4 o’clock in the Morning

Thing One and Thing Two

I would rather be sleeping, but Shadow and Blue have made an all out assault on my favorite chair sitting in the corner of my bedroom.  The sound of  claws grabbing, and the possibility of ripping the fabric woke me.  I  have seen this behavior many times.

It is not that the cats really want to destroy the fabric.  The damage done is incidental to the game of chase and wrestle.  Both cats come tearing through the house, into the bedroom.  The cat in the lead dives behind the chair and pulls itself around the convenient piece of furniture, rather than run across the floor.  In the living room this same action takes place around the sofa or fabric covered footstool.

I have replaced the dust covers on a few pieces of furniture.  The fabric cover under the furniture that finishes the bottom.  The usually hidden fabric has been destroyed in a few places from cats dragging themselves upside-down from it across the floor.

A once beautiful wicker chest, has been sacrificed to the enjoyment, and need to scratch of the cats.  Some clever people have solved this conundrum with protective furniture covering scratching posts as seen on Pinterest.  I  am not so clever.  The forty-five year old basket I received as a shower gift before my wedding is also damaged.  The cheep laundry basket in the closet also has a texture the cats seem to love.   I also have several scratching pads around the house.  I thought this was the cost of humanely having cats.

Letting the cats outside would help the cats find more natural scratching posts, but also expose them to the dangers of the natural world (which I think they can handle), as well as the danger of cars (which the cats can’t handle).  We also have neighbors with very strong objections to cats. I could have had them declawed, and protected my furniture.

Declawing a cat leaves it defenseless if it goes outside.  (A place they work very hard at escaping to.)  Plus, some cats take to biting to defend themselves when declawed.  Also, the idea of surgery on my little kittens feet just made me sad.  So there I was fighting yet another hopeless cause in the early morning, armed with a spray bottle defending the furniture in the dark.

Now it is time to get up and start my day.  The cats are curled up someplace, sleeping. Good morning everyone.