Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Bad pet day


The source of pain (but who can blame her)

So, following up the pea post from yesterday: I harvested my second big batch of peas last night. I shelled them and left them in their bowl on the back porch's table and went into the kitchen to start making dinner. When it was time to cook the peas, I went to the porch and found the peas in their bowl, but there was a large depression in the center, and about a third of the peas were gone. "Did you eat any peas?" I yelled up to Tom. "Nooo," was the answer. I looked at the peas again. Then I noticed Nyxie sitting on a chair, washing her whiskers. (Who knew.)

I was really depressed by this, though. Such hard work. Then I thought back on the day, and the day started this way: Tom got up to make coffee. He yelled up to a still-sleeping me that Penny, the dog, had had an "intestinal event" on the same back porch, on the throw rug in front of the door. Then the child came into our room, and I heard her happy self say "Look at this toy!" and I looked to see her lift a large mouse, dead, up from the foot of the bed. It appears that Echo, the other cat, had made us an offering when we were sleeping.

I explained how, though it looks like a toy, it is actually a dead mouse, and that we shouldn't play with dead things. She was a bit sad. Then, when things were cleaned up and we went downstairs and the child saw the cat, she said "Thanks for the gift, Echo, but it was gross and we flushed it." (For the record, I did not call the dead mouse "gross," just dead.)

So we finished up dinner with the last 2/3rd of the peas, and went to the beach. That cheered me up. And maybe tomorrow, there'll be more peas, more human-destined peas, in the garden. And today, so far, the pets have left us no surprises.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Peas huh? We have a cat who will eat all things green, especially leafy green. Like lettuce, cilantro, parsley. Oh, she also likes raw chicken. Go figure.

Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener) said...

Our cat, Spot, is a fiend for peas. Whenever we cook peas, we have to cook her a bowl, too. If we don't, she yells at us. And she can tell when we're making them, so we can't sneak them past her.

cookiecrumb said...

Cats eat peas!? Funny!
Sorry about your diminished harvest.

Moonbear said...

Baad kitty. I once had a kitty (bad) who liked to scoot across the kitchen floor after pottying. Gross enough by itself, but then-- omg, the dog rolled in it.

El said...

I know all cats have their "things" they like to eat. Jules, our cats are such pigs for green things that I can't bring flower bouquets in the house without major damage. Damned things.

Xris, thank you for assuring me that Nyx is not alone in the feline world. And again, I can't blame her, I was just terribly surprised.

CC, today IS another day (in the garden at least).

Moonbear, let's not even START with weird dog habits. Cats can't hold a candle to them in the grossout department, IMHO. I love them both though.

Anonymous said...

Oh flower bouquets! Yes, two of my cats will chew on the green stuff and then throw it up later. yuck. The green eater, she likes to tip over the vase and get to the water. Baaad CAT. I had to find a vase that has a really wide base and a small top. That works for that cat. Just have to keep them up high now from the other cats.

meresy_g said...

I will try to give my cat peas. He definitely likes flower arrangements. For a second, I thought you were going to say that the cat used the bowl of peas as a litter box. Be glad all he did was eat them.

bs said...

i love your blog! we had a cat that ate about a third of a jack'o'lantern once, but never had fresh peas for him to sample.

this must be an educational film i think.

Unknown said...

My friend Amy has a cat who eats her peas, too. She has to put the pea vines on the back porch since they sit on the front balcony all the time--she'd never get any peas herself.

(And LOL at meresy_g!)

El said...

Jules, there is no such place as High Enough to place a bouquet in this house (and believe me I have tried). Baad caats.

Meredith, you are so obviously not a cat-lover (not that I'd hold that against you). Egads, pee in my peas! Quel horreur.

BS, what a hoot. Who knew! Now I am going to have dreams of my kid and dead rodents.

Kim, oh, the gardening sacrifices we make for our companion animals. You should see the sorry state of my perennial beds now that I've got a dozen feathered friends running through them. Ah well. At least the babies haven't discovered my sorrel. Yet.

Anonymous said...

Dear Daughter,
Another dead mouse incident...
Reason # 4,234 that I love my granddaughter, and her mother too. Takes me back to the day before Miren arrived home from the hospital, and I made the great personal sacrifice of getting rid of a dead mouse, before the little princess and the queen arrived home. I have just now opened the little white coffin Tom gave me of the critter, and smiled.
Love, Nana

Robbyn said...

Hee hee! I had a female cat growing up, and whenever we'd harvest corn (any that was left after the raccoon raids), we'd have buckets of corn in various stages of being shucked, sitting on the back porch. We'd take a break, only to find that Sugar had made off with the choicest ears and was gnawing her way down them in rows, just like a person would at dinner.

We always left her a few...and I always think of her when we have fresh corn on the cob :)