My cat has been cranky for the past five days. When my sister came to help, she brought their beagle, Ellie, to stay with us. Ellie has grown up with cats and is used to playing with them. Our cat, Edward Scissorhands, shared our house with our dog, Defer, for easily ten years, but he and Defer had an understanding. HE was top dog in the house, not Defer. For some reason, Defer let him get away with that. Of course, Defer was a gentle, amiable soul.
So, Ellie wanted to play, and Ed couldn't be bothered. Ed decided that he would absent himself as much as possible throughout the day, and return at night when Ellie was asleep in her travel cage.
Yesterday afternoon, our visitors packed everything up and headed for home. Ed was sitting on the sidewalk, so I opened the door and invited him in. He refused, even though I held the door wide, showing there was no dog waiting to greet him.
A little later, Elegante Mother repeated the entire scene, and Dear Husband tried again after dinner. By the time my stepson came home, the cat was not to be seen.
I tried once more before we went to bed, without luck, so Ed was allowed to stay outside all night.
I have an electric typewriter in my office that I keep for emergencies and for forms in triplicate. It's covered with a quilted (what else!) dust cover and a black, furry body.
The cat returned this morning, worn out from an night of carousing. For some reason, he has decided that my typewriter is his bed of choice. I've watched him languidly ooze from one position to another several times, but most of those positions involve a nose buried under an arm or a tail, or pushed down into the opening of the typewriter. I'd say he's hung out a "Do Not Disturb" sign!
We're going back to our usual regimen. NO OUT after 2:00. Somehow, I don't think he will argue about it today.