Rose is Rose by Don Wimmer and Pat Brady for May 08, 2023

Why is it so difficult to pick up a cat even if is just to place it on your lap. Oh, well, they can have my seat and sit closer to the stream

Start swinging that hat and they will run for cover.

Cats are notorious sunlight hoggers

Boot, boot, boot! Problem solved!

At least they’re not kibitzers, Jimbo.

You’re still cuddling, Rose and Jimbo.

I’d be finding out if cats could swim. There is a limit.

1) Grasp cat firmly by the scruff of the neck.

2) Hold the cat out over the water for several seconds. Deliberately hold it there until it realizes that if you let go it is going in.

3) Let go.

4) Recycle this process for the next cat, as long as any remain around.

5) Repeat this discipline each time you want to sit at the table.

Contrary to ‘everyone knows’ wisdom, cats can be taught. About 3 cycles of this lesson per cat usually is enough to firmly embed the lesson that the table is ‘off limits’. Some are a bit more stubborn, but I never have had one try me more than 5 times.

PS: This process or one similar (like being held under a running cold-water faucet) works equally well for teaching a cat not to be up off the floor (IE: on furniture, book-cases, on counters, climbing drapes, etc.)

PSS: You have to be willing to get wet. Cats can swim, so you don’t have to ‘rescue’ them unless you throw them too far out from shore or into swift current. But when they climb out, some cats shake like a dog to get rid of most of the water. Also, NEVER try to pick up a swimming cat. It will nail you instantly in the hand and forearm. It’s not that they are angry (although they are) … it is trying to use your hand/forearm to climb out of the water. You’ve been warned.

The real problem is that Jimbo realizes they’re sitting on a sandbox.

At my age, and bad back, if the bench don’t have a back, it ain’t a favorite for me.

The gentle Gumbos are a fauna conservationists.