs and purrs, even if all he can get to is a 2 square inch corner peaking out from under the quilt.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      Well, calling them beads is really an insult to them- they are more aptly described as “amazing handmade lampwork glass beads in ridiculously cute designs sure to appeal to any animal lover, appropriate for jewelry, charms, etc.”
      http://aboutvetmed.com/2009/11/05/blogathon-09-beads/

    • Lisa W

      “…can’t really gift a cat.” I think this is true, which is why I’m a dog person – I like proper gratitude!!! ;-)

      Can we buy similar beads? Since I won the blanket, I don’t want to be greedy. But I think those things are awesome!

  • Lisa

    I’ve been meaning to get one of these for my cats — an electric heating pad! I still plan to get one even though it probably means less snuggles with me, since the pad is a more reliable source of heat and won’t roll over and thwack them with an arm or leg in the middle of the night. I’ve heard that kitties just love ‘em.
    No bead for me, I’m well pleased that I already won one earlier (hour 9).

  • Lisa Edwards

    Hang in there Dr. V…you’ve almost made it!

    As for a gift for a cat, there is no greater gift than an open lap and a nice scratch behind the ears. My cat has always prefered fleece blankets too… :)

  • http://www.biscuitsbylambchop.com Annette Frey

    Not sure about the cat treat but I just Tweeted you another funny to help with those dishes!

  • http://twitter.com/geekaren karen

    At my house, dog beds filled with a warm, fluffy blanket seem to be a huge hit!

  • http://annora.wordpress.com/ Tassia

    Cats are fickle creatures and don’t take to gifts the way dogs do. I can scarcely even ballpark the amount of money I’ve spent on toys and special things for Kitteh, and the only things he ever liked were the water fountain and his plushy bed until another cat peed on it. Now I just scrunch up paper balls for him to chase, and leave a folded towel on my desk for him to sleep on.

  • Megumi

    My cats were always fans of the electric blanket and a catnip bender :)

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      Did you get a prize yet? Would you like a lovely bead?

  • wikith

    My cats have always liked little window hammocks – you mount them on the window and they provide a wonderful view for looking outside. Bonus if there’s a birdfeeder right by the window… actually, a birdfeeder for Apollo wouldn’t be a bad idea.

  • Jamie

    The ONLY thing that my two cats really use and are those cardboard cat scratcher things. I have bought them lots of weird cat toys over the years, and they only get used by the Husky in the house. No cats. They have no desire. Amaretto (our oldest cat, also 8 and aging very gracefully!) just recently starting using his very small cat condo. (it’s a small round thing with two holes in it) Ashton is too big to fit in to it, but I don’t think he has any desire to even try to go near it anyway.

    So the only thing we buy for the cats now, are the cardboard scratchers and everytime they walk by, they knead on it and keep on going.

  • Jamie

    BTW – I do not want the prize, as I have already won a bead, I was just sharing info. :)

  • Kim

    I don’t think these will be necessary in your area but there were so many turf wars over the one heated bed, we bought two.