Oscar and Sidney

Remember quite some time ago when I said I thought Oscar Wilde might need a pet because I believed he was lonely? Then I went on to enumerate all the reasons why we should not get a pet and that a fish might suffice? Well, in many ways I believe a fish might have been the best idea. Instead, we got Sidney, the cat.

Don’t get me wrong… Sidney is a precious little blue kitty. When he’s asleep! But Oscar and I just might be too old to have a baby in our home. He’s like having a wild, rambunctious two-year-old that knows no bounds running loose in the house.

Oscar is probably more patient than I am. He puts up with a lot but, when he’s had enough, he emits a low, guttural warning growl. He doesn’t usually have to make that sound twice.

Sidney isn’t stupid. He knows what the sound of snapping teeth means, even though he has never been pierced by them. Unlike my own skin! I probably emit guttural growls also when he gets too rough in his play, which is most of the time. However, the thing that works best at stopping his most inappropriate behaviors has been the spray bottle.

Like most cats, he doesn’t like to get wet. Even when he was very young, he put up quite a fuss when I’d hold him down to wash his face and give him a little damp sponge bath. He quickly learned how to groom himself rather than submit to the horrors of being bathed! So now, when he does not respond to verbal commands, he gets sprayed with a quick spritz of water from the blue bottle.

As I said, Sidney isn’t stupid. He knows what the blue bottle means, and he knows the words associated with it. Sometimes only the mention of the blue bottle makes him rethink what is going on in his mind. Other times, a quick shake of the bottle sends him fleeing. But there are also times when a full-on spraying session is required.

Sidney is a defiant little creature. He does not like to be told “no”. At those times, it takes several sprays before he gives in and becomes more compliant. He is learning that he cannot always have his own way.