The Optimism Of Cats And Dogs

Yesterday I Still Want More Puppies had a very cute video of a cat.

Honestly, I don’t know where some of you find the time to do all the things you do.  If I had about 8 more waking hours in a day, (and the energy to go with it) I might be able to do half of what some of you do.

But I digress.

I changed the comment I was going to leave on that particular post, because I realized the story would be quite lengthy and it would make a good post. “-)

The year was 2005 B. D. (Before Delilah.)

Sampson was about a year and a half at the time, my daughter and her husband had just gotten married, and they moved from FL to CT and were staying with us.  They brought their two cats with them, Percy and Knuckles.

Percy was a big boy, my boy. Even though he was my daughter’s cat, he was very attached to me and Hubby.  Before she moved to Florida she was in her early 20’s working part-time and going to school full-time.  Percy spent a lot of time with us.  Then she moved and took him to Florida and he hated it.

He was very happy to come back home, but not at all happy that Sampson was now living there. Percy spent a lot of time puffed up at this intruder in his home.

Knuckles was rescued from the mean streets of Lakeland, and was still a kitten.  He rode the entire trip from Florida in my son-in-law’s lap.

To accommodate the two cats, Hubby had installed a cat door in my daughter and SIL’s room.  We figured if the dog was antagonizing them, they would at least have a safe place to retreat to.

Knuckles was/is a pretty cool cat.  He had a little foil ball that you could throw and he would run after it, pick it up in his mouth and bring it back.  It was just about the cutest thing I’d ever seen. 🙂

He did like to tease Sampson though and would wait outside my daughter’s door to get Sampson’s attention and then when Sampson was almost upon him, he would dart inside the room via the cat door.

The house has three bedrooms.  Our bedroom was at one end of the hall facing the bathroom and Lisa and Steve’s room (with the cat door) is to the left of the bathroom door.

This was a time in his life when Sampson would eagerly wait at the door, because he knew Knuckles would be out and he would have an opportunity to meet him.   He did this every morning while Knuckles and Percy lived there.

Seriously you’ve got to love a dog’s optimism.

On this particular morning, Lisa was taking a shower when I opened the bedroom door. As usual Sampson tore down the hallway.  Knuckles (as usual) waited until the last possible minute and turned for the cat door.

Seriously, you’ve got to love a cat’s optimism.

Here’s the thing about cat doors.  In order for them to work, they need to be unlocked.  For some reason on this particular morning, it wasn’t.

God how I wish I had this on video.

Knuckles, the little antagonist, turned for the cat door and finding it closed, spun in the air, twisting and turning looking for escape.  He ended up against the bathroom door.

Sampson, sensing victory, charged forward, all 90 pounds of him.

Lisa screamed and tried to cover herself, as Sampson and Knuckles burst through the bathroom door.

Knuckles was air born at the time and spinning, twisting and snarling as only cats can do and in short fashion sought refuge…..under the tub.

Sampson had him pinned under the tub and he knew it.  He bent down in a play bow, tail wagging happily, only to be defeated once again because he was too big to follow Knuck.

After that day,  when Lisa took a shower, the bathroom door was always locked and the cat door was always unlocked.