Smokey in action

posted by Cinda for all the cat-lovers and/or Grandparents reading this

Smokey decided to put his extra energy to good use this week.  In the first two photos he’s helping/supervising as Toby tackles the litterbox job.  The cat can actually balance on the edge of his litter box — is that normal?  We think he might be exceptionally talented as well as being exceptionally malicious . . . but it’s maybe just an excuse for keeping him around even though he drives us crazy.  He reminds us of that rhyme of the little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.  When she was good, she was really, really good, and when she was bad she was horrid.  One minute he’s cuddly and purring, and the next minute he slices your hand open with his talons or pierces a toe with his needle-like baby teeth.  We’ve all improved on our reflexes and running speed a lot since Smokey came to live with us.  You should see us run across the room and dive into bed after we remove our socks at night.  This is a cat who desperately needs some mice to chase but for now he has to settle for the dust mop.  

This afternoon he decided to help out with cleaning the kitchen sink and counters after Toby left the step stool by the sink.  Really he just wanted to attack the dish cloth, but it LOOKED like he was being helpful.  He is a cute kitten, but we definitely miss our big lazy labrador!  We are very thankful for the joy Annika and Toby get from having Smokey around and for the great lessons they are learning from caring for a pet (and improved speed and agility).  Even Mark likes having the cat around, though if you ask him he will probably deny it!