Forbidden Photos

This tale begins sometime back. You see, I have this problem with my otherwise splendid, if arrogant, Maxcat. He is not only convinced that, of the two of us, he is the alpha cat, but he insists on proving it by biting me. Oh, he does this in style, Max does. First he states (actually, he snarls) that he wants/is going to bite me, then he attacks. If I am wide awake, I have no problem. However, being awakened this way in the morning is another matter. Periodically these bites become infected. It happened again recently and I even talked about consigning Max to Miss Kitty's.

However, a good neighbor insisted that we could find a better solution -- and that a starting point was a good bed for the cat. So we were off to PetsMart.

Oh, so much Stuff. Like WalMart but for cats and dogs...

...and a few other pet-type critters, such as tropical fish and budgies...

...and very lavender birds for the Barbie pink and purple set.

The dog department...

...including safety gear for the pick-up truck and other automotive dogs.

These handsome hounds were the only live animals I saw on the floor of the store.

But the cat department was the goal. More Stuff, this time for cats.

Plenty of litter in wholesale lots.

Toys -- I think for cats, but maybe for pooches -- or maybe for their People.

More Stuff visible on shelves in the back room.

Years' worth of canned food.

And cat crunchies under various labels.

Ah, we're getting there -- bedding...

And then OOPS! I was approached, oh so politely, by a nice young thing who explained that company policy did not allow any picture taking. No explanation why. But being an affable sort, I closed up the camera, which hangs around my neck on a cord. Not good enough. After the young lady left, young man showed up with the same message.

Fortunately, the camera easily fit in my backpack, out of sight, out of mind. (Briefly I had visions of having to open the back of the camera, pull out the roll of film and expose it to light...but that was several movies ago. And even Eastman Kodak since has gone digital.)

I did settle on this handsome, convertible sleeping unit. Max, of course, wouldn't dream of bedding down in it -- but it proved a good safe post to keep an eye on the granddaughter, down for a visit this past weekend. And my buddy has almost reconciled himself to spending the night on his favorite living room chair, meowing piteously at the bedroon door only after my alarm has gone off the next A.M. and I have turned over to catch a few more minutes of sleep.