The Race

There is a nightly event that occurs in our household. Lucy and Sasha take turns racing me to greet Latino at the door. It did not exactly start as a race, but over time Latino started commenting if either of the cats happened to get there before I did. ("Sasha's beating you!") I have a bit of a competitive streak; thus, it became my mission to win. You may question whether or not it should be considered a race when all parties involved may not understand the concept, but I assure you that it is.

The reason the cats take turns is that if Sasha arrives to the door first, she demands all the attention. She meows. She rubs up against Latino. She puts her best paws forward to ensure she is the sole recipient of every ounce of his attention. Lucy is a quiet bystander, so she will wait patiently but she does not stand a chance next to Sasha. Thus, when Sasha takes a break from her door greeting ritual, Lucy takes full advantage. She strides up next to Latino and politely waits for him to pet her with his foot. No joke. Recently she has gone a little bit crazy with her greetings, and she will barely let him walk without her being right under his feet. He will take a couple steps and she is right there, meowing loudly and begging for more of his foot. She did not used to be quite so loud; I think it is a habit she picked up from Sasha. Back and forth they walk together, stopping every so often so Lucy can get pet. It is ridiculous, but very amusing.

Lucy once again felt the need to remind me that in her eyes I am chopped liver compared to Latino. He was petting her with his foot and he asked me to take over the job to see if she would notice. He proceeded to walk away. Lucy stayed with me for a few foot pets, but when it dawned on her that HE was not the one petting her, she ran to him. There is no point anymore in reminding her that I am the one who has fed her and sheltered her for the last ten years. She stopped caring about that the second Latino entered her world.

Latino has a theory as to why Lucy prefers his feet over mine. He thinks my feet stink too much. And apparently his do not. In my humble opinion, I believe it is the exact opposite and for an unknown reason Lucy prefers the stench of his feet. Lucy had a couple small marks on her ear recently and Latino claimed it must have been an infection from my stinky feet. Clearly, nothing else could even remotely make sense.

Run, Lucy, Run!

In keeping with the spirit of the new year, Lucy has a resolution all her own. Well, in a way. She has begun a new exercise program, whether she likes it or not. It all began with her brush. To say that Lucy likes to be brushed is an understatement. She goes CRAZY at the sight of Latino or me reaching for what she seems to think is a magic massager. She even reacts to me saying "Brush!" It is a merely a rubber brush that fits over a hand like a mitt, and it has rubber bristles of varying sizes on either side.

Latino used to love watching me brush Lucy because she would act like she had died and gone to cat heaven. She makes little chirping noises. When I stop brushing her, she glances up at me as if to say, "You are not stopping yet." Latino says she doesn't want to believe the bliss could be over. He could only handle so much from the sidelines until he decided he needed to be a part of this game. He began holding up the brush just to see her reaction. He will start to brush her for a few seconds and then walk away. She follows at his heels and chirps like mad. He will brush her more and then turn around and walk back. This continues until Latino stops because I am certain Lucy would maintain this behavior all day if given the chance. This is entertaining to watch, but it also sparked an idea in my head.

Lucy's vet has indicated that she could use some additional physical activity to help with her tires (Latino's words, not the vet's). She recommended to find something that motivates Lucy to get her into shape. There does not exist in this world anything that motivates that cat as much as her brush. I began a daily activity of brushing her and then sprinting across the room to get her to run as well. This continues until I get tired because although I regularly jog 2-3 miles, I am not a sprinter. Ultimately, we all win. Lucy, Latino, and I all get more exercise. Latino just needs to pick up the pace.

Please view video at:   https://youtu.be/1nFQw0AmINs

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