Tuesday, March 8, 2022

A Surprise Gift for Minuet

Minuet received a surprise yesterday: a new, custom-made cat-tree.


As readers may recall, Madame likes to view the world from the top of the bookcases in the library. She also enjoys snoozing there, especially on the carpeted top of the low bookcase under the window. She ascended to these heights via the back of the couch. However, I couldn’t think that this was a comfortable means of travel for her old joints. The descent, which relied heavily on gravity, must have been particularly jarring to aged bones.



So I had a cat-tree made that would take her years into consideration. The platforms are only six inches apart, rather than the usual nine to eleven. Consequently, there are more than on the average tree. I thought this would assist her climbing. It has been placed between the couch and the bookcases and, as may be observed, allows easy access both to the lower and higher cases.



The important thing now is to get Minuet to use her new furniture / tool. This may have been aided, inadvertently, by youth; Auric, to be precise. He continues to try to invade the library (principally because he’s told he shouldn’t, I imagine.) Because Min must meet the residents sooner or later, I have been allowing them to penetrate her sanctum, under supervision. This morning, Auric nimbly climbed the new cat-tree and stepped off on to the bookcases.



This angered Minuet, who yelled and bawled at him. After a minute, I did remove the youngster, but I noticed that, after his departure, Min continued to stare at the cat-tree, where she had seen the offending cat. She stared at it for almost a minute, perhaps not noticing its height before. Twenty minutes later, I passed the open door of the library and noticed Minuet on one of the bookcases. She may have used, as in the past, the arm and back of the couch for part of her climb but, because of the tree’s placement, there is no way she could have simply stepped off the couch onto a bookcase. She needed, at least for part of the journey, to use the tree. The thought of using it at all was the first step, and she seems to have taken it.



Another worry was that Minuet, who is heavier than she should be and consequently a little bulky, might not be able to negotiate the twisting of the steps. But Renn also visited the library and investigated the new tree. Though much thinner than he once was, my big boy is still long, and had no trouble climbing the tree.


A beginning has been made. With time, I think Minuet will use the tree habitually, and her life in the Cosy Apartment will be a little easier.

16 comments:

  1. I adore this Minuet's new cat climb!
    It looks nicely sturdy too.
    She'll get the hang of it, we have no doubt.

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  2. The tree looks terrific. Min will definitely benefit from the shorter
    distance steps. Maybe having seen the boys on it and smell their
    scent left behind will make her determined to keep the tree for
    herself only.

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  3. The tree looks lovely. It does look as if Minuet has used it to get to the top of her favourite book case. Even if she doesn't sleep on the tree, she now has easier access to a favourite place.

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  4. "This angered Minuet, who yelled and bawled at him."

    Translation: "Hey, kid, get off my lawn!"

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  5. What a wonderful surprise for Minuet, and what a thoughtful gift you've given her, John. I'm sure once she realizes how much easier it is to climb to the bookcase via the new cat tree, she'll love using it. Perhaps
    sprinkling some catnip on it will encourage her to use it more quickly.

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  6. What a wonderful surprise! I know within a few days you WILL see her climbing the tree! Thank you on her behalf. And I know the boys are grateful too! Love what Undine said!

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  7. That's terrific! I'm impressed you had that made so quickly. I hope Minuet takes to it easily and quickly. If she likes catnip, Roberta's idea of sprinkling some on it is a good one.

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  8. That is one great cat tree! How lovely you had the steps built close together. I wonder how Renn felt using it? I assume he got bawled at too?!!!

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    1. He did, but not to the same extent. I think Min allows him some leeway as a fellow senior.

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  9. Oh wow, that is awesome! Minuet is going to love it in a few days!

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  10. That is an awesome tree! Purr-fect for Minuet's needs. Maybe she'll even rest on the various platforms.

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  11. my stars minuet that tree is amazing even more so than 20 of the latest handbags now on sale on Milan and I daresay that once you become accustomed to the elevator type resting spots that you indeed tell the BOYS that they are NOT purrmitted to climb it as you do not now or want in the future their cooteez with hugs from dai$y queen of the run on sentence =^..*= and tell your dad to stay away from it as well because he knows why we say so as it must weigh 100 pounds ♥♥

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  12. So very kind of you John, to ensure Minuet can climb to her favorite perch. I'm sure she'll get lots of use out it as will the others who follow her.

    I love that she's so feisty with Auric. Lots of life in her yet.

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  13. She looks so content, I think the cat tree is a hit!

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