My “job” keeps me hopping and a bit too busy to come up with new ways to sneak into Phoebe June’s diary without getting caught. The grandma life is sweet, but with my Sweet Boy here almost every day, I have to be sure that Phoebe June gets the attention she demands. That’s right – demands! She’s fully aware that she’s grown into her title of “Queen of All Cats”, and still prefers to spend plenty of time practicing her hunting skills (even if she has to do it by murdering catnip mice, leaping onto house flies and basement crickets and slamming me with surprise attacks). In Phoebe June’s mind, I am the other kitten in the barn loft, just waiting for the next big surprise as she spikes up her fur and advances toward me with “Let’s rumble!” written all over her face. I have the scars to prove this.
You can imagine my concern over introducing a baby to such a needy cat who thrives on rough and tumble human interaction. Should I expect jealousy? Fury? Or, perhaps most worrisome, an attitude that if Mommy loves this new critter, it must make the perfect plaything!
Well, she’s had over a year to adjust and I think Phoebe June’s handled it fairly well, considering. I thought it might be time to take a peek at some of her observations on those first days.
Monday, February 10, 2020
It arrived not long after Christmas – The Snookie. I was familiar with Pookie and she’s all right by me as long as she resists the urge to tweak my nose, but after all these months and months of talk about Snookie coming, I started to wonder if Mommy intended to trade me in for it, whatever it was. Then came the socks. They looked just my size, but Mommy stuck them on her thumbs the other day and (she’s done strange things before) massaged my cheeks! They smelled funny. She said I could expect Snookie to smell the same and that I would just adore him. Well, he showed up today, socks and all, taking up a large portion of Mommy’s lap that I required for other purposes. I jumped in and tried to be sociable even though he does smell funny. He’s got to learn – the red furry thing is mine!
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Mommy says tomorrow’s the Big Day. Snookie will be all ours – all day! She got excited and fixed his cage. He must be pretty puny if he can’t jump out of that. After festooning it all over with soapy-smelling soft stuff, she put a critter inside, smiled at it and called it Pooh. She pulled the thing on its head and the minute I heard the noise, I knew that the Pooh varmint must die. I hunkered low and went in for the kill, yanking him through the bars. Just as I was showing him what real cats are made of, Mommy said I mustn’t and put him back in the cage. She just doesn’t understand some things. I tried my best all day to murder that thing, but finally she stuck him on top of the wardrobe. I can jump up there, but she’d take it personally. I’ll bide my time.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Sometimes the noise is almost unbearable. How Pookie stands it in the middle of the night at her house is beyond me. I get a strong feeling that Mommy wouldn’t like it much if I just popped him on the snoot when he makes that racket, so when Snookie got all fretful today, I decided to help out. I jumped up next to him and demonstrated how to self-soothe. Cats know these things. Step 1: Find the furry thing. Step 2: Give it a thorough stomping, giving care to exercise the toes and claws. Step 3: Purr very loud. Step 4: Curl up on it and konk out and stop making noise! Did he listen? No! Did he make the slightest effort? No! And so I suffer.
Friday, April 10, 2020
He isn’t always noisy. The endless snuggles Mommy gives The Snookie can really get on my nerves sometimes. She thinks he’s darling. I suppose he’s tolerable. He still smells funny, but she doesn’t seem to mind, even when he spits. I’ll forgive her for acting goofy over him today. She’s been telling him how it’s his Great-grandma Emmabelle’s birthday today and how she’s looking down at him from Heaven and loving him. All pretty drippy stuff, but that’s how Mommy is. I’ll just be glad when she gets back to snuggling me and calling me all my sappy nicknames.
Monday April 13, 2020
I have to admit, The Snookie has his moments. I’m starting to see why they take such a shine to him. Of course, he’ll never be as cute as me – he’s far too furless – but he has perked up and started to act like something I might want to play with someday. He also looks like something that’s going to try to pinch my fur. Those fists clutch at everything, including my tail if I let my guard down. There is a twinkle in his eye. He does stuff now. He moves, but I can move faster. If I stay a couple of feet away, I can study him without getting nabbed. I have a funny feeling Mommy would take his side if I had to pop him one. What worries me is that he learns a new trick every day. It’s such a relief that walking is never going to be one of them. And note the absence of any teeth – the advantages are all mine!
That’s only the beginning of Phoebe June’s observations on babies. More to come in the days ahead, so subscribe now so that you don’t miss out on what she has to say about crawlers and toddlers!.
Our Phoebe June – lovable and opinionated! “Share”, “Like” and “Pin” her thoughts and adventures with the cat-lovers in your life.
If you missed the first installments of “The Phoebe June Diaries”, you can catch up by clicking here and here. Check out everything on her page here!