Bengfort.com

When Devi asked us to take care of Nimbus so he wouldn’t suffer harm with the arranged for caretaker, surprisingly my first response was: I love my grandcat because I love my daughter. She loves him; therefore, I love him.

And thus I dip my toe into the waters of grandpetting:
• I get to experience the joy of a pet with only temporary responsibilities (I think). I only have Nimbus for a moment in time so we spend that time enjoying it and having fun. I have that sense of freedom that grandparents have of enjoyment without the responsibility. He comes to me with the tiny mouse and wants to play fetch..which is highly entertaining.
• I do things with/for them that I could not do earlier….because I am in a totally different place in life. I can now recognize that some things are not as important as I once thought.
For example, the first day at our house, Nimbus began to scratch all the furniture. I did not spray him but did what any grandparent would do, I went out and bought not just one, but TWO different models of scratching posts and catnip spray to entertain/distract him. He, of course proceeded to ignore the scratching post because he preferred the furniture. So I decided to do two things: 1.) Entice him to the scratching post with is favorite food, canned tuna. 2) Make my house look like a constant place for a slumber party by covering every piece of furniture in sheets and comforters so that Nimbus can have free rein.
• I have the opportunity to step back and let him be who he is ..a cat, and allow him to make mistakes realizing that is how he will learn. Getting upset over little things is not as important. Some things just don’t matter. If what he is doing isn’t hurting anything or anyone, lighten up and enjoy the moment! So, now I am comfortable with all his climbing. In fact, grandcat puba was tossing the tiny toy mouse from his den and accidentally tossed it through the stair bannister. Without apparently missing a beat, Nimbus jumped through the rail and fell down the stairs. When Grandat Puba, looked down, there was Nimbus proudly holding the mouse in his mouth. He ran back up and wanted to continue, so there were high flying leaps down the stairs in fetching that was great exercise.
• I can spend time getting to know Nimbus and enjoying each aspect. He is a cat that plays fetch and nudges you when you don’t throw the mouse. He’ll sit with you when he pleases, and he has a horrible sense of smell which is why catnip is not successful. After I discovered he can’t even smell tuna unless you put it close to his nose, I would put the tuna to his nose, he would follow and I would lay it on top of the scratching post so he would have to go there to get it. Now, he is successfully using one scratching post…but the furniture will remain covered. He is terrified of certain noises and hid when the cleaning people came and started the vacuum cleaner. He was missing for about 7 hours..so we left every closet door and every room door open because we didn’t know where he was. I should have guessed he would be under our bed…hiding.
• I have also now found myself on visits thinking about the Grandpets. On a trip to Ocean City, I saw a cowboy hat for a dog and I could not help myself and bought it for Winston. Just like my greataunts and greatuncles, who on visits would bring me candy or something cool, so have I entered the realm of taking stuff for the grandpets.
• Although, my family would not call me an animal lover, I have been the only one to regularly clean the litter box…. Doing what’s best for any pet is loving them.

So now, that I have taken that dip into Grandpetting, I will be taking a plunge as Winston will be coming to stay later this summer. I hope that Nimbus will not be living under our bed but that his doglike behavior will make him and Winston buddies. So lessons in grandpetting will continue…