Thump

Saturday night we left the bedroom window open.  Moby up there faster than the eye can follow.  Vociferous in his commentary about (presumably) OTHER cats in HIS territory.  Two long tirades.  And twice, once as I was dropping off, another when dead asleep, he jumped from the sill to my ankles.  THUMP, Thump, thumpity.   Strode over us and flopped down on us, pinning us in turn.

Then another drop onto my legs in the wee hours. Ten pounds of cat, at velocity.

The next day, we did not let him sleep, woke him up over and over - to his bewildered annoyance.

"Nooooo,  I was sleeping!  I've been up all night!"

Yeah, we know.

By evening we also figured out that he was itchy, grooming his forepaws with his teeth, irritated.   And decided that we would give him a bath.   With great trepidation.  Filled the deep kitchen sink with warm water, got some shampoo, I would hold him, D would make sure the front legs would be well soaped.  Really not sure how this would go.

And, he did not seem all that bothered.  Didn't squirm, just stretched out his front paws to grasp, no back leg kicking,  mwowed once, tail even went up when I scrubbed his back. Even after, mostly annoyed that his paws were damp.

All these years, and we didn't want to do this to him, and now find out it's a big "meh" to him.  He slept most of the night, pretty much at D's feet, or on them. He seems more comfortable, fur shinier.  Maybe some pollen or other irritant in the dead grass or soil, now rinsed off.

Sometimes, you just gotta try things.