Friday, January 17, 2014
The adventures of Slumped Cat. I'm not sure if Graham really grasped the seriousness of this week's heatwave. Even today he did his usual constant miaowing to go outside and was annoyed that I wouldn't let him.
But after a while he got so hot that he just slumped to the ground and lay there. He wouldn't even lie on the couch or the bed. This morning I found myself singing a Stupid Cat Song that just went, "Slumped cat/slumped cat" because that was pretty much all the intellectual output I could manage myself.
This, the eastern wall of the hallway, is one of Graham's usual favourite slumping spots. (He was about one when this 'Grahamouflage' photo was taken in 2009.) When he's just come inside from a vigorous session of embedding leaves and burrs in his fur, he also likes to slump next to the velvet armchair in the lounge.
But this week Graham has chosen his slumping places quite randomly. And he's slumped quietly, too, so you don't even necessarily know he's there. I've almost tripped over him a number of times this week.
Slumped Cat slumps in the doorway out of the living room.
Slumped Cat slumps in the doorway to the living room.
Slumped Cat slumps in my darkened bedroom (hence the flash). Note he is covered in dried leaves, which he has transferred to the carpet.
Poor little fella. I have tried to look after him in the heat. I put ice blocks in his water, although he disregards them until melted, and spritzed him with water from a bottle, which made him flee in terror because usually the spray bottle is used as punishment.
Yesterday I draped him in a wet washcloth. Uneasy, he sat very still. I then dampened his fur with the washcloth and he didn't roll onto his back and bite me savagely as he usually does at any attempt to wash or groom him, so he must have wanted it on some level.
UPDATE, 7:02PM: The cool change has come through, and a rejuvenated Slumped Cat headed outside to hunt a poor, heat-weakened mouse. Now he has slumped back inside again with his prize.
Ugh, I am going to have to dispose of the mouse. Graham is terrible: he sees them as animated toys rather than food, so once they are dead he loses interest in them.
But after a while he got so hot that he just slumped to the ground and lay there. He wouldn't even lie on the couch or the bed. This morning I found myself singing a Stupid Cat Song that just went, "Slumped cat/slumped cat" because that was pretty much all the intellectual output I could manage myself.
This, the eastern wall of the hallway, is one of Graham's usual favourite slumping spots. (He was about one when this 'Grahamouflage' photo was taken in 2009.) When he's just come inside from a vigorous session of embedding leaves and burrs in his fur, he also likes to slump next to the velvet armchair in the lounge.
But this week Graham has chosen his slumping places quite randomly. And he's slumped quietly, too, so you don't even necessarily know he's there. I've almost tripped over him a number of times this week.
Slumped Cat slumps in the doorway out of the living room.
Slumped Cat slumps in the doorway to the living room.
Slumped Cat slumps in my darkened bedroom (hence the flash). Note he is covered in dried leaves, which he has transferred to the carpet.
Poor little fella. I have tried to look after him in the heat. I put ice blocks in his water, although he disregards them until melted, and spritzed him with water from a bottle, which made him flee in terror because usually the spray bottle is used as punishment.
Yesterday I draped him in a wet washcloth. Uneasy, he sat very still. I then dampened his fur with the washcloth and he didn't roll onto his back and bite me savagely as he usually does at any attempt to wash or groom him, so he must have wanted it on some level.
UPDATE, 7:02PM: The cool change has come through, and a rejuvenated Slumped Cat headed outside to hunt a poor, heat-weakened mouse. Now he has slumped back inside again with his prize.
Ugh, I am going to have to dispose of the mouse. Graham is terrible: he sees them as animated toys rather than food, so once they are dead he loses interest in them.
