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amanda_loddenWhile a friend's been on vacation, I've been feeding and cuddling his two kittens. This has proven to be an exercise in frustration, because the kittens are inordinately fond of going into places they're not supposed to go. One of those places is the garage, which is the way I enter (I don't have a key, but I do have the code for the garage). As soon as I open the door, two balls of fur streak out into the nifty hiding places in the garage. Fortunately I was warned of this behavior so the garage door has always been closed first, but it still entails collecting the kittens and tossing them back into the house. The kittens are much faster than I am, so while catching one and putting it in the house isn't that hard, when I go to put the second one into the house, the first one often manages to sneak out the door for the brief moment it's open. When I'm entering it's not that bad, because I can catch one kitten, take it into the house and lock it in a bedroom for a few minutes while I catch the second kitten. Leaving the house is much harder, and the first time I tried to leave I had to catch each kitten three times. One of those times I tried holding on to the first kitten while I collected the second, and that went very badly. They like to fight with each other, so I had a squirming mass of fur and claws to contend with, and then I didn't have any hands free to slam the door shut quickly, so both got back out.
Tuesday I ran through a drive-thru for lunch and took it over to Jim's, and that meant fighting kittens for every bite. They're very persistent, and if you manage to block their access from the side, they'll happily climb up your back and over your head to get at the food. So tonight I wasn't looking forward to stopping by, since I had an afternoon appointment and hadn't eaten yet. I pondered eating my dinner in the car before going into the house, just so that I wouldn't have to fight the kittens for it.
And then it occurred to me that I could use one problem to solve the other. When I went in, they dashed out into the garage as usual. I shut the door, sat down, and ate dinner in peace. Then I went and filled their food and water bowls (much easier without their little heads poking into the food container). When I opened the door to the garage, they weren't hovering right by it, but they made a beeline for it when I called them. I hung out for about an hour playing computer games so they'd have a little company, then left. When I left, they eyed the door but didn't make the usual mad dash to it. I'm sure they would have ventured out again had I left it standing open, but at least I got a few extra seconds to get out without having to catch them again.
Tuesday I ran through a drive-thru for lunch and took it over to Jim's, and that meant fighting kittens for every bite. They're very persistent, and if you manage to block their access from the side, they'll happily climb up your back and over your head to get at the food. So tonight I wasn't looking forward to stopping by, since I had an afternoon appointment and hadn't eaten yet. I pondered eating my dinner in the car before going into the house, just so that I wouldn't have to fight the kittens for it.
And then it occurred to me that I could use one problem to solve the other. When I went in, they dashed out into the garage as usual. I shut the door, sat down, and ate dinner in peace. Then I went and filled their food and water bowls (much easier without their little heads poking into the food container). When I opened the door to the garage, they weren't hovering right by it, but they made a beeline for it when I called them. I hung out for about an hour playing computer games so they'd have a little company, then left. When I left, they eyed the door but didn't make the usual mad dash to it. I'm sure they would have ventured out again had I left it standing open, but at least I got a few extra seconds to get out without having to catch them again.
