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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Cat Tales ~ Ernie

A while back DD asked if were getting a kitten.  The short answer is, maybe at some point but not right away.  The long answer is more complicated. I started thinking about all the "stuff" I've gone through with my kitties and I'm not sure I have it in me to go through all that again.  Normal people go to the pound or the pet store and pick out a cute little fur ball, take it home, and love it for fifteen or twenty years.  My kitty chronicles are a bit more dramatic.  Sitting here, writing this out, the story got pretty long.  I broke it down so y'all wouldn't be nodding off before we got to the end. 

Ernie was my first kitten.  I got her for my 21st birthday, a gift from my then-boyfriend.  I was not, technically, allowed to have pets in the apartment I lived it.  Okay, technically, I was not supposed to be living in the apartment I was living in.  Two of my besties took me in after a very bad fight with my mother (my fault).  I crashed on their couch for three months, but I never went back to my moms to live.  My roommates had a kitten already, a pretty gray and white girl named Sophie.  They didnt mind me bringing home another kitty, so long as we called it Ernie, after a Bette Midler bit they were both partial to.  So thats what we did.

 
Sophie was not thrilled with the new addition to the family and batted Ernie around like a stuffed mouse.  For Ernies safety, I kept her crated when I was at work.  At night, she slept with me on the sofa.  When I was home, she had the run of the place, but I made sure to keep a close eye when Sophie was in the room.  Ernie was just a baby when I got my own apartment.  I wasnt allowed pets at that place, either, but I figured I wouldnt be there long.  The landlord had offices in Minneapolis, hours away, so I knew we wouldnt see much of him.  In fact, in three years I never once saw him.  

At that point, I worked as a waitress in a diner that served breakfast and lunch.  I often left the house at 4 or 5 am.  And I often came home to a mess.  Ernie would shred toilet paper, dig up house plants, climb curtains..my boyfriend was the type to send flowers, which Ernie regarded as a salad bar.  She ate pretty much any flower, but roses were her favorite.  It didnt matter where I put them.  Shed knock the vase over, spilling all the water, and munch away.  The most interesting Ernie habit started when she was about six months old.  She would jump up onto my dresser, bat at the drawer handle until she got it open, and flick all my underwear onto the floor.  She loved to chew the elastic out.  Seriously, peeps, I took this picture of her tossing my skivvies. During that time I took classes at the community college, too, and I can remember coming home dog tired only to find the apartment trashed and Ernie stuck at the top of a drapery rod, yowling her fool head off.  It was a miracle that we didn't get booted out of that apartment.

Come back tomorrow to meet Bert ~



 



 







4 comments:

  1. Oh that Ernie was quite a character. Fond memories indeed. We have a couple of cats here that like FLOWER SALAD too. Can't wait to see Bert.

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  2. I enjoyed meeting Ernie and I can thoroughly identify with your kitty tales. Cats make incredible roommates....there's never a dull moment.

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  3. Kittens - they are a hoot, if you can keep your eye on them. Keeping them out of trouble is very difficult. Some of them never grow out of their devilish behavior. :-)

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  4. ai lubs teh cyoot & funneh kitteh

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