Hey! Look! I put my newspaper on the Internet!

But seriously folks, the cat situation at the Casa de Sweetwood is starting to approach normal again. Whatever "normal" is.

Louie is slowly recovering from a bad bout of bronchitis that he either got from Mary or from Clyde, back when Clyde had a bad cold. Clyde is completely cured of his cold. Both cats are free of conjunctivitis.

By the way, Mary is slowly recovering from bronchitis that she either got from work or from Clyde. My cold, that I got from some combination of Mary/Clyde/Louie, is completely gone.

Now, a healthy Clyde is a rambunctious Clyde. And with Louie being ill and our crazy schedules, including a mid-week trip to see The Police in Tampa/St. Pete, he has been left alone and bored. A bored kitty is a bad kitty. We have caught him on the dining room table, on top of the cupboard above the refrigerator, on the plasma TV, and, generally, running around knocking things down. He is not destructive. Maybe a tad annoying.

But damned cute. Lucky for him.

So, I had to get back to my old cat training tricks circa 1986 when a young Maine coon kitty named Ditka similarly tested my resolve. Aluminum foil covers the counters at night. A spray featuring a scent (citrus) that cats hate is used to mark MY territory. A spray bottle of water and lemon is at the ready. Plenty of yelling has left him with the confused notion that his name is "Clyde NO!"

We have also added some new diversions. The first is a two-story cat "jungle gym" that features all sorts of toys and climbing areas and catnip. He loves it.



The next is a deck of cards.

I bought the flash cards in the dollar aisle at Target. I throw them and he chases them, diving and making spectacular aerial maneuvers in order to catch them. Two turns through the deck and he's winded. Ditka eventually tired of the cards. I remember the day he looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, "What? You threw them. You chase them. I am no longer performing for you. Bring me food, human!"

SEE THE CARDS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GYM

The good news is while Louie has been sick for the past week, Clyde has been a good brother, giving Louie space and even cleaning his head.

More later,


Mark