240brickman
Senior Cook
OK, here goes
I have two cats, Veruca and Numbat. Both female, both "indoor-dwellers". Veruca is the older of the pair; she's probably about 11 years old now. Numbat (known as "Nummie") is about 4. There are pics of the both of them in the Member Photos section.
Veruca has always been a pretty well-behaved cat. She's occassionally knocked things over while running or playing, but she's not all that mischievous.
And then there's Nummie.
Ever since I got her (from a co-worker, who knew I was thinking about getting another cat), she's been constantly working at A) making me go out and buy new stuff, and B) scaring the **** out of me.
For instance, back when she was a very tiny kitten, we lived in an apartment which happened to be in the basement of a building. The ceiling was one of those finished, "drop" ceilings, with flourescent light fixtures every few panels. I actually rather liked that, because the light in the kitchen was very even and diffuse.
After Nummie had settled in for a couple of weeks, she (naturally) felt the need to explore every inch of her new home. There was a sort of open cupboard/pantry in one corner of the kitchen; it's where I kept canned things and dry pasta and stuff. It had no door to it; in fact there was no way to attach a door to it.
Nummie discovered that there was a way of crawling up inside the cupboard, which would result in her walking above the ceiling. The first couple of times she did this, I was scared out of my wits. Partly because I'd arrive home, and wonder where my cat was; and partly because I thought there was a squirrel, or a rat, or SOMETHING crawling around above my head.
It was usually pretty simple to get her to come down...all I had to do was shake her food bowl (with dry food in it) and she'd be down in a flash. She's always been a chow-hound.
Over time, she grew. In height, and ESPECIALLY in girth. I came home one evening, and found Veruca immediately, but not Nummie. I suspected that she was spelunking in the ceiling, as usual.
I went on about my business, and walked into the kitchen to start preparing some dinner. That's when I noticed one of the styrofoam ceiling tiles kind of bulging. And moving, too, a little bit.
I knew I'd better get her out of there, pronto. I called out for Nummie, and shook her food bowl. That got her attention, allright. She decided to come down right away, but when she shifted her weight to stand up (I assume she'd been napping up there), she came crashing through the ceiling tile. I was smart enough to get out of the way, but Veruca (who had been watching from directly below) was whacked by little bits of ceiling tile.
Nummie landed safely (on her feet...what they say is true), and Veruca wasn't harmed, either.
Next day, I was off to Home Depot to replace the ceiling tile. I did find a match, but it stood out from the rest because it was so clean!
I think it was at that time when Nummie realized she was no longer a kitten.
Yes, Nummie quit climbing into the ceiling after that.
I have two cats, Veruca and Numbat. Both female, both "indoor-dwellers". Veruca is the older of the pair; she's probably about 11 years old now. Numbat (known as "Nummie") is about 4. There are pics of the both of them in the Member Photos section.
Veruca has always been a pretty well-behaved cat. She's occassionally knocked things over while running or playing, but she's not all that mischievous.
And then there's Nummie.
Ever since I got her (from a co-worker, who knew I was thinking about getting another cat), she's been constantly working at A) making me go out and buy new stuff, and B) scaring the **** out of me.
For instance, back when she was a very tiny kitten, we lived in an apartment which happened to be in the basement of a building. The ceiling was one of those finished, "drop" ceilings, with flourescent light fixtures every few panels. I actually rather liked that, because the light in the kitchen was very even and diffuse.
After Nummie had settled in for a couple of weeks, she (naturally) felt the need to explore every inch of her new home. There was a sort of open cupboard/pantry in one corner of the kitchen; it's where I kept canned things and dry pasta and stuff. It had no door to it; in fact there was no way to attach a door to it.
Nummie discovered that there was a way of crawling up inside the cupboard, which would result in her walking above the ceiling. The first couple of times she did this, I was scared out of my wits. Partly because I'd arrive home, and wonder where my cat was; and partly because I thought there was a squirrel, or a rat, or SOMETHING crawling around above my head.
It was usually pretty simple to get her to come down...all I had to do was shake her food bowl (with dry food in it) and she'd be down in a flash. She's always been a chow-hound.
Over time, she grew. In height, and ESPECIALLY in girth. I came home one evening, and found Veruca immediately, but not Nummie. I suspected that she was spelunking in the ceiling, as usual.
I went on about my business, and walked into the kitchen to start preparing some dinner. That's when I noticed one of the styrofoam ceiling tiles kind of bulging. And moving, too, a little bit.
I knew I'd better get her out of there, pronto. I called out for Nummie, and shook her food bowl. That got her attention, allright. She decided to come down right away, but when she shifted her weight to stand up (I assume she'd been napping up there), she came crashing through the ceiling tile. I was smart enough to get out of the way, but Veruca (who had been watching from directly below) was whacked by little bits of ceiling tile.
Nummie landed safely (on her feet...what they say is true), and Veruca wasn't harmed, either.
Next day, I was off to Home Depot to replace the ceiling tile. I did find a match, but it stood out from the rest because it was so clean!
I think it was at that time when Nummie realized she was no longer a kitten.
Yes, Nummie quit climbing into the ceiling after that.