Prepositions

When I was in grade school, one of my teachers was trying to simplify grammer for us. She told us to remember that a preposition was anywhere a cat can go- up, down, around, in, under, through. It's stuck with me a long time. However I think these two have come up with a few new prepositions-they get into EVERYTHING. And mostly what they get into can get them into trouble.

The dryer is a fascinating place...unfortunately dryer injuries are not that uncommon in cats and can be deadly. I am careful to check the dryer before closing the door! What could be better than a warm hole full of soft stuff to curl up on?

The refrigerator door is barely open and they are in like a flash...another potential dangerous place. The pantry is also quite popular but slightly less perilous.

Hmmm....I wonder if this is the answer to not having to bathe the kittens...! I'm not sure just what the attraction is in the dishwasher, but it's another place I have to keep a constant eye on. Unloading is the biggest problem- I'm really not keen on kittens on my clean dishes, so I have to unload while they are occupied elsewhere.

We are working on the "no kitties on the endtables/nightstands" rule. This seems to be a particularly hard one for them to understand. The nightstand is especially inviting. Great. Huge potential for them to turn off my alarm, knock over my coke, and steal important stuff. Cory brought me a five dollar bill on Sunday and when I investigated where he got it, the money I had left on the nightstand was now on the bed and the floor. I suspect the kittens were the original culprits... luckily Cory is obsessed with finding things I might like and bringing them to me because you never know when it might earn him a really good treat. He has gotten excellent treats for finding money in the past, so I can't rule out that HE was the one who stole it off the nightstand in the first place. The TV remote is also a highly reinforced object to retrieve; today I was outside cleaning out the van and he was shut in the house, much to his dismay. When I looked over at the door, I could see him through the sidelights sitting with the remote in his mouth. I guess he thought he would try bringing it to get my attention and maybe I would let him come out and play! Wish I had had the camera outside with me for that one!

Kittens and puppies are like babies- you have to look at the house through their eyes and try to anticipate any trouble they can get into. Just because they've never done it before does not mean they won't figure out how to do it in the next five minutes. Counters have to be left clear, strings that can be swallowed are out of reach, nothing left dangling from heavy objects that can be pulled over on them (like the shoulder strap on my camera). Toilet lids are left shut as are the doors to rooms where they really don't need unrestricted access. But the mind of a kitten is a fertile field...and it's a bumper crop for trouble this year!

PS-FINALLY my hummingbirds returned last Friday and the red headed woodpeckers made a brief appearance on Saturday, the 16th. The red heads showed up May 4 last year and May 5 in 2007, so I was starting to get concerned and was quite happy to see him. I haven't seen him again, but I also haven't really been home to watch. Suet cakes have been disappearing from my feeder in about 8 hours, due in part I suspect to the return of the pileated woodpeckers who haven't been around much the past few weeks...I am hoping maybe they were raising a family.