This Ridiculous Cat

On Sunday, I was at Petsmart, stocking up on cat food to use an expiring reward/coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase. I also decided to replace the scratcher box I previously got for Maggie, since she's gotten into the habit of chewing on the edges and then spitting out bits of cardboard onto the floor, which is as much fun to clean up as you'd think it would be. I know she'll probably do the same thing to the new one, but maybe not right away.

I unpacked it and put it next to the old one, and within about a minute, she was sitting in it, assessing.

"Hmm, yes, I can wash in this."

"Yes, this will do, thank you."

She sat in it for a few minutes more, then came and sat on my footstool instead. I had noticed it had a sort of plasticky odor when I opened it, so I figured she might want it to air out.

Mom came along a little while later and asked if she should throw out the old one, or wait to make sure Maggie liked the new one, and I said that she seemed fine with the new one, so go ahead. Mom pulled the old one out of the spot under the coffee table and put the new one there, and Maggie shot off the footstool to leap into the old box.

The indignation! How dare we remove her cherished box! Mom and I laughed so hard we cried. First she stared at Mom in the most accusing way. Then she transferred that look to me when I told her that it was my fault, not Mom's.

She stayed there for a while, until distant thunder sent her off to hide under the bed. But before she went, she may have been giving me the finger.

What a goofball.