Nerves of Steel

With Carl home it marks the end of being out of town, and having company for awhile.  You know how I thrive on routine, and I'm hoping by the end of the weekend, we'll be back to one.

Today started out early, even for a day off.  Our cat, CC, got sap from one of our pine trees all over her yesterday.  I tried to get out as much of it as I could, and thought maybe she could do the rest, but when I watched her try to clean herself, I realized that she wasn't going to be able to reach all of it.  It didn't help that Todd and Lucas found her new aroma even more alluring!

I decided we probably should give her a bath.  I have to admit to having never bathed a cat before--But I have heard the harrowing tales of those who survived giving their cats one, and so I made sure that Carl and I were well prepared and ready.  With latex gloves, and long sleeve shirts to minimize the scratches or bites we were sure to receive from CC, we were ready.  The plan was to wet CC with my hands and apply Dawn dish soap.  The hard part would be putting her under the bathtub facet to rinse her off.  We started and CC was so calm and seemed to like my running my fingers through her coat.  When it looked like the sap was all broken down, it was time for the rinse.  I turned on the water, gave Carl his final instructions and we were ready.  Since this whole thing was my idea, and knowing that the wrath of a wet and unhappy cat was going to be upon us, I decided that Carl should have the job of holding CC--He naively willingly agreed.  So, I poured the water on her, and CC had no objection.  We finished rinsing her off under the faucet and she continued to not struggle at all.  We dried her off, set her down and she immediately went to the kitchen and demanded her breakfast.

I have to admit to being more than a little surprised by what had just happened.

But in thinking about it, I realized that I should have known that CC having lived in a multi-dog household for 11 years has given her nerves of steel, and she can coolly and calmly handle anything, even a bath!   Nevertheless, it all just seems so un-cat-like, don't you think?