Table Trouble

I know that there are many of you out there who don't mind cats on your counters and tables. I know that there are many of you who think even if you don't allow it, that the cats get up there anyway. Around here, we've worked hard over the years at getting the cats to know that they do not belong on counters or tables.

I will admit this next bit only to you.... I know that they do get on the counters, but I prefer them to hide this fact from me because if I don't know, it's not gonna bother me. Don't tell Greg though! He believes they don't get up where they aren't supposed to! And I sure as heck ain't gonna be the one to tell him any different!

The broken curtain rod on the window who's only access is from the counter or stove? I have no idea how that happened! So the bend in the rod resembles a certain black cat's belly and there is black fur on the curtain, I'm sure the rod bent from age and the fur means I need to vacuum more.. (his name was Calvin, he was so well behaved, except for this one window thing)

Tongue prints in the butter? Can't be!

Paw prints in the kitchen sink? That must be a water spot from an odd shaped dish..

Someone knocked stuff off the counter? Must have been one of us..

Fur clumps on the stove? They had to have floated there on some freak indoor wind..

Someone keeps opening the curtains that I can't reach past the table? Huh, maybe the rod is just slippery. No, those are not claw pulls in the gauzy material..

Denial, not just a river in Egypt! That's my motto!

Now that I've set the stage, so to speak: Along came Leo. By the time he arrived our kitchen table was turned into a computer table. And even though Greg wanted the 'no cats on the table' rule to stay intact, I was a little more lenient. Mostly because I didn't have my laptop when he arrived and sat there a lot during the day and Leo loved to hang over my shoulder there. Then he'd slide down and boy, he got heavy so I'd rest my arm on the table, and before too long it was Leo resting on my wrist rest. I told him that if Greg caught us, Leo's new name was 'wrist' so he was allowed to rest there!

When it comes to the folding table that we actually use for dinner, I'm with Greg. I'm not crazy about the thought of kitty butts where we eat..

Tonight I glanced up from my laptop and saw this:

Scanning... hmm, no chicken. Rats

Before I digress into 'who could yell at that face to get down??' take a good look at that picture, there's a lot going on! Aside from the fact that it hasn't been wiped off yet, just ignore that please... Notice the double lasers glowing along the table, like he's trying to slice it in half. Notice the one fat paw on the table. There were two when I looked up, I think that was his attempt to show that he was not, in fact, on the table. There's the nose just below the edge, hidden at the same time the other paw went down.
There's the complete absence of his huge floofy tail! There's the fact that he's completely ignoring the feather behind him! There's his LONG tummy! And then there's the back feet!

Let's get a close up on those:

You can totally see the extra back toes! You usually can't that well, they're much less obvious than his front paws. They look like little hands standing there.. or as his front paws were once described, like little blooming onions!

Back to the subject. All I had to do was look at him and he knew to drop back down. What a good boy! I was proud of him, and saw no reason to wake Greg in his chair to share the experience of having such an obedient boy.

I gave him a good snuggling, then he went off to see if his snack had magically appeared. He does that several times a day. I went back to reading kitty blogs because I'm kind of addicted to them.. Don't tell anyone!

A little while later, not even half an hour! I heard a noise, looked up and saw this!!

Hey. How ya doin'?

Gasp! ON the table Leo? Right in front of me?? Say it ain't so! Say my boy wouldn't disobey so blatantly right in front of my face! While daddy's right in the room too?! Get your butt down from there!

Daddy's snoring. Besides, I can't get down. Princess HissyFace is chasing me again.

And she was. She was sitting right below him, not letting him get down. I told her to chill out and keep moving, but she ignored me and stared at him. He glanced at her and didn't move. Alright, I'll have to deal with this, "Star, stop being ornery and go play with your kick-a-roo!"

That did it. Not that she paid any attention, but it woke up Greg! He was all, "Hey, what's he doing on the table!" I told him that his baby girl was preventing him from getting down. He scoffed, "Come here, Star" She went. Leo got down. Whew!

Now we can go back to believing they don't get where they don't belong!