Yes, apparently Reggie is a Rock Star in the Buddy Stroller. Cut to the montage of Otto yowling up a storm going down Haywood Road in West Asheville...Wanda crying piteously as we attempt to take her for a stroll...Mister freaking the heck out of the turkeys during the one time I finally get him in the Buddy Stroller. And then there's Reggie, who just hunkered down, got very quiet, and enjoyed the ride...
...All the way to next door, where our neighbors were having a yard sale. I parked his little buggy and did some shopping, and he never made a peep. Our neighbor on our other side came by with his cat-adoring dog, Tiko, who didn't even notice Reggie was in the stroller. Which I guess isn't too surprising since Reggie is mostly black and the inside of the stroller is black, and he was being very still and quiet. But Reggie's aroma is evident on even his best days, so I'm a little stunned that Tiko didn't notice that part. I'm just saying.
Once Tiko did finally notice there was a cat in the pretty blue and white stroller, Tiko got very still as well. Which is not to say that he wasn't alert--he was straining at his leash so hard you could convince yourself you saw his muscles standing out around his neck, and he's a pretty hairy guy. The dog didn't blink. He trained his laser-like focus on Reggie with all his might, as though willing him to escape his mobile confines and come out and play. Reggie pointedly ignored him. Our neighbors having the yard sale were concerned, and I thank them for that. If it had been any of the other cats besides Reggie, I would have been too. But Reggie was so nonplussed it was actually comical.
Finally our other neighbor dragged Tiko reluctantly away, and Tiko continued down the street for his walk with his human. But as soon as we saw them coming back up the street, we noticed that Tiko was pulling our neighbor over to our side of the street to see if he could make contact with the kitty again. So we had Round Two of Tiko staring and straining, and Reggie carefully ignoring. It was kind of priceless.
I honestly think that Reggie would have stayed out all day if we'd let him. There was a nice breeze, it was a pretty day, the birds were singing, the butterflies were flitting about, doing butterfly things. Reg, I think, thought it was just about perfect, dog or no dog.
We'll be excursioning out to a restaurant or bar next, I assume. (Yes, I know "excursion" isn't a verb, and I also know how crazy it probably makes us look to take our cat out in a stroller. But people get to take their dogs places all the time, and I'm pretty sure Reggie is one of the most dog-like cats I've ever known, so why should the actual canines get all the fun? We'll keep you updated on how that goes...)
I used to sing a little song to Reggie that went "Reggie... Reggie... head like a veggie. It's like a veggie but it smells... like... cheese."
ReplyDeleteHowever, in fairness to Reggie and his, well, olfactoriousness, he washes a lot more now than when he was younger and smells better too.
Yes, but his breath doesn't smell so great, so it's kind of like washing with liver-scented soap.
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