The Trouble Update

	By Lauren Pettit
Trouble E-mail	Return to Check out my latest endeavor
	Trouble the Movie: If you have a fast connection take a gander at Trouble in action. Nicknames Trouble has earned a variety of nicknames during the past year. "Slurpee"- For those ridiculous loud noises she makes when she cleans her fur. "Chair Snake" & "Weasel"- Even though she has her own chair in our office, the biggest, most comfortable and expensive one, she will often steal one of our chairs when we get up. "Crash" & "Sprawl"- Because she sleeps so much. "A Baker's Cat"- For her kneading. "Creepy-Crawler"- For how she slowly slinks & sneaks off your lap to get away when she's had enough. "Access"- Because she has to get into everything and everywhere. Like cabinets, closets and file drawers. "Houdini"- For learning how to break into the library at night and various cabinets. "Dragster"- Daniel says her hind end and legs make her look like a dragster when she lays upright on the floor. "Scream Monkey"- She turns into one everyday at 6am. "Sleaze Monkey"- For how she stretches out on her back for you when you brush her. "Trouble Bubble"- For being such a brave and good little bath-taker. "Double Trouble" - Self explanatory "Orca, Penguin, Panda, Shamu, Pussycow & Picasso Face"- For her beautiful black and white coloring. "Vampire"- For those nasty fangs of hers, and how she holds her mouth open when she's doing some serious sniffing. "Hyperlink & Skitters" - She has been a very hyper-active cat lately, playing and running all over the house. "Hermit Crab" - She burrows under her grocery bag and then slinks around with it sitting on top of her! "Pill Bug" - For how she curls up in a tight little ball sometimes when she sleeps. "Pele" - Daniel christened her with this one for her soccer playing abilities.
	May 1998
	Trouble The Destroyer She has taken to chewing up and eating all kinds of paper and cardboard boxes. She rips up magazine and catalog covers like a dog. She chews on the computer and telephone cords in the office in spite of our repeated shouts of "NO!" She has no accessible push pins here, but she tries to pull the buttons off my nightgown with her teeth when I cuddle her at night. I push her mouth away from one, and she immediately dives for another one and clamps her teeth on it.
	Trouble The Explorer She loves the sound of running water. When I take a shower, I leave the door and the shower curtain a little open. She comes in and sits outside the shower waiting for me. She puts her paws up onto the edge of the tub and looks in and meows at me. I expect she might just hop into the shower with me any day now! I sing to her and imitate her meows and she gets all excited and meows like crazy!
	The Mystery of the Ball Trouble has this catnip filled "tennis ball" that she loves. She rarely plays with it in front of us, but almost every night she brings it upstairs and we can't figure out how! She gets so noisy, it sounds like she's playing handball with it against our bedroom door. We're thinking of setting up a video camera to see if she puts it in her mouth or whacks it up the stairs like a soccer ball. Other Trouble Toys & Trouble at Play She also likes to play with the plastic Pepsi bottle caps. Sometimes she will reach into her toy box and take one out with her mouth. We got her a Motor Mouse motorized cat toy. She doesn't appear to play with it that much any more, but we leave it out all the time because as you can see in the picture, she sure loves to sit on it! She still boxes. We only do it through the stair banister so she can't bite us. She smacks your hand so hard with her paw it makes a really loud noise! She loves shoes. She likes to stick her paws inside them, roll her back on top of them, and rub her scent with her face all over them. She lays on them too. At least she doesn't eat them. But she has tried to pull the tassels off my husband's loafers.
	Taking Care of Trouble After going without a bath all winter, she just had her first spring bath. She is still one of the best and bravest little bath-taking cats I have ever bathed (I used to work for a groomer). She is amazing. She can get used to anything. She hardly cries. She just sits there like a dog, even though I soak her a whole 10 minutes with the shampoo. She only makes occasional and slow attempts to escape. I don't have a sprayer, so I put her in the tub and use a plastic cup and a bucket of water to wet her down. To rinse her underneath, I dunk her whole lower half in the bucket at least twice. She doesn't like it, but she puts up with it. She's pretty calm during the whole process and curious. She sniffs and checks out the cup and the bucket. She actually even licked me while I was bathing her this time. We're working on the blow dryer now. She went absolutely ballistic the first time I tried to use one on her. Now, I can get it one foot from her on high with her still calm.
	We have our morning brushing ritual. At first, she bit me and the brush and fought me big-time. Now, she just sees me with the brushes or hears them clanking together and she comes running. I can flip her on her back and brush her tummy and she will stretch out for me. She only bites the brush now to say,"Hey! You stopped brushing my face! Do my face!" My dental hygienist, who is also a cat lover, gave me a child's toothbrush for Trouble. So we've been working on tooth brushing. I thought she might like it since she loves to have the sides of her mouth rubbed. I can get her teeth brushed, but she still fights me sometimes. She seems to like the poultry-flavored toothpaste I got for her. I left it on the bathroom counter one day and twice it mysteriously ended up on the floor and in another room.
	Fat Cat The food I put her on when I first got her that was supposed to be so good for her skin and coat, was apparently too much for her metabolism, according to her Vet. So she got fat. She's on a diet now, supervised by her Vet, and she's lost a pound or a pound & 1/2. She now weighs 12 lbs. and is supposed to get down to 10 or 11. I think she's giving us subtle hints that she's sick of being on a diet. We are starting to have a problem with Trouble finding her food bag at night, dragging it off the shelf, and ripping it open like a dog. Every time I think I have it up high enough or that the plastic is too tough for her to chew through, she proves me wrong. I think it is time for Tupperware. Knowing Trouble, she will probably learn how to get into it, close the lid behind her, and even "burp" it!
	Cornering When Trouble is not sleeping, licking, or eating, she spends much of her time in search of "a good corner". Everything in the house is potentially a good corner for her to scratch the sides of her face against. I also spend a good deal of my time scratching this spot for her.
	Trouble the Baby She is my constant companion. Since I work at home and am there so much, she is usually always with me at least hanging out in the office. Every so often, she comes and jumps on my lap to visit and get cat hair all over the computer keyboard. She complains profusely at night when we lock her out of our bedroom. She makes the most pitiful, heart-wrenching cries. Then she sticks her paws under the door and rattles it so hard it sounds like someone is pounding on the door! She does this at various intervals during the night and usually wakes me up around 6am. I let her in so she will shut up and she sleeps on the folded comforter on the floor. I can hear her little snores. Sometimes I feel like I have an infant in the house. Sometimes her cries just get to me, so I get up during the night and cuddle her. She still has this infantile habit of sucking like a nursing kitten on my clothes when she's happy. So I end up with this big wet spot of kitty spit on my nightgown. I just don't have it in me to train her off the habit. It just seems to make her so deliriously happy, and she's real determined to do it. One time, I was sick and all I could do was lay on the couch. She jumped on top of me and started kneading on me and sucking on my sleeve. I felt like I was being eaten by a vulture!
	Musical Cat Trouble does not always come when I call her, but if I sing, she comes to me almost every time and jumps on my lap. She seems to like it when I sing. If I am in another room singing she'll come and meow and sing with me. Occasionally, if I hit just the right notes, she'll jump up on me and lick my face. Those are the moments I live for. Here are a few songs I wrote that I sing to her. To the tune of "My God Is An Awesome God." "My cat is an awesome cat She reigns in our little townhouse She sits on top of her Motor Mouse My cat is an awesome cat My cat is an awesome cat She brings her ball upstairs She chews magazines and she doesn't care My cat is an awesome cat My cat is an awesome cat She jumps on the windowsill She looks like a boy But she acts like a girl My cat is an awesome cat" This is an R&B tune: "My name is Trouble And I'm a cat 'n a half I'm a girl with a moustache But you better not laugh! 'Cause I'm Trouble Piss me off and I'll bite Yeah, I crash all day And make a ruckus all night Scratch my head And I'll suck on your clothes But how I get that ball upstairs Nobody knows! 'Cause I'm a kitty That's K-I-T-T-Y And when I miss that chair I sure do fly I'll box with you When I'm mad I get that crazy look in my eye And smack you real bad! I'm a cat named Trouble T-R-O-U, B-L-E Yeah, I'm the coolest cat Born in 1993" She also really likes "The Lord Reigns," and she seems to like "Bad to the Bone." She was singing it along with me the other day.
	Trouble my Friend and Member of the Family I got very ill recently, and I'd be on the bathroom floor crying. When she would hear me, she would come in and climb up on me, meow and lick my face. She gave me such sweet comfort. I've never had a cat with such a great personality, nor a cat that was this affectionate and close to me. She is a part of our family now and I love her like she's my own child. Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a cream puff when it comes to parental discipline. I'd say she's pretty spoiled. We both like to play with her and chase her around the house. My husband Daniel, who has never had a cat before and didn't want a cat, now finds lots of fun and creative ways to play with her. She is constantly amusing us and doing new entertaining things. She is as playful as a kitten.
	July 1998
	A New Vantage Point Her new spot is on top of the barcalounger. We think she is on a quest to cover every square inch of our house with fur. So now, not only does my best chair in the house have an unsightly towel over the seat, it has a second one covering the top so it doesn't get cat hair permanently imbedded in it! I learned my lesson about using towels from the office chair. It would defy the laws of physics if you could vacuum all the hair out of that fabric
	The Baby Is Growing up Trouble is more independent now. She doesn't bug us very much at night anymore. But if I forget her second nightly feeding, in the morning she chews on the electrical plugs in the bedroom to get my attention! The Bag Trouble's most recent fetish is a brown grocery bag. For two months it has been living on my living room floor. I just don't have the heart to take it away since she lays on it and rolls on it everyday. The Diet Blues Poor Trouble is still on a diet. I prolonged her agony by ordering her a tastier reduced calorie food, but she didn't loose on it. She is now back on the "kitty rice cakes" garbage that she hates. She is down to 11 lbs. and is looking pretty trim. I think she'll be able to go off the diet pretty soon. I can't wait. I feel for her because I'm on a diet too, and she reminds me every day that she hates it and she's hungry. Trouble Loves The Brush She loves to be brushed so much now that she waits for me to get up in the morning. She then runs down the stairs, making sure that I am following her, and waits for me on her bag. She talks to me with those loud "purr noises" until I brush her. Then she purrs like crazy and rolls around on her back. The Incredible Puking Cat Trouble pukes. At unexpected times and usually on the carpet. I have discussed this problem extensively with the Vet. I brush her everyday to get rid of any loose hair, and I give her Laxatone every other day to eliminate hair balls. She still pukes up her food. The Vet's conclusion: She's A Pig! She scarfs down her food and eats too much so she throws up sometimes. So I have to divide her daily feeding into two portions, and space them several hours apart. This has helped a lot, but it still happens. I just wish I could train her to only do it on the wood floor, instead of the green carpet! Maybe she thinks it's grass? You can always see the paw prints from where she tried to bury it. Thanks a lot.
	The Story Of How I Got Trouble I adopted her when she was about 4 years old from my husband's locksmiths, a very nice couple, Chris & Jack. She was a stray "teenage" cat they found near their shop. They took her home and she lived there with their other cat "Sweet Cheeks" for quite some time. Eventually the two cats did not get along anymore, so Trouble came to live at the shop. They tell me she was an attack cat. Every time a customer came in with a dog, she attacked it. She even ripped the ear of a pit bull. She used to steal the customers' keys off the countertop. She is also a flood survivor. Anyway, I wanted a cat but my husband said never. He had very little experience with these feline creatures, while I had grown up with cats. One day while he was waiting on a stool at the shop, this short-haired black and white cat starts meowing at the sliding glass door inside the shop. Chris lets her in saying "You can come in only if you don't cause any trouble." Trouble walks in. She jumps on my husband's lap, starts licking his hands, and kneading holes in his T-shirt on his stomach. Not knowing what to do, he slowly eased her off onto another stool. He came home and said, "You'll never guess what I had on my lap today" and tells me the story. We didn't pick Trouble. I believe Trouble picked my husband. So I go to visit this cat. And I keep visiting her. And I slowly fall in love with this sweet, cuddle-bug that has obviously clawed up their vinyl chairs. After having long-hairs all my life, I never thought I'd fall for a short-hair, but I fell hard. They tell me she's up for adoption, I keep telling them my husband says no. So one day I'm visiting and she's been on my lap for at least a half hour and I snap. I knew I needed this cat for my emotional well-being, and I took her home. It was WWIII at first, but we worked out some compromises and conditions, and she stayed. I am responsible for all her care. Daniel just plays with her. It's obvious that he enjoys her. We've had her over a year now and I'm certain that he loves her too now. I originally created The Trouble Update for Chris & Jack and all their customers who miss Trouble and ask about her. Since I love to look at other people's pet pictures, I put it on the Web to share this unique little cat with the rest of you crazy, obsessed cat lovers!
	November 1998
	Trouble The Monster I have created a monster! I changed her feeding times to correspond with when I take my medications so she will help remind me to take them. Instead of feeding her twice in the evening, she now eats at 2pm and 7pm. She used to sleep all day until 6pm. Now she starts following me around and bothering me for food at 11am. She does not stop and shut up until after she has eaten, then she finally goes to sleep. Can't say the arrangement doesn't work - I never forget my pills. Political Protest Several times when I woke up in the morning, I found that she had jumped up on the kitchen counter and chewed on my loaf of bread. One morning she also dragged it onto the floor and left it in the living room right at the bottom of the stairs. Isn't this dog behavior? I think she is just so hungry being on this diet with her food locked up that she is willing to try anything, but apparently after a few bites she remembers she doesn't like bread!
	April 1999
	Peeping Cat Trouble's latest thing is pushing the bathroom door open when I am using it. Our downstairs bathroom door closes, but does not latch. Almost every time I use it she pushes the door open and sticks in a paw and maybe a nose. She startles me every time! Cooperative Cat Trouble has come to love the Petromalt. I no longer have to take her into the bathroom to give it to her. She comes running when I call her and jumps up onto the counter. She even asks for it several times a day!
	July 1999
	Trouble's Trouble The Vet discovered that Trouble has a low white blood cell count. They first tried anti-biotics, then tested her for Ehrlichia, then she had a bone marrow aspirate. Happily, she does not have cancer or Leukemia. She does however, have an auto-immune problem. They think it was aggravated by the vaccines, so Trouble will not be getting vaccinations anymore. We are monitoring her white blood cell count, and if it goes lower, she will have to be given steroids. Fortunately, her white blood cell count had gone up to almost normal on her last blood test. The Vet said Trouble should be a sequestered cat so she doesn't get exposed to anything that might compromise her immune system. She already is a housecat so that works out great. I feel terrible having put Trouble through the bone marrow aspirate and all these blood tests, but it had to be done. They shaved the area on her hip where they took the bone marrow sample from, and poor Trouble looks like someone took a bite out of her!
	Dec 2002 Trouble is still going strong like a teenager, more to follow.