THE FIXING OF MISS CLEOPATRA

 

  Today was a great day for Grandma and Grandpa.  They finally caught Cleopatra and took her to the vet to be spayed.  Great day is an understatement. To understand how great a day it was one must take a quick review of the occupation of little Miss Cleopatra alias Mischief.

  She was a very young and scared feral kitten when she first met the family.  No one could get close to her.  She was captured in a cat carrying case and taken for blood work to prove she was healthy enough to join the family and Pepe. 

She proved healthy and became a member of the family. She drove Poor Mr. Pepe crazy with her constant harassment of him.  Her screaming was another troublesome thing. She eventually allowed and Grandpa to stroke her when and only when she was on the couch.  Any other attempt to touch her led to instance disappearance.

  She would scream throughout most of the night.  It was time to get her fixed.

  That’s when the fun began.  Grandpa had the task to catch her.  Grandpa and Mischief were locked in a spare bedroom.  After about two hours of Grandpa trying to throw a blanket on her he grabbed her in his right hand.  Remember she only weighs about 6 pounds.  She clawed and bit poor old Grandpa.  Not to worry.  Grandpa has trained himself in his business to endure pain and not drop things.  But little Mischief squirmed out of his hold and was gone again.  After many hours Grandpa caught her in a blanket.  It was than off to the vet.

  Blood work proved she was healthy enough for the operation.  Only problem was now they had to catch her again for a 7:30 Thursday meeting with the vet.  That would not be too difficult.  She still trusted Grandpa enough to allow him to pet her while she was on the couch.  All Grandpa had to do now was to lull he to sleep than throw a towel over her.  Well the start of the plan proved easy.  Grandpa watched her as her eyes closed.  A quick snap of Grandpas hand with a towel in it was made.  Now Grandpa still has fast hands but they were no match for the speed of Mischief scooting out from under the towel into her freedom.

  Now the chase was on throughout the entire house.  The back of the couch was blocked.  So Grandma and Grandpa chased her for two hours.  She would run under the dining table.  Grandma would move her out with a broom.  She would run into the living room as Grandpa tried to throw a blanket on her.  Then it was back into the dining room.  This merry chase went on until it was too late to catch her for the vet appointment.

  A rescheduled appointment was made for the following Tuesday morning.  The vet suggested getting her enclosed in the bathroom where it would be easier to cover her with a blanket.  Great idea.

  Grandma started feeding her in the bathroom on Sunday night.  It should be easy to close her in the bathroom.  Than on Tuesday morning Grandpa could slip in and throw a blanket on her and then it would be off to the vet.  No more crying all night long.  No more hassling poor Mr. Pepe. 

  Monday night the final plan was started. Grandma had led he into the bathroom and put the food down.  Mischief started to eat.  Before Grandma could sneak out of the bathroom Mischief was out and running again.

  Little Mischief was now alert to the new plans.  She would not go near the bathroom.  She would not go near Grandpa on the couch.

  Mischief was chased around the house for another several hours before the sleeping shades were pulled down.  A very bad night for sleep was had by all.  Mischief screamed all night long.  Grandpa was awake most of the night thinking of ways to catch her one last time.

  A brilliant plan was concocted by Grandpa.  He remembered he has several 3 x 4 foot display boards stored in his workshop.  They were part of a plan a lady had paid a landscape company to develop to convert some of the property to native landscape. They were the presentation boards the Company would use to show the plan to the members.  The plan was never presented and Grandpa inherited the boards.

   The plan was to use the boards to block off access to most of the house so that Mischief could be channeled into the bathroom.  One of the boards was wide enough to block the hall once Mischied entered it. She could then be forced into the bthroom.

  The plan was working well.  Mischief was contained in the kitchen with a route down the hall into the bathroom.

  Mischief amazed Grandma and Grandpa. Mischief jumped up on the stove where Grandma started petting her.  Grandpa with gloves on snuck up on her and threw a towel over her.  He had her now.  Grandma placed the traveling case in front of her and Grandpa guided her in.  They had her.  All they would have to do is wait for two hours before taking her to meet the Vet appointment.

  She went through the operation with flying colors.  The vet said he gave her a shot for pain that would last around 24 hours. 

  She would be groggy and would probably sleep for a while.

  The Vet obviously did not know Mischief very well.  For the first eight hours upon arriving home she walked through the whole house, jumped all over Pepe and chased her toy balls around.  She showed no sign of being operate on.  So far one good thing has become apparent.  She no longer screams. 

  She finally settled down at around 10:00PM.

  She disappears whenever Grandpa moves within eyesight of her.  It will be a long time before she accepts him again.

  Hopefully Grandpa and Grandma will get some well deserved shuteye.

  There you have another great paper written by the MELVIN ZWICK the Great.  Great what you ask. Just GREAT.