Serving the High Plains

CSI Tucumcari: Evidence reveals a ‘tail’ of cat-astrophe

QCS Columnist

As a cat owner I have found most days are the average run-of-the-mill type of days where nothing spectacular or strange happens around the house.

There are rare days, however, when I find myself scratching my head and piecing together the cats’ activities like a crime scene investigator.

I was awakened the other day by the sound of a “hiss-s” and loud “thud,” and while these are now sounds I have come expect at my house, this set was a bit different.

After the noises I heard more “hissing” and the moans that any cat owner can tell you mean something major is about to happen.

I got out of bed and looked in the living room and didn’t see anything so I walked to the kitchen and see Brownie with just his head sticking out of the blinds.

Toby was sitting on the dryer and was pawing at Brownie’s face and from what I could tell was either stuck or reluctant to pull his head back through the blinds. This was fine with Toby who was having a blast playing “Whack-A-Brownie.”

I walked over and freed Brownie from his restraints and he jumped to the ground and began stalking Toby with a menacing look.

The two of them sat beneath the kitchen table staring at one another, locked in a standoff and waiting to make their move. Feeling that this could take a while, I decided to have a glass of grape juice while I wait.

As I walked over to the cabinet, Brownie’s attention must of diverted to me for a moment because Toby took off like a shot. Brownie quickly gave chase and I could hear what sounded like two pachyderms racing around the house as I poured my juice.

Again, I’ve become used to the noise of the boys playing around and I was not worried, until I heard a large crash followed by what sounded like the desperate clawing of an animal trying not to fall. It was during this frantic clawing that I heard additional crashes and eventually a thud and mournful “Meow.”

I looked around the corner and behind the TV I saw Toby’s ears. I did not see the DVD player, football helmet, family pictures or the plant that normally sit atop the set. I glanced over to the right and there on the ground lay all of the items covered in potting soil, along with the remains of the plant.

Now, I would like to say that I didn’t get mad, that I kept my cool and addressed the situation with a level head, but that would be a false statement.

I yelled at Toby to get down and directed Brownie to get away from the mess. Both obliged by darting off into my bedroom.

As I was cleaning up the mess, I noticed the tracks left in the dust by Brownie on the back of the TV. This was my first clue to what had happened and also, that I needed to dust. I could see where Toby had jumped up on the TV and it appears that Brownie followed and tried to overtake him but was going too fast, became entangled in the cords of the DVD player and spun out.

The DVD player fell to the ground pulling Brownie down with it and in a desperate attempt to keep from falling, Brownie apparently reached out, trying to get his grip. Luckily the plant wasn’t too damaged and seems to be fairing OK and the DVD player still works.

Afterwards I felt bad for yelling and apologized to the cats with some treats and petting and the day went on without any further high jinks from the pair of trouble makers.

Now, however, I am trying to figure out how the kitchen floor got covered in pepper. I’m not sure, but the sets of cat prints in the pepper near an empty pepper shaker in the middle of the floor may lead me to the culprits.

Or maybe I could ask the pair of sneezing felines if they saw anything.

Thomas Garcia is a senior writer at the Quay County Sun. He can be reached at [email protected]

 
 
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