Cats and Kids

We've had two cats and kids episodes this week. The first happened on Saturday. Bailey provoked Puma into a nasty scratch that starts at the palm of her hand and goes to her elbow. It took a full day for the yowling to stop, Bailey's that is. The second happened this morning. The girls were mostly ready for school, playing quietly so I thought it was safe to answer my phone when it rang at 8:30. What I didn't know was that while I was in my office with the door closed, Don let the neighbor's cat in the house. He's Puma's brother. He just moved in with the third floor tenants. At Puma's last exposure to him he was 8 pounds lighter. We call him George of the Jungle because he's a big, orange, monster of a cat. Don then promptly jumped in the shower. Hannah thought Puma and George were fighting, so (with 2nd grade logic) picked up Puma to save her. Puma, like most modern females, didn't have any interest in being saved, and promptly tried to scratch Hannah's ear off. Luckily, the scratch was fairly minor and we've now had a lesson about cats and claws and fighting and who is and isn't allowed to come in the house. That's a lot for 8:30 in the morning. I hope the rest of the day goes better.