Cat Story and an Alternative to Donuts

We've had our cat, Nigel, for about six years now. Like all cats, he has an aversion to water or getting wet. When Nigel does something he isn't supposed to be doing, and we see it, he will get squirted from a water bottle. Now, however, I think he is trying to train himself to not fear the water!

When the tile in the shower was replaced at the end of last year the shower door was also removed. Instead of the metal track on the rim of the tub, we now have a shower curtain that goes outside of the tub and a shower curtain liner that goes inside the tub. This forms a tent over the rim of the tub. At first, Nigel just played in the tent. Then he would hop into the bathtub (when it was dry) and wrestle with the liner. Or just stand in the bathtub.

Now he'll hop into the bathtub when it is still wet from a shower. Or he'll perch on the rim of the tub and try to catch the water still dripping from the faucet. This may be one of those "you had to be there" but he will swat at the water drops with his paws, but if he actually catches one he shakes his paw violently. "Holy shit! This is WET!" So the desensitivity training is not complete yet.

At work there is a tradition that to celebrate your birthday, you bring in donuts. Fine, but I shouldn't be eating those donuts and I know a lot of my other coworkers can't have donuts. (Or even homemade cookies, which is sad. I will make room in my diet for homemade cookies!) Something I did last year, and will do again this year, is to buy many pounds of fresh fruit at the local produce store and bring that in instead. Ripe, washed, and ready to eat apples, oranges, and pears were so popular that all 12 or so pounds were gone by lunchtime. One coworker thanked me for bringing in treats that he didn't have to miss. (He actually had his heart attack at work one evening. Luckily, other people were still there working with him.) One said "Do you know how long it's been since I had an apple?" Plus, because the fruit is on special for 49 cents to 79 cents a pound, I even spend less than if I had gone the Krispy Kreme route. Mmmm. Krispy Kremes....