Before he met me, Yooper Stewart didn’t fully appreciate the joys of cat-ownership. Since we’ve been married, he’s not only learned to love the feline world, he’s added his very own YS touch to everything kitty cat.
His first influence – the name. I really wanted to get a second cat to keep our first cat company. Years ago my parents got a second cat and my dad got to name it. I made the same deal with YS – if he’d agree to another cat, he could name it. Knowing YS as I do, I didn’t actually give him free-reign over the cat name. I asked him to give me a list and we could pick out a winner together.
With a list that included such beauties as Butt Licker, Poo Slinger, and Dingleberry, it’s no surprise that our cat’s name is Bucket.
You’d think that name would be enough to set Bucket against YS for the rest of his life, but Bucket is a lover (and not too bright).
Bucket, enjoying the cool wood of my piano
YS is Bucket’s favorite person in the world. He even gets jealous when YS and I talk after being gone all day. You see, Bucket thinks he should be the first person YS talks to. If YS and I try to converse before Bucket has received adequate attention, he will meow only when I start talking. He’s a jealous, jealous boy.
One of Bucket’s favorite times of the days is Dental Hygiene Time. Many, many moons ago, YS thought it would be fun to let Bucket play with the dental floss after he finished flossing. That brilliant idea led to this:
Bucket, watching and waiting for the flossing to end.
Bucket recognizes the ZIP of the floss as you pull it out of the container. He usually follows us around, jumping onto counters and dressers to keep the floss in sight. YS decided to make it easier on Bucket, so they now sit on the floor together.
Just checking it out...
Midgie doesn’t care so much about the floss, but any time it looks like someone might be playing without her, she has to check it out. Once the floss is out, however, it’s all Bucket:
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that YS taught Bucket the fine are of floss-chasing. It’s kinda gross. It’s somewhat annoying. And it’s the best explanation I have as to why there’s dental floss all over the floor.
I’m not going to try to explain how the Floss Fight works. I’ll let you watch it for yourself. Notice Midgie’s excitement (it mimic’s my own). (Please excuse the mess – we were packing to head out of town).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEQcgJQfm-8]