Thursday, July 03, 2008

They'll be the death of me yet...

I'm babysitting cats again.

Not the same ones; no psycho killer cat this time. Just two lovely cats barely out of adolescence. Adorable. Sweet.

Breakneck.

As indoor cats, and they seem endlessly fascinated by the outdoors (i.e. our third floor balcony). So much so that they managed to get through the screen of the patio door the other day.

I blocked their access to the screen and left the door open, after all it's Montreal in the summer. What harm could there be in letting some air in?

Last night as Mr. Jazz and I were watching a DVD, he turns and says, "Is she outside?"

Yep. Sure enough, there was Gala perched on the window ledge outside my living room window. Said window ledge is three inches wide and three stories up. She had managed to squeeze in between the screen and the block and decided a good place to paly would be on the window sill.

Now, any cat worth its salt can deal with a three inch window ledge three stories up any day.

But there she was... chasing the moths that were attracted by the light in the window. Jumping. Up and down. On the three inch ledge.

My heart? It stopped.

I don't care that she probably still has all her nine lives intact, the thought that went instantly roaring through my head? How do I explain to a 7 year old girl that her adored cat fell to its demise and splattered itself three floors down on my watch?

A colleague said, "well, it would teach her that life's a bitch". That's cynical even by my extremely loose standards.

I opened the window screen sloooooooooooowly and coaxed her in. And she looked at me and I swear she smiled an evil little pussycat smile, she did. She was most definitely laughing at me. Indeed she was.



I should have wrung her cute little neck - but that would have been even harder to explain to the kid than a three storey fall.

.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe cat-sitting isn't the healthiest hobby for you? And, did you know that actually a lot of cats fall out of multi-story buildings? So much so that this eventuality is covered in the standard indoor cat pet insurance policy. "Really?" I said incredulously. "You'd be surprised", the agent answered grimly.

Rachel said...

OMG Kitten!

*melt*

Too fucking cute, and I LOVE this story.

Im a suck for all things feline. ever visit www.icanhascheezburger.com?

Joe Jubinville said...

That cat is laughing... no doot aboot it.

Three stories? Pffft. Cats eat that for lunch.

Cycling Goddess said...

OMG too funny jazz, love it. yep, that poor little girl would be devastated so good on you for coaxing the little shit back to safety lol

Bring them here! My cat will teach them a thing or two hahaha

Jazz said...

XUP - Yeah really. Catsitting is bad for my health. Actually, of the 5 cats I've had four have fallen from the third floor with no more ill effects than a smaill cut on the forehead and a pulled leg muscle.

Rachel - That's not the cat in question - I needed a pic of a laughing cat.

Joe - Yeah, they eat it for lunch, but it uses up a life. And with my luck, if it's not my cat it would maim itself for life.

Animal - I'd be afraid of what havoc they might wreak on the way over.

Anonymous said...

Cute kit-pic even if it's not the one you're sitting. Great story Jazz. I know my heart would've been pounding!

Adele said...

love cats but am wishing we didn't have a bunny at the mo, I badly want a ferret, http://hageltoast.typepad.com/seeking_xanadu/

Miss Awesome said...

Haha, awesome picture. That little shit.