Saturday, July 21, 2018

Bravery, and Its Limits



Wednesday night this past week, we had a tremendous thunder-storm here; in fact, we had two, or one that re-charged itself and came back. The first lasted a long time for such storms, about an hour and a half, with lightning and thunder throughout, and a downpour of rain. I have written about the beasts’ reactions to thunder previously, but things have changed a little.

Cammie is less inclined to hide during a storm. I suspect that she is still frightened of such meteorological upheavals, but she shows it less. Last night, she didn’t seek shelter from the storm until it was half over. Then it seemed to prove too much for her. But she came out again soon afterward, bravely lying on her towel by my desk in the bedroom. However, a particularly loud burst of thunder, the sort that rattles panes in window-frames, sent her under the bed.


Renn, despite his size, is not a combatant. He prefers to crouch behind the bed, with either his head or just his nose under it. When I talk encouragingly to him, he stands up and walks about with his tail up and his back arched. He’s not afraid - until I stop talking to him.


Tucker remained in the open, but wary. The roly poly apparently put up a toy as a small barricade, just in case the thunder broke into the house.


Josie was largely untroubled, and when the big bang of thunder shook the building, she ran out into the sitting room, as if to question what was going on. She never did hide, though.


And Parker… My orange-boy didn’t even acknowledge the storm. It was almost his bed-time, which meant a snack before retiring. His mind was entirely upon that. The apartment could have been inundated with lava, and Puck’s principal worry would have been that it would cut him off from his food-bowl.


I like thunder-storms, especially at night. I always have. But now I find that I spend them walking among the cats, telling them that everything is all right, that what they hear is just noise, and that nothing will hurt them. I don’t think they believe me, really. And Parker thinks such encouragement is distracting me from giving him his food.

11 comments:

  1. Like you, I like thunderstorms - as long as I'm home! But like Cammie, Renn, and Tucker my cats aren't crazy about them. One of my previous cats, Logan, loved them. He would sit on the windowsill and watch the lightening. Maybe he thought someone was setting off fireworks just for him.

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  2. Unlike you, I'm the one who's afraid of thunderstorms. Nicki and Derry have pretty much the same attitude as Parker. :-D

    BTW, I love Tucker's protective barricade!

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  3. None of us really mind the thunderboomers. Funny though, Simon gets scared and hides if anyone on the block mows their yard.

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  4. Miss Pops is in Parkers camp. Sometimes she runs outside - if she needs the bathroom nothing puts her off. I like the sound of strong rain and thunder at night, but get annoyed when it destroys my sleep.

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  5. I am afraid of thunderstorms and always have been. I know it is a silly fear but I can't help myself. At the first rumble everything electrical gets disconnected and the curtains closed. I used to get into bed and hide under the covers, and Flynn would join me there. As with fireworks, Eric used to love to sit in the window and watch it. Nothing seemed to ever scare him. I have been away for just over 2 weeks so have not been commenting. I will try and catch up where I can.

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    1. Don't worry about not commenting on my blog. I hope everything is going well for you there.

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  6. Miss Katie used to be easy about them until we had one tremendous crack of thunder that accompanied a bolt of lightening extremely near the house 4 yrs. ago. Before that, would only lie under the dining table calmly. Now, after a few loud thunder sounds, she retires to the safety of my bedroom UTB.

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  7. Holly doesn't mind the storms now - she might twitch her ears a bit as if annoyed by the loud sounds. What she really does not like is the vacuum cleaner. This morning it was cleaning day - and out came the vacuum cleaner. She immediately hit under the bed until the machine tried to clean under the bed. But once the task was done she came out as if nothing had acted as if nothing had happened.

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  8. I love rain storms especially those with thunder and lightning. Oh yes, especially lightening.
    I must appear a terrible klutz to my cats because when the thunder booms, for some ungodly reason the cats run....to their bowls and wait to see if something more appealing that what is in there is added! It’s the oddest thing. I’ve never thought I was particularly heavy on my feet.

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  9. In general, the cats here are much like Parker as they tend not to pay attention to the storm unless the strike and ensuing thunder is enough to shake the house. Sasha does tend to head for the basement but the other two are quite content to hang out wherever I happen to be.

    Eileen

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  10. I love thunderstorms too, and it seems that we've had some really fantastic cloud patterns all year. I've been driving to work, but pulled over on the shoulder just to snap some photos! Da Boyz couldn't care less, but Angel hides and won't be consoled by anything. We've just revamped The Cat Hotel for The 'O' Cats just to make sure water (or snow) stays off the shelter, but leaves The PO'M and Sweetie a way to look out. I worry about them outside, and I won't be 100% pleased until they either move inside with me...or I move outside with them!

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