I'm cat-sitting this weekend, for a couple of cats I've gotten to know
fairly well over the past couple of years, since I've had this client.
Her two cats are Sula, a small black girl cat, and Buddha, a big, fluffy
gray and white male. (He looks a bit like a very large Smudge.)

I hardly ever see Sula when I sit for them, because she loves the
outdoors. Even in this weather, which I would expect a cat to hate (it's
been raining for weeks and weeks), she spends most of it outside. Tonight
she came in, ate a bit of the wet food I put down for her, and almost
immediately went back to the door and meowed to be let out. She has places
to go and things to do, apparently.

Buddha had gotten into some kind of trouble - a cat fight, maybe - and
he had an absess on his back. His mom had taken him to the vet and gotten
drains put into the area (they've since been removed), and he's still on
antibiotics. He's doing OK, but has to be kept inside until he's fully
recovered.

Of course I had to take on the evil job of giving him his squirt of
medicine twice a day, so he hides from me when I arrive. But he's really
a pretty docile cat, and I've been able to reach him in his hiding place,
grasp him by the scruff of the neck (not to lift him, but to subdue him),
and slide him along the floor until he's out in the open, and then give
him the nasty stuff. Then he runs off in a big huff. I place his wet
food on the floor nearby and then I go into another room, so he can feel
free to eat and get rid of the taste of the medicine.

Tonight, after I gave him his medicine and he'd run under the bed looking
all outraged and indignant, I decided to go sit in living room and watch
TV for a little while. Within about 3 minutes, he came trotting into the
living room, jumped onto the couch, and then climbed on my lap. I had his
brush ready and started brushing his head, which he *loves*. Suddenly, the
evil medicine-squirter has become his best friend! :) He got all squirmy
and purry and let me brush him everywhere, even on his belly (he kneaded
the air when I did that). So I hung out with him for about an hour, brushing
and petting him while he purred up a storm. He's really a sweetie!

Joyce