NOW FOR THE REST OF THE EGGSPLOSIVE STORY

THE GUILTY PARTY -BIGGER TIGGER

In my last post, I made reference to losing track of time just prior to the eggstraordinary eggsplosion. The story I'm about to share here is absolutely true - just the facts m'am. The names of the cats involved have NOT been changed to protect their identities. In this case, all are guilty unless proven otherwise.

It was a bright sunny day . . . 11:00 am . . . I was in the kitchen, finishing the clean-up after making chocolate oatmeal cookies and thinking how wonderful the house smelled. As I stood at the sink pondering what to prepare for supper, I thought of making a cobb salad and opened the fridge to take out some eggs. I distinctly remember thinking it was a grand day.

I took a small pan from the cupboard and poured cold water into it. I added four eggs and turned on the front burner of my stove, placed the pan of eggs on the burner, and set the timer. I had just enough time to go downstairs and make sure the cats all had fresh water and food. I thought I'd save the litter box duties for later since I'd attended them the previous night. I was greeted with purrs and chortles, which signified a happy clan.

To avoid crowding, the cats had long ago been assigned four separate feeding stations. I began my rounds, making sure each station's water and food bowls were filled. Once the first three stations were in good condition, I moved to the final location. What I found will curl your hair. I'm offering a disclaimer now. If you are squeamish, stop reading this instant.

Ok...all you brave souls who have strong stomachs. What I found at the last feeding station was yellow water and very wet and smelly food tray and bowls. The water and food tray are not in close proximity so I knew the liquid on the tray was not water. I looked around to see who might be lurking about and there sat Bigger Tigger and Roxie, staring at me as I stared at the mess. I could only conclude the tray and empty food bowls had been used as a litter box and whoever did the deed, also used the water bowl as his own personal latrine. Roxie went sailing out of the area, but Big Tig sat and watched as I disgustedly removed the food tray and water bowl. I asked if he was the culprit and I swear, he shook his head up and down and produced a big Cheshire cat-like grin.

I took the offending items to the utility room for cleaning and disinfecting. As I approached the sink, I slid a bit and looked down to see that I'd stepped in a huge pile of cat barf. I knew it was "only" barf because whoever had thrown it up, had not chewed his food thoroughly. I don't like stepping in cat barf, but it beats the alternative. Just what I needed - more mess to clean up. The reality of eggs boiling on the stove was not in my realm of thinking during those moments.

While cleaning the soiled food and water bowls, I wondered what would cause a cat to urinate in them. Tig had done this before when he'd seemed disgruntled about the bowls not being filled or freshened as soon as he wanted them to be. Perhaps he was again showing his disgust. For whatever reason, it's a nasty thing to find. What he did was deliberate, as opposed to (probably Roxie's) barfing of undigested food. Neither is a joy to discover, but someone has to clean it up and I'm always the elected one.

I finished those unpleasant tasks and took some clothes out of the buzzing dryer since I was right there in the utility room. I gave no thought to the eggs on the stove until I carried the basket full of clean clothes up the stairs to the landing. I immediately detected that strange odor and heard faint crackling noises. It was only then my mind snapped back to the pan of eggs I had set on the stove. The rest is history. We're still trying to scrape egg brains off the ceiling. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.