More Monkey Business

I have been talking a lot about our fur-kids lately.

Monkey had her time outside yesterday;  twice in fact. I don’t tend to let her out after their evening treat because there is nothing to stick around for and it gets dark.

I always like to tell her that she is a black cat and will lose herself in the dark! She acts as if she understands with a sarcastic meow! Last night as I let Violet out for her after treat bathroom trip, Monkey slipped between my legs and out through Violet’s before I hardly had the door open! I am positive sometimes that they communicate with each other and make deals!

Anyway, Monkey was gone for about an hour and I was worried. We do have feral cats, racoons and other critters around, plus people who hate animals have been known to leave out poisoned food. Finally, when it was pitch black out, I saw her bright pink collar on the fence by the gate. She was just lying up there looking around. I tried tempting her with treats; however that didn’t work.

Monkey had returned home; however, she was making a statement that she couldn’t be told what to do, when to come in, etc. In other words a rebellious three-year-old! I tried to set up her laser toy but it needed batteries and would only work with me holding it and that doesn’t help. You need to put it down and let Monkey come and play with it, then shut the door.

I could see that she wanted to come in, but again, it had to be on her terms. I put a couple of treats on the stretch of fence that ends in the front yard. She took the bait. I went to put down more treats and ended up dumping a whole pile inside and outside the front door. Well, wouldn’t you know it, Monkey comes down from her perch and starts helping to clean up the mess. She even comes inside to do it!

Close door, clean up, make sure the cat is away from the door, open it, close screen door, pick up any outside treats, shut the door, done!

For me to pick up anything from the floor is a daunting task given that my knee, back and hips don’t cooperate. But I managed to get all the treats up before Monkey “helped” too much. Then I needed to rest for awhile.

A funny thing about Monkey is she doesn’t do her business outside. She will come in, go to her box and then will want out again. After the clean-up, she went straight for the box so she probably needed to get inside but was just being the stubborn little brat she is.

There is one thing I will say about the little black furball; she is definitely not a “Monkey see; Monkey do” girl. She does what she wants when she wants and we love her for it! However, she is still grounded for as long as I can tolerate her meowing to go out!