Caterwauling...

 

So close.

I woke up about 4:30 this morning to what sounded like whimpering in the living room.  Murphy was not down at the foot of our bed (where he usually sleeps).  I went out to check: Stella was sitting up in the catio, Murphy was laying beside the catio.  Nobody seemed distressed, so I went back to bed.

And then heard it again.  This time, Stella was making little cooing sounds.  I let her out of the catio and started the morning feeding routine, way too early.  The next thing I know, Murphy is behind and above Stella, biting her on the back of the neck!  "Leave her alone!  No!  Bad Murphy!"

It didn't look like he had bitten her hard, but Stella was kind of slithering around on the floor.  I was worried about her and picked her up.  No resistance; she was almost cuddly.  She seems fine.  I put her down, went back to getting their food ready and... Stella is twerking in front of Murphy!

OMG - she is coming into heat!  We are so close: Stella has an appointment on Thursday to get spayed.  These two are rubbing faces and Stella is definitely playing the coquette in front of Murphy.  In spite of being neutered, Murphy is all in.  I had to put him in the catio so I could keep working on their morning food.

I put Murphy's food down, opened the catio door, and expected him to go right to his food dishes.  Nope - he is all about getting as close as he can to his little sister.  I put Stella's food in the catio, picked her up, put her in there, and shut the door.

I have some experience with chasing horn-dog boys away, but none of it is recent.  I won't go into intimidating teenage boys when Steph was that age.  But when Smoke, our first cat came into heat, it was a complete surprise to me... that sweet little girl howled like something from The Exorcist, and looking outside, our front yard was covered with tomcats... several were kicking at the door and hollering, "Send out the girl!"  Six more were bringing in a battering ram.  It was winter in the Black Hills - I made a pile of snowballs and fired them off from our porch.  My aim was good, but it was a damn infantry of horny tomcats.  I called the vet and got a group rate on this female cat and the two female sheepdogs we had at the time.  But, I digress.

I haven't looked out our front door this morning.  I was too busy trying to play chaperone to two horn-dog cats.

When Joan got up, I explained what was going on to her; she said, "Well, we'll have to keep an eye on them for the next two days."

An eye on them?  Murphy, who is normally well-behaved, is losing his mind, and Stella is strutting around like a very outgoing teenager in her first, long overdue, bikini.

I took Murphy outside.  Stella was caterwauling away inside.  Murphy usually likes to walk around for 15 to 30 minutes... he made one lap around the patio furniture and then wanted back inside.

Turn your head for a second, and he was up behind her, biting her on the back of the neck.  It took both Joan and I to keep them apart.  Finally, Joan put Murphy in our bedroom... and Stella went to the door, making the screechy cooing sounds.  They touched paws under the door.  It would have been sweet if it wasn't salacious.

 Murphy is on the other side of that door.  (photos from Joan)

 Here's how she sounds...

 Normally, the only time we hear her voice has been a very quiet "Meow" or hissing at Murphy.  She isn't hissing now.

So close. 

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To take my mind off my sweet baby Stella swinging around the cat tower like it was a stripper pole, this afternoon, the two guys from the rain gutter company showed up to do what I assume will be the final solution.  These two guys, Miguel and Marck, are young and care to keep the customer satisfied.  The solution they proposed: cut away 7" of the back side of the top bars of the pergola and install a seamless gutter in that area.  Guaranteed to not leak!  Because: seamless.  I had to get the owner of the company involved - he did not really want to do this; concerned about liability if they messed up my pergola.  I said, "I will sign a waiver disallowing you of any responsibility for damage."

He asked if I was OK if these two guys came back to do the work - I said, "These two guys are the ONLY ones I trust to do the work!  This was their solution and it makes the most sense.  If you want a satisfied customer - and by the way, I have not complained or hollered about the previous 'fixes' that didn't fix anything, it is Miguel and Marck that I want to do the job."

Yes, they had us sign a waiver; I don't blame them.

The guys came out, we talked about what they were going to do, I offered to pick up the pieces they cut off to save them trips going up and down the ladders... and it all went smooth.  It took about two hours.  I gave them a gratuity when they were done, we shook hands, Joan got them some ice water while they were gathering up tools... and, I think this job is finally done.

 Looks good.  I can see that the slope is right (the first two "fixes" resulted in level spots, with seams).  A 90 foot run, with a tall portion in the middle to send the water in the proper direction, either way.

Done.