Diamond Takes A Holiday

My name is Diamond. I’m a handsome, pampered, black and white cat with a diamond shape on my nose. An indoor cat, I live with my sister, Dallas, a dog named Vimy, and my master, Jim. We all get along. Vimy, at times, can be a pain because she craves cat food, and looks for every opportunity to wolf it down, unless Jim catches her in the act and reprimands her. She sometimes causes us to go hungry. It doesn’t do any good to scold her as she awaits the very next opportunity to gobble down our meal whenever Jim turns his back.

Morning comes early at Jim’s house. Vimy never disturbs the peace and sleeps on when 6:00 a.m. rolls around. But Dallas and I sense immediately when Jim wakes up and so climb on the bed to greet him by purring and licking his face. As soon as Jim is dressed we race him down the stairs and stand around our food dishes meowing to be fed. But Jim has to make his coffee first, and then he feeds us. Vimy follows later and heads for her dish. After that we help Jim read the paper and do the crossword by climbing all over him and the newspaper.

Soon we settle down to a day of varied activity, catching flies, exploring the house, or viewing with intense curiosity the great outdoors from our perch on the many window sills in the sunroom. Birds and squirrels that come to feed in the backyard are fascinating to watch, especially when they are within inches of our noses as they grab peanuts from the back deck. Pesky squirrels think nothing of standing upright against the screen to stare right into our faces. The only thing that separates us from a squirrel luncheon is a flimsy window screen. But, on second thought, I don’t fancy eating one.

Because we have the run of the house we can wander anywhere, sleep anywhere, or climb anywhere we want. We have a secret hiding place in the basement when other humans enter our house. The doorbell is the signal for us to race for the basement and our secret hiding place. There are many cozy places to sleep, but my favourite is atop the bookcase in the sunroom. If cool breezes are blowing Jim opens all the sunroom windows. I love the glorious breeze that blows through the windows as I press my nose against the screen. Someone recently coined the word, “catio” for indoor cats that like this “screened in” sensation of being outside. And so Jim’s sunroom is our very own spacious catio.

As mentioned, I’m stuck indoors, apparently for my own safety, but I hate being shut in all the time. And so, I have this little game that I play when Jim opens the front door. I stand behind him, out of sight, and when the door opens I race out. I don’t go far, as Jim pursues me and shoos me back indoors. Jim’s hose with the nozzle turned to “Jet” usually does the trick.