Huck's World

Well, Huck's world is expanding at an exponential rate.  I'm sure if you looked in Webster's Dictionary under "curiosity killed the cat" there would be a picture of our Huck clutching a sign saying "I'm not dead yet" in his paws.  It isn't from lack of trying, trust me.

Last weekend he escaped from the house.  When the weather was warmer he and Tugby were spending time in a crate outside on our back deck and enjoying it immensely, so he was getting curious about what the great outdoors was all about.  On Saturday, our basement door didn't latch properly and opened when nobody was downstairs, so Huck decided to go walkabout.  Fortunately my husband was in time to see a tail disappear out the door so he yelled that Huck was out, grabbed his shoes, and took off in pursuit.  Huck led him on a chase through several backyards, over two 6 foot tall fences and onto the street behind us.  Then he doubled back and ran past our house, so my husband rushed in, opened the basement door and called him.  Huck flew in the door and was home safe.  He was so terrified and hyperventilating that I thought I was going to have to put him in a paper bag until he calmed down.

Once he was safely home Tugby added insult to injury by sniffing and then growling at him for about 40 minutes.   Our best guess is that he didn't smell the same as usual, and that Huck was so stressed and scared that Tugby could sense it.  Eventually both boys settled down and gave Huck a good bath, and life returned to normal.  Except ever since then, Huck has become a real lap hound, and very affectionate.    He loves to lie on his back on your lap, and have his tummy rubbed.  Most cats start kicking and fighting with their back legs when their tummies are up, but Huck just loves to be rubbed.

He has also become quite blase about Boston's visits.  To the right is a picture taken a few weeks ago, and you can see that Huck has come down from his high shelf and is sitting on a dining room chair, checking things out.   Boston visited us on Wednesday night for his team's final playoff game (the Bruins, of course) and Huck padded around on the ground about 4 feet behind him all night.  As I've mentioned, Boston is well accustomed to cats, and he is not under any illusions about who is the superior species.  So he behaved like a champion when Huck decided to get even closer, and start sniffing him.  As you can see by the look on his face, Boston was a little nervous, but behaved like a true gentlebeagle.

 

 We're hoping that Huck's venture outside scared him enough that he won't be trying to escape any time soon.  But we've learned the hard way that he loves to investigate things, and I'm sure he'll forget the trauma and remember the adventure one day.  Soon.