It Had to Happen

Before we took the weekend trip to Hot Springs, I read other people’s tips and tricks for traveling with cats. Nothing I read was especially helpful. Put a harness on either of my cats and they fall over sideways. Using a harness to corral them wasn't going to be an option. Most people offering tips suggested that you didn't want your cat to have anything to eat or drink about two hours before leaving. I didn't see that happening, either. And let's remember that they are not dogs. You can't demand that they relieve themselves. Still, the trip to Hot Springs was fairly easy. They rode in the back of the Jeep in their carriers. There wasn’t really much need to provide food and potty opportunities because it was a relatively short trip.

This trip was different. We'd be traveling for at least two or three days.  We got through the first day just fine. Perhaps they were scared shitless. Literally. On day two we had a problem. We were cruising along when Heidi started to get really vocal. I tried to soothe her with words, but she just kept on so I did what any cat mom does - I let her out of the carrier. She jumped up and looked out the window in the back. Then she jumped up on my lap and looked out my window. After a bit of looking around everywhere she went into the back seat and picked her spot. The spot of choice was Mark’s old blue Sun Microsystems canvas briefcase. It's what we use to keep laptops, ipads, chargers, flash drives and all electronic gear from going astray. It was sitting on the floor behind the driver's seat.

When I saw what she was going to do, I told Mark. He wanted me to “stop” her. Really?? How was I supposed to do that? Sorry, but once that process gets started, you can’t stop man nor beast. She pooped on the bag. To give credit where credit is due, everything inside the bag was protected. Nothing got stinky. Nothing got wet. (Sun Microsystems did give away some top quality items!) Bottom line, it wasn’t Heidi’s fault. It was our fault. We didn’t provide a suitable place for her to potty and If you don’t provide a place, the cat will choose one. It will not be the place you would choose and you probably won’t like it. And she did do her best to tell me.

As soon as we could find a rest area, we set the litter box up in the back of the Jeep and opened both carriers so they could move about freely and use the box whenever they wanted to. A much better arrangement. I cleaned the briefcase and sprayed it with disinfectant. While I couldn’t smell anything on it, I’m sure that Heidi and Harry could. Harry kept nosing around sniffing it. It would never be safe again and so ended its useful life in a dumpster in Illinois. The backpack that replaced it is less than satisfactory. We have been unable to keep track of our chargers since we lost that bag and are now in the market for a new one. Anyone know where  I can fine one of those old, Navy blue Sun bags?