Our Field Trip

“Olivia, what did you do? Why am I in the bag in which we came from mama? Are they taking us back there; it will be freezing!”

Olivia sighs and shakes her head, then pauses for a moment.

“I did nothing wrong you big baby, and I do not think that they are taking us back to mama. Do you remember the last time we were in these things? We went to see the lady that sticks cold things in our butts”.

A shaking Oscar whispered, “Are you sure, Olivia? We thought we would be with mama forever, and all of a sudden we were in this bag. Just like today…I am not….”

“Oscar”, interrupted Olivia, “get a hold of yourself. We cannot do anything about where we are going anyway. Oh oh, I think we are moving. Meeeeeowwww Meeeeoooowww. Let me out of here!”

“Meeeeeoooooowwww. Mrrrraaaaugghhhh!” cried Oscar. This back and forth between the two of them continued for the remaining five minutes of the ride to….?

“Oscar, I….I think we have stopped.” The sound of car doors closing and opening, and with a tug of the carrier handle, Oscar and Olivia entered the cold air of the outdoors. They both were very quiet and still, not sure about where they were or where they were going. The door in front of them suddenly opened, and the warm air of the indoors jolted the travelers back to life.

“See you baby, we are at that place that puts things in our butts”, yelled Olivia. “I wonder how high you will jump this time.”

“Hush Olivia, those things are soooooo c-c-cold. Brrrrr”.

Olivia began to laugh when: “Ohh, 13 pounds for Oscar’s weight; that’s quite a weight for an 8 month old kitten”, stated the vet tech. “Oscar”, Olivia snickered, “you are fat! How is it you weigh double of what I do? Oh wait, I know this. BECAUSE YOU EAT ALL OF MY FOOD!!!!” Oscar just grunts, and both kittens remain silent until they enter the examination room.

They are both let out of the carriers, and Oscar immediately begins to examine the room. Olivia moves about the examining counter very cautiously. “Oooo, what is this?” Oscar leans forward and sniffs a container of pink liquid. “Ewwwwww, yuch! What the hell?!?” Oscar yells as he jumps onto the floor.

The door of the examining room swung open, and two women entered.

“Oscar, I do not like the looks of this. They are feeling on both of us, but yet acting as if we are not here. At least she knows now for sure that I am siamee……Yeeeeowwwww! What the hell? They did it to me again! She stuck that metal thing in my butt again. Owwie. “

“Oh Olivia, you are such a wimp. Now I….uh oh, my turn. Yeeeeeoooooowwwww! She got me too! Owww, that hurts? What the? She is playing with my bags….and….oohhhh…..I like this one. Heeee.”

“Oscar, you are crazy! She just put us into pain! She is mean!”

Olivia jumps off the table to hide behind a chair. A funny feeling began to set in with the kittens, one that is a very sleepy feeling. Soon the humans said their goodbyes, and before they knew it, Olivia and Oscar were in the car on the way home.

“Olivia, I feel very sleepy.” Olivia tilted her head, sighed, and said “yes, I am too. So very, very sleepy”.

Upon arrival at home, our kittens both found a warm, soft spot to make a bed, curled up into little balls, and slept the day away.

Schatzi

It has been almost six months since these kittens have come into my life. Before the kittens, my life was very simple. Wake up in the morning, go to the sandbox, paw the small human’s face to get it to pet me, eat, and then sleep in a sunny spot until the humans came home. After they arrived at home, more eating, some playing with toys, and so on.

That fateful summer afternoon changed my life forever. At first I could not understand the blocking of the kitchen that the bigger human did immediately after arriving home. The humans had been gone for many days and nights. They always came to say hello to me first but this time said hi to me only after blocking off the room, which seemed odd. Also odd was that the many things the humans bring in after they return from a long time away were not present.

After some time, the smaller human came in as well with the trap that I am put in to visit the doctor. Was that meowing I heard? No, it cannot be…or so I thought.

My fears were realized a week later when I first met the kittens. I had gone from getting all the attention to now having to share it with these kittens, very cute kittens. These little things smelled like poop, and their meows were very needy, loud, and shrill. Oh boy, this was going to take some getting used to, I thought to myself. One was very strange looking, the dark gray one, it looked like it was just a big head with paws. This one put a scare in me when he said something to the other one about “this one”, meaning me, maybe having some delicious milk for them. The only thing I remember about the rest of that day was hiding under the bed.

This went on as the days turned into weeks. This black one was not very bright; he once brought a chipmunk into the house! That was very gross, and is why I do not like going outside. Once the big human tried to bring me out with the kittens, and I peed on it as punishment. That was the last time the humans tried this, so I am sure that they got the point. The black one, Oscar, also jumps in the air and pees when he hears thunder. Sigh. The “great protector” he is not!

As the seasons changed, and the days grew cooler and shorter, the kittens were staying inside more often. I admit that they are beginning to grow on me, and there are times that I see them as being somewhat tolerable. This black one, Oscar, is more of a pain than his sister, Olivia. Oscar tries to jump on all the time, and steals food from everyone, including the humans. He has grown to be very big, but is overly playful most of the time and seems to always be hungry. My biggest problem with him is that he will jump on me without any notice. I want to be nice to him, but he is too crazy to trust right now. Maybe once his “traveling bags” as he calls them are removed, he will stop this behavior and behave like a proper house cat.

I see a little bit of myself in this Olivia. Although very whiny, she knows how to behave like a proper cat. Stay to yourself, do not approach me without permission, and to be blunt, stay out of my space. She does not fight for the human’s affections for the most part, unlike this Oscar. She knows the importance of slipping under the blankets to stay warm during this cold time of year, and properly covers up after herself in the sandboxes. Yes, in this one I see much potential.

I am curious to see what the next six months with these two will bring. I know from listening to the humans that both I and Oscar will have operations, mine on my aching teeth, and his to remove his traveling bags. If nothing else, I know that at minimum my life will be very interesting.