The two new cats have integrated themselves into the family surprisingly well and our evenings have been restored to their former peacefulness marked by a different furry creature sprawled out fast asleep on any available surface.
Until I think about feeding them.
Not when I start scooping food. No, long before that they use their super animal senses to determine that my sneaky herding of animals into different areas had to do with FOOD and suddenly I’m surrounded by the churning chaos of hungry animals.
And then I’m in trouble.
John is still recovering and, lets face it, at this point he’s more like the furry animals sleeping on the couch than an able-bodied assistant. So it’s just me and the hungry hoard. And trying to figure out how to make four-legged dinner time run smoothly reminds me of the logic problems I used to love solving as a kid. You know the ones that said, “If Tommy is wearing blue hat, and Gretta has a cat, what does Mable love?” If I made one for the house it would look like this:
You are feeding Gyspy, the calico kitten, Cassie, the grey kitten, Fiona, the tortoiseshell cat, Storm, the brown hairy dog, and Trip the orange and white spotted dog.
All the animals’ food is in the basement.
The cats can not be blocked out of the basement.
Storm will steal any unattended food.
Storm will take Fiona’s food even if she is there.
Trip will not eat by himself.
The kittens will convince Trip they are feline killers and steal his food.
The dogs will sit and stay and wait.
The cats will not.
Fiona eats different food from the kittens.
Storm and Trip eat the same food.
Trip eats slower than Storm.
The cats eat slower than the dogs.
Cats magically multiply when they are twining your ankles meowing.
It is very difficult to carry two cats at once without bleeding.
Jessie does not want to bleed.
What color is the animal who eats first, and where does it eat?
Hint: Never feed the salamanders while the cats are in the room.
Behind the Willows 