A masterful packing job
Continued from Part I.
Tom and Mike needed to fit ten cat carriers, a litter box, three boxes of litter, four cases of canned cat food, two suitcases, one valise, two pillows, a bathrobe, two bags, two boxes, a gun case, a few odds and ends and three people in an SUV. They did it somehow.
I left my beautiful home for good and led the way in my Mazda Speed 6 to WalMart to get some disposable paper bowls to feed the cats. Then we went to the credit union where I parked my car and handed the keys to an employee, telling her I could no longer make payments. Then I climbed into the SUV and off to Pennsylvania we went.
Goodbye Veneta home
The first rule was “No one opens a door unless all cat are enclosed in their carriers.” We started letting cats out within hours and they found their way to our laps. Toby (first cat, black cat) was her typical charming self, hissing, chuffing, lashing out at others, just “carrying on cranky,” to quote a famous Minbari. I quickly abandoned rule number one as unworkable.
When we arrived at Motel 6, Tom asked if they allowed pets. When they replied that they did, Tom did not inquire as to how many. So we boxed up the kitties and I snuck them into my room two at a time. I nearly panicked when several started meowing loudly for dinner, fearing that the people in the room next to me would be alerted to my crime. I fed the cats as fast as possible and then let them out of their carriers.
Of all God’s creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with a cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat. –Mark Twain
Six of the cats had urinated and two had defecated on the towels in their carriers. After dinner they loaded up the litter box with an unimaginable volume of waste. In the morning the box was again full of loathsome smelling canned food feces.
The more inquisitive cats inspected every bit of the room while the shy ones hid underneath the beds. About six cats tried to sleep with me, four of them vying for coveted positions under the covers. Lyla snuggled against my head. Halfway through the night I awoke to Puddy digging through the garbage for the lids to the canned cat food. After I put that away he discovered the cat food cans in another bag. I bundled that up and put it on a high shelf. I slept poorly that night.
Can you see six cats?
The next morning Mike suggested we break down a few boxes and let the cats roam. This worked really well, and he eventually perfected the system. We broke down all but three carriers and provided a clear path to the litter box and the water bowl. My two black cats, Toby and TipToe, monopolized my lap and became aggressive when challenged or forced to share. Agnes spent one full day in the litter box and the other two days in a carrier with Arthur and Pinegar.
Four cats up front and Chester at my feet
A pillow was placed on top of belongings behind my seat and another on the middle console. The cat occupying the middle console became the gatekeeper to the lap, so cats had to sneak to my lap via my right shoulder. The front of the car eventually filled with cats: two on the middle console pillow, two on my lap, and one tucked into my shirt front. Chester was fascinated by the floorspace with the pedals at Tom’s feet and made repeated dashes but was redirected to my floorspace.
So that’s how we traveled four days from Oregon to Pennsylvania. We stayed at Motel 6′s for three nights, and the rooms were almost identical, so this reduced cat inspection time significantly. It’s amazing how resilient and adaptable cats can be.
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