Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The Tale of the Missing Early Warning Alert System

Millie has an early warning alert system that lets her know that Sam is nearby.  Sam's collar has a bell, his city tag, his Operation Kindness tag and his pet chip tag.  Altogether, they make a nice jingle but it does get kinda confusing around Christmas with so many other jingles!

Sam's collar was removed the other day as he was laying beside me and I realized his collar was getting too tight (for me not for him).  He wears a very masculine leather collar to match his personality - with a household of girls, he deserves a tiny bit of masculinity don't you think?

At any rate, I didn't want it to become so tight that it left a ring around his neck.  Millie's collar had been so tight that when I got her, she had some sore spots that were still healing from when the shelter got her.  They both love it when that area under a collar or where the collar is supposed to be is rubbed - it's like catnip!  Lots of purring.

So now Sam is collarless AND Millie's early warning alert system is gone.  She can't hear his bell to warn her when he's trying to sneak up on her.   When she's on my bed, she can just watch for his tail like she always has.  But anywhere else - well - that's another story.  Of course she can hear him under the bed as he loves to play with the occasional hanging thread (so how do those appear out of nowhere?) or play with the sideboards or just play when I spot him hiding under the bed and tickle him.   And yes, I listen for him as well.

They've done well since the early warning alert system is gone so I guess I really didn't need to get up out of bed and order him a new collar.  It has been funny to watch Millie come into the room and double and triple check all hiding places before she moves on.   It's really entertaining to see Millie on 1 side of the couch and Sam on the other side both trying to determine what the other is about to do - otherwise, how else would you know where to pounce?

He's not getting another leather collar - they are really too stiff and I was getting a dog collar anyway (BUT DON"T tell him that!).  Sam doesn't like collars except to chew on them so that's why I switched to leather collars - otherwise, he was getting a new collar every few months. Stretchy stuff is too easy to stretch and chew. Hmmm, I wonder if that's really why they make cat collars stretchy - so you have to replace them all the time?  At any rate, removing and putting on a new collar take way too much energy and stress .... for me.

Sam and Millie don't go outside this time of year as I fear the pollen and mold and other stuff they will bring back with them into the house.

And lastly, but not leastly, they are both chipped.  But not through the same place, I think that is ridiculous and I didn't realize there were so many pet chipping companies that can't use the same equipment to read the chips.  But that's another tale for another day.

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