You Say It's Your Birthday

We got our two cats (part of the same litter) early in the summer of 2002.  Based on when they'd been weaned, we arbitrarily decided their birthday was May 15th.  Over the years we haven't done much to observe the day, but this year Tony decided they deserved a fete.  Since we were busy tasting various types of chocolate chips yesterday, the cats' party was pushed back until today.

How do you celebrate a cat's birthday?  We catered to them a bit and gave them lots of extra attention.  When Pepper told me he wanted a lap to sleep on after lunch (Really.  He did.  Your cat doesn't talk to you?), I accommodated him by moving from the kitchen to the family room couch so he could stretch out while I read the newspaper. I didn't disturb Jackson's mid-afternoon nap in the middle of my bed, but came back later to put the clean sheets on it.

While Tony and I ate dinner, the cats circled the kitchen as they often do, looking for any morsels that might end up on the floor.  Although they're rarely rewarded for this activity, they never stop trying.  Before Tony served dessert, the cats got their birthday present.  I opened a bag of catnip and dumped half of it on the floor.  Pepper was there immediately; he always investigates new things.  He sniffed at the catnip, then fell down and started rolling in it. Jackson looked on nonchalantly, and even left the room for a minute.  However, as Jackson watched his brother writhing around on the catnip-strewn floor, he decided to come back and check it out.  First he laid down in the catnip and batted at it a bit, rolled over once, then licked some up. He walked away, but came back again and ate a bit more.

The cats won't play if they think someone is watching them, so I tried to be quiet, but it was hard not to laugh at their catnip-fueled escapades.  When I moved my chair, though, the noise scared the cats and they decided they were finished. They left quite a mess!  Catnip was scattered in a three-foot wide area, and  Pepper was completely covered in pieces of the herb.  Tony tried to clean him up before he left the room and scattered catnip all over the house, but he was only partially successful.

I swept up the remains of the cat's partying and threw it outside.  I didn't want to attract them to the trashcan. When I passed Pepper on my way to the front door, he gave me a glassy-eyed stare. Jackson was MIA somewhere in the house.  I guess they had a good birthday celebration.