You can run but you can't hide

I can see where Stephen King came up with his freaky ideas about killer pets.

I'm holed up in the cellar -- as removed as possible from life on the farm. Just me, my laptop....and a chilling, guttural yowl. I'm being stalked. By Drippy.


Drippy, now 20 yrs old, was originally christened "Smokey" by his former owner, a vet, who allegedly acquired the kitten in exchange for veterinary services. Smokey went on to father a litter and quickly realized that parenthood wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He bolted...next door. "Barn cat #2," as he was called by the farm's former owners, conveyed with the farm.

We immediately named him Drippy for the long strings of saliva that seeped from his jaw when he purred...and for no apparent medical reason (Trust me, I took him to the vet clinic; $125 later he was was vaccinated and declared a happy, healthy cat who "drools profusely when excited.")

Since then he's been a royal pain the neck. He's an utterly useless mouser. He is quick to claw friend or foe and is constantly looking for a way inside. Leave the door cracked for a moment while unloading groceries and he's in. Good luck dragging him out again. When he's out, he's lobbying to be let in, meowing at window or door.

Most recently, he endeared himself by pooping in our mudroom b/c he's decided that it's too cold and icy to leave the mudroom. My husband said that's it, time's up on that cat. I wavered and we've compromised with a litter box in the mudroom. I'll just put it this way... sometimes he nails the target.

His one saving grace? The one thing that keeps us from digging a hole in the orchard? He loves the kids. And unfortunately, the feeling is mutual....