Dangers of Cat Ownership

Everyone knows of the typical dangers of owning a cat: stepping on wet hairballs first thing in the morning, toxoplasmosis, worms, furry couches (and therefore clothes), shredded skin from nail clipping sessions...

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One of the little known hazards of cat ownership, however, is slipping on a cat. Mine have the dangerous habit of sleeping on the stairs. A number of years ago, dh tripped on Thomas about halfway down as he was getting ready for work. My dear man made enough noise to wake me. When I got downstairs he was lying on the floor catching his breath. It knocked the wind out of him and bruised his thumb. I called the vet to be sure Thomas would be ok - I didn't call the doctor.

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Not too long after, I stepped on Mia. To be kind to my little animal, I stepped over the step that she was sleeping on. You'd think she'd appreciate that act of consideration and stay put, resting serenely. But no, she decided to move to a new step, the one under my foot. I fell back onto the stairs with a thump (several in rapid succesion, actually, as different body parts contacted) and Mia shot away up the stairs, pleased with her success, I'm sure. I think it's the closest I've come to blacking out. As I sat up to take stock of my injuries, everything started to get darker. I feebly called for my dh, who was already on his way to check on the source of the banging and thumping. Gently and carefully he helped me upstairs, got an icepack for my bumped head and checked to make sure my pupils were "equal and reactive". Other than being quite stiff the next morning, I was fine.

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The moral to this story (that is sadly lacking in knitting content): Make a point of hanging on tightly to the handrail and stepping on the cats instead of over them.

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