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1. Other John | September 28, 2011 at 4:12 pm

   Cat fur is a known quantitative risk in our home. They avoid the table and counters, thanks to repeated teaching lessons with a squirt bottle, but a stray hair or 2 always seems to find its way into something randomly, despite our best efforts to avoid that.
2. Nona Nelson | September 28, 2011 at 4:41 pm

   This has been a recent development with Thai. He used to stay off table tops, but now he seems to think any flat surface is fair game where I like it or not. I may have to go all squirt-bottle on him since he does not seem to otherwise respect my authority.
3. Other John | September 29, 2011 at 8:34 am

   The good thing about the squirt bottle, after a few shots of water, just showing and shaking the bottle works as an effective deterrent too. Well, usually.
4. Liz | September 29, 2011 at 9:34 am

   Nona, you are dreaming if you expect to get any respect from a cat!!
5. Nona Nelson | September 29, 2011 at 3:19 pm

   Liz: A girl can always dream.
6. Other John | September 30, 2011 at 9:06 am

   Nona…I spoke too soon! Last night I had prepared some chicken with a dry rub, to be cooked over oak lump charcoal. I had the chicken sitting on the counter, while I went outsize to rake the coals and set the grill rack in place, a process taking no more than 30 seconds. In that amount of time, one of our cats (Bella, aka ‘The Nose’) leaped to the counter and was standing over the chicken when I returned…

   I only hope she learned the lesson hard, the rub consisted of salt, garlic, paprika, and a blend of ancho, chipotle, and cayenne peppers. No chicken was missing, and I couldn’t tell where any rub was missing…but she was licking her chops feverishly afterward.
7. Nona Nelson | September 30, 2011 at 9:08 am

   OJ: I do hope Bella learned her lesson. And now I am hungry for grilled chicken.
8. Debbie | September 30, 2011 at 9:26 am

   Love his crossed paws.
9. Nona Nelson | September 30, 2011 at 9:27 am

   Elegance is one of his better qualities.
10. Other John | September 30, 2011 at 10:26 am

    I hope she did too…they love the chicken I make, but that was the first time they didn’t patiently wait for some after it was cooked and we had eaten.

    I came up with the idea to replicate the grilled chicken at Outback, which is tremendously good, but at Outback’s usually stiff prices. With a $15 Walmart portable charcoal grill, a bag of oak lump charcoal from Kroger, a pack of Perdue boneless/skinless chicken breasts, and the homemade spice rub…it comes pretty darn close.

    A few nights ago, our brood actually had the grill surrounded! I think they’re starting to work together, it could get scary…
11. Patricia | September 30, 2011 at 11:56 am

    Don’t count on spices to keep the cat away. I walked away from an omelet full of jalapeno peppers once and when I came back the omelet was gone and our youngest cat was on the floor, had just finished chewing, and was starting to wash his face. I credit the jalapeno tolerance to a life on the street before he found us.
12. Other John | September 30, 2011 at 1:43 pm

    Patricia…that’s not terribly encouraging…but since the cats liked the cooked chicken (spices included), I suppose having it raw didn’t matter much.
13. Sandi Saunders | September 30, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    Cats are drawn to heights and if it is a place the dogs cannot go it is all the more appealing. You can either go hard or learn to live with it as long as he gets down when you need him to. I chose to learn to live with it and have had meals with a cat patiently waiting to reclaim the table, but I fully understand there are people who would never share such a thought. I freely admit to sharing an ice cream cone and food with my cat who, since raised from 2 days old by people, has no clue she is not one of us.
14. Cindy B. | September 30, 2011 at 11:54 pm

    Thai tickles me! I also “try” to keep my cats off the table and counters. There is that unmistakable thunk when they jump off the table or counter when they hear me coming. I can only imagine what goes on while we’re at work!!!
15. Debbie | October 3, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    Sandi, when I was a child, my dad had an English Pointer. I used to share ice cream with one of the puppies from her first litter. We used to buy the little cups of ice cream from the milk man, and they came with a little wooden spoon. I’d eat from one end of the spoon, then turn it around and scoop some out for Butchie with the other end. We’d sit on the front stoop eating our ice cream. I have no idea why I gave him that name, btw.