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Leopolde or Houdini
May. 6th, 2008 12:19 pmI think we may have misnamed Leo... Let's go back, shall we?
In 1997 I adopted one Sasha Allen Fogg (5 weeks old at the time, adopted from Midland County Animal Control). She was an evil kitten- but cuteness kept her alive. She used to get the cutest little mohawk on the top of her head, just between the ears, right before going batshit crazy. Ask Mrs.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dagoski if you don't believe me. Ooh, and I think I have a blurry picture of it too... Anyhow, Sasha mellowed as she aged- thank God! Her food was kept in a Tupperware container on top of the fridge. It was safe there because after her initial kittenhood, she was pretty good about not going on counters.
In the last 10 years Sasha and I have had several roommates, and several animal roommates. Through it all I kept the same Tupperware food container, and measuring cup, for her food.
In 2004 the Beau (future DH) and I adopted one Leo (at 1 year old from Capitol Area Humane Society) - who we called Leopolde Allen Fogg. (the Allen bit is a long story that goes back to childhood, and yeah...) Within a month of living with us- the Tupperware container got knocked off the top of the fridge at least twice. I had been used to coming home to OMGSTARVING!!! cats. When I came home from work and was greeted with a mere 'Mew?' I worried. Then I spotted the kibble all over the kitchen floor. I cleaned it up- and those little bastards had the audacity to ASK FOR FOOD!! I disappointed them.
A month later and I was shopping for new Tupperware as the old one finally broke after one too many falls from the top of the fridge. Much sadness. New Tupperware was placed in a cabinet, that Leo figured out how to get into. Then we moved it to the bathroom closet, it had a metal folding door (it seemed like a good idea). This worked for awhile- except the new bags of food couldn't fully be emptied into the new Tupperware. The partially full bags enticed Leopolde, Crown Prince of Chaos, and he figured out how to open the folding door of the closet. So we began to wedge it shut (amazingly a particular cat comb was just the right size to wedge between the door and the wall...). Again, a solution that worked. Temporarily. Within a couple months he had figured out how to pop the door open, despite the wedge. So we opted to try to put something heavy in front of the door, thinking that would stop him. Again, this worked. Temporarily.
Leo had been doing his little kitty push-ups, as he was eventually able to shift the Dyson we had blocking the door. The Dyson weighs just shy of 20 lbs. Leo weighs maybe 11.5 lbs... From that point on the remainder of the food in the bags had to be put in our closet as it was the only door in the apartment (other than the bedroom doors) that has a doorknob. He hasn't managed to figure those out yet.
But further... Our apartment is a little odd, the second bedroom (aka Leo's Room) has a sliding glass door that leads into the living room. It's weird, and neat at the same time. So when you walk in to the apartment, the living room is on the right, and the far right wall has the sliding glass door. If open all the way it makes the living room seem bigger. This room is called Leo's Room because that's where he spends the night. He won't sleep through the night, will wake up, get bored and look for stuff to do. Stuff that usually makes noise, or makes Sasha growl. Sasha WILL sleep through the night, and has seniority, so she gets to stay with us on the bed and Leo has his own room. FYI- he had food, water, litter box, and a ton of toys and sleeping spots. It's not torture by any means. ;)
A day or so ago, I came home from work, hubby was napping, and he asked me why I let Leo out of his room. Except I hadn't let Leo out... Apparently Leo has figured out how to open the sliding glass door. We weren't sure until last night when we were putting the kids to bed. Leo got fed in his room- and all the doors were shut. Five minutes later Leo is out with us, wandering around, the sliding glass door barely opened. We currently have a huge stack of nursing school books keeping the sliding glass door shut- but it's probably only a stop-gap measure...
I think we're in trouble. If he ever learns how to open door knobs it'll be all over.
Edited PS- I'm SO glad we didn't have Leo as a kitten... I'm sure his behavior was even worse, and I'm not sure cuteness would have saved him. ;)
In 1997 I adopted one Sasha Allen Fogg (5 weeks old at the time, adopted from Midland County Animal Control). She was an evil kitten- but cuteness kept her alive. She used to get the cutest little mohawk on the top of her head, just between the ears, right before going batshit crazy. Ask Mrs.
dagoski if you don't believe me. Ooh, and I think I have a blurry picture of it too... Anyhow, Sasha mellowed as she aged- thank God! Her food was kept in a Tupperware container on top of the fridge. It was safe there because after her initial kittenhood, she was pretty good about not going on counters. In the last 10 years Sasha and I have had several roommates, and several animal roommates. Through it all I kept the same Tupperware food container, and measuring cup, for her food.
In 2004 the Beau (future DH) and I adopted one Leo (at 1 year old from Capitol Area Humane Society) - who we called Leopolde Allen Fogg. (the Allen bit is a long story that goes back to childhood, and yeah...) Within a month of living with us- the Tupperware container got knocked off the top of the fridge at least twice. I had been used to coming home to OMGSTARVING!!! cats. When I came home from work and was greeted with a mere 'Mew?' I worried. Then I spotted the kibble all over the kitchen floor. I cleaned it up- and those little bastards had the audacity to ASK FOR FOOD!! I disappointed them.
A month later and I was shopping for new Tupperware as the old one finally broke after one too many falls from the top of the fridge. Much sadness. New Tupperware was placed in a cabinet, that Leo figured out how to get into. Then we moved it to the bathroom closet, it had a metal folding door (it seemed like a good idea). This worked for awhile- except the new bags of food couldn't fully be emptied into the new Tupperware. The partially full bags enticed Leopolde, Crown Prince of Chaos, and he figured out how to open the folding door of the closet. So we began to wedge it shut (amazingly a particular cat comb was just the right size to wedge between the door and the wall...). Again, a solution that worked. Temporarily. Within a couple months he had figured out how to pop the door open, despite the wedge. So we opted to try to put something heavy in front of the door, thinking that would stop him. Again, this worked. Temporarily.
Leo had been doing his little kitty push-ups, as he was eventually able to shift the Dyson we had blocking the door. The Dyson weighs just shy of 20 lbs. Leo weighs maybe 11.5 lbs... From that point on the remainder of the food in the bags had to be put in our closet as it was the only door in the apartment (other than the bedroom doors) that has a doorknob. He hasn't managed to figure those out yet.
But further... Our apartment is a little odd, the second bedroom (aka Leo's Room) has a sliding glass door that leads into the living room. It's weird, and neat at the same time. So when you walk in to the apartment, the living room is on the right, and the far right wall has the sliding glass door. If open all the way it makes the living room seem bigger. This room is called Leo's Room because that's where he spends the night. He won't sleep through the night, will wake up, get bored and look for stuff to do. Stuff that usually makes noise, or makes Sasha growl. Sasha WILL sleep through the night, and has seniority, so she gets to stay with us on the bed and Leo has his own room. FYI- he had food, water, litter box, and a ton of toys and sleeping spots. It's not torture by any means. ;)
A day or so ago, I came home from work, hubby was napping, and he asked me why I let Leo out of his room. Except I hadn't let Leo out... Apparently Leo has figured out how to open the sliding glass door. We weren't sure until last night when we were putting the kids to bed. Leo got fed in his room- and all the doors were shut. Five minutes later Leo is out with us, wandering around, the sliding glass door barely opened. We currently have a huge stack of nursing school books keeping the sliding glass door shut- but it's probably only a stop-gap measure...
I think we're in trouble. If he ever learns how to open door knobs it'll be all over.
Edited PS- I'm SO glad we didn't have Leo as a kitten... I'm sure his behavior was even worse, and I'm not sure cuteness would have saved him. ;)
