Clever Little Kits

Remember that one time I posted a blog that said I was making a big push to update my blog, and then I didn't post anything for over a week?

I remember that.

I called in sick Friday and am incredibly behind on my work, not to mention it's a Monday, and really busy. Seems like the perfect time to post a blog!

As you may have heard (from the line above) I've been sick lately. Boo to that. Last weekend I had a monstrous toothache that caused my face to swell up and I looked like I had some serious botox injected into my lips. And this last weekend I've had the crud that apparently everyone has had. I swear everyone is sick right now. Perhaps it's an epidemic, or it's the beginning of a plague. I'm betting on not, but do you really expect a plague?

I have a bunch of things that I wanted to blog about, and now that I've got a blog rolling along, I can't remember any of them! What's the deal with that? But I would like to say how smart my kitties are. Sounds like I'm bragging, right? No- I'm complaining! You might be asking, "But Bre, isn't a clever animal a good thing, would you rather have a dimwitted lump of stupid?" I would originally have said no, who would want an animal that likes to eat it's own poo? Now I'm leaning toward a good mongoloid kitty. (Do those even exist?) Ok, maybe that's a little exaggerated.

Anyway, my kitties have a "thing" for Q-Tips, I would go as far as to call it a fetish. They quickly learned to get into the garbage. One day Jordan triumphantly came home from work with garbage cans for the bathroom and office (their garbage hot spots) that had lids on them, and foot pedals to lift the lid. We were jubilant for about two days. Then in trots Kloe right up to the garbage can, she then uses her nose to lift the lid, reach in and grab a Q-tip and skip off again with her prize.

This was easily managed 'cause it was one Q-tip every now and then, and we could just take it from her, or pick it up off the ground and dispose of it. Then Kea learned how to open drawers. Jordan and I were enjoying a nice evening in, and were watching a movie and we kept hearing the kitties rustling around in the kitchen. I went to investigate and found the kitties in one of the drawers. I was confident that I didn't leave the drawer open, it's just not a habit o' mine. I pulled the kits out, much to their chagrin, and went back to my movie. Almost right away I heard the same noise and I went back to the kitchen and there she was. Rooting around in the drawer with no one to take the fall. I couldn't imagine how she could get the drawer open sans-opposable thumbs. But where there's a will, there's a way, right?

Don't worry- I solved the mystery. One day I was sitting in the office, and had a good view of the bathroom. Here comes Kea- she walks calmly into the bathroom and unaware of prying eyes she puts her front paws on the lip of the middle drawer, braces her back legs against the bottom drawer, then pushes her back legs while pulling with her front. Perhaps if you're having a hard time picturing this, think of someone in a row boat pulling with their arms and bracing with their legs. I could not believe my eyes. She opened that thing and didn't skip a beat before she was inside it. Lucky for us (and unlucky for kits) we keep the Q-tips in the cupboard under the sink. Then again I was stupid to believe that they couldn't figure out how to get a cupboard door open if they could get a drawer open. I came in one day and there were q-tips everywhere- they have found the mother load. I picked them up and threw them away, assured I had gotten them all.

Then a couple days ago Kloe jumped up on the couch while we were watching a movie (Australia- very good) and starting rooting around in between the cushions. Five minutes before I was running from the kitchen to the living room, and Kloe was running in my cross path and she ran right into my speedy hobbit legs and got kicked into the couch (poor dear, I felt so bad) so her rooting around in the couch cushions I just passed off as the brain damage I was confident I gave her. After a while of her persistent squirming and nearly her entire body was wedged in between the cushions I asked Jordan what the heck she was doing. He assumed she was looking for something, which was impossible 'cause we keep the couch clean, and I make sure nothing is under the cushions. I pull Kloe out and start feeling down in the cushions and pull out a Q-tip. "What the heck, how did that get there?" I'll give you one guess. I kept up the search and pulled out quite a few Q-tips. Here's the assumption- Kloe realized that she can go through the work of retrieving the Q-tip, but Jordan or I would then take it from her, as cotton can't be good for her digestive system. So, she found a clever little hiding space to keep her treasures safe.

So again, I'm starting to think a little brain damage wouldn't be so bad after all.