Fun with Cat

Hi,
One of my new favorite pastimes is watching Mushu jump over things! If you don't remember who Mushu is, go back to some of the earliest blogs of mine, and take a look at him. He is one of the biggest cats in the world, I'm sure. Of course, I mean house cats, not tigers or bobcats or mountain lions. Also, remember that I told you that Missy Linda and Tio Kane have one of those baby gates at the bottom of the stairs to keep the cats (and little kids, if any are around) from going upstairs? Actually, it isn't on the bottom step; it is about three steps up. That makes it a lot harder for a cat to clear it from below.

Lately, I have been spending a lot of time gracing the dining room with my beauty by sitting on the dining table or the buffet. This gives me a great view of the stairs. Mushu has decided that if no one will open the gate for him, he will just have to fly over it because he loves to sleep up there in the room where Missy works. I cannot tell you how hilarious it is to watch him sit there and whine for awhile (he is pretty pathetic!) before he decides he is going to have to take matters into his own paws. You know how with some people and animals, you can just see the little wheels spinning in their little brains? It is pretty amazing to see when he actually clears the gate with his hanging down belly! He has one of those cat bellies that hangs down and sways back and forth when he walks. When he kind of runs, it looks like it would beat him to death! A lot of the time, he doesn't exactly clear the gate. There is a great crashing noise, and the gate falls down as his belly knocks against it! In this house, no one gets too excited about big ol' crashing noises or things equivalent. I guess it just happens too often to be worrisome. The gate doesn't fall away from the steps, though. It is set-up to fall against the stairs. That way it still works for the old man cat and little kids. He needs to rest most of the day after that! To me, that's a good start to the day.