Tucker is fully recovered from his surgery. He’s a little pickier about his soft-food now but other than that, he is well. How do I know? He’s been playing practical jokes on his siblings.
I have noticed two examples of this behaviour, one before the surgery and one after. It is a simple prank. The litter-boxes are located in a store-room, the door to which is always kept ajar. On two occasions, when a cat has gone into the store-room for the necessary event, Tucker has stationed himself behind the door. When the cat emerges, the roly poly one startles him or her, then runs off.
I first saw it done with Cammie. The princess doesn’t have a deep sense of humour. She knows how to enjoy herself but if she were human, laughter would not be her predominant activity. When she came out of the store-room, Tucker leaped at her, and though no contact was made, it caused Cammie to jerk back, flatten her ears and hiss violently. She thinks herself under attack even in the most benign circumstances, and this was not those. The prank nearly gave her a seizure. Tucker, however, gamboled off to the sitting room, well satisfied with his joke.
After his dental operation, Tucker recovered reasonably swiftly, and later that week, I observed Renn go to the litter-boxes. Tucker took up his place behind the door. My big boy’s reaction was not as jarring as Cammie’s, though he did jump a bit. This did not appear to appease the joker, for he lunged at Renn again a second or two later, effecting a verbal complaint from the big boy. This was good enough for Tucker, who then trotted away again, to chuckle over his misdeed.
I initially thought of remonstrating with the roly poly sausage over his conduct. But I knew it wouldn’t do any good. Besides, I am gone at least nine hours out of every workday. What I had witnessed surely had transpired during one of my absences. Yet I have not come home to blood and bodies. So the beasts are surviving Tucker’s antics. And I’ve seen both his victims get back at him in one form or another, so the universe retains its equilibrium. And I get a chuckle out of the joker.
Obviously the others, particularly Cammie, aren't so enthused by Tucker's "jokes." We wouldn't be either! (It probably would scare the you-know-what right out of Derry.)
ReplyDeleteAs for not coming home to blood and bodies...well, that's a good thing. :-D
It's great to hear that Tucker is feeling so much better. But sometimes behavior like he's exhibiting will cause the other cats to avoid using the litter box and they will do their business elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. I'll be discouraging Tucker from any more of this, at least around the litter-boxes.
DeleteExactly my thought. You can read articles about cats that suddenly stop using their boxes and the cause is usually determined to be something just like this. And from my own sad experience , it is very difficult to get a cat that's gone rogue ( so to speak) to use the box again with their previous regularity. Buy new, interesting, interactive toys for the boy but stop this if you can.
DeleteI had to chuckle at your description of Tucker behind the door because Annabelle does the same thing on the step up into the den to other cats and she also hides behind the curtain that leads out to the catio. I don't think she is undetectable but she truly surprises her brothers nevertheless and it is so cute to see her attached to the hip of them as they gallop away. She too is a little jokester!
ReplyDeleteWhat a stinker, I too would just be cautious that he doesn't cause some little box avoidance behavior in the others. Very glad that he is feeling much better and ornery!
ReplyDeleteFunny little creatures. You do wonder what they are thinking when they do little tricks like this.
ReplyDeleteMiss Pops has a trick of running inside and jumping on the bed to wake me up to tell me it is raining outside. Even though I have heard the rain all night, she thinks it is her job to tell me all about it, get me wet and then she curls up and goes back to sleep.