THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT

HOLLY - PRINCESS OF GRUMP

RUSTY CAN BE A BIT OF A SCRAPPER, BUT HE'S VERY SWEET
BAILEY'S NOT THE BRAVEST BOY ON THE BLOCK BUT HE'S CUTE

ELLIOT WATCHING "CATS 101" ON ANIMAL PLANET

Some days I have a "sitcom" right here in Cat World. Yesterday I was taking wet towels from the washer and placing them in the dryer when I detected an altercation brewing. Holly was warning another cat to keep his distance from her. I immediately recognized Holly's low throaty growl. She's my resident grump. She's also the most elder cat I have right now, so maybe she has a right to be grumpy. The thing is, she's been grumpy for most of her life and though I'm used to hearing those growls, most of the time they seem unwarranted to me. She growls if another cat looks at her, comes near her food bowl, or dares to take a drink of water if she's standing nearby.

When I turned to see what the growling was all about, I saw Rusty standing in front of Holly, simply staring at her. Cats often remind me of kids and I can remember a time when my sisters and I would call for our mom...."Mom, Bud's looking at us", as if that was a crime. I think cats have some of the same traits as human children. None likes to be nudged, stared at, or bullied by another. Rusty, while sweet as pie most of the time, does seem to enjoy pushing Holly's buttons. Not ones to miss a good fuss, Elliot and Bailey showed up in the utility room to see what was going on with Holly. There they stood - Holly was holding court from atop an elevated cat bed in which she sleeps. Rusty was standing about six inches away, just staring at her. Elliot was standing backed up behind Rusty, and Bailey was so close to his brother that his nose was practically in Elliot's bushy tail. Sweet unassuming Bailey is not the bravest of my clan, so he sort of stands back and lets his brothers take on a challenger.

As I stood there observing the cats, all of a sudden, Holly lashed out at Rusty. I don't think she landed any blows, but Rusty was caught off-guard and jumped backwards right into Elliot's face. Rusty apparently thought Elliot was after him too, so he swiftly turned around and smacked Elliot in the head. I don't think Elliot actually knew how to interpret that action. He's generally very laid back and not at all combative. He gets along with his brothers, but he was also taken off-guard so he turned around and smacked Bailey, who ran like the wind in the opposite direction. The interaction looked like a scene from a Three Stooges movie. I wanted to console the cats, but didn't know which one needed the most reassurance, so I decided to let them work it out among themselves. It's always entertaining around here.