Opinion

Gowing bowling for the cat

Tuesday, May 4, 2004

My wife was out shopping the other day, when she got to the item marked "cat bowl" on her shopping list.

Now I consider a cat lucky if he doesn't have to live in the barn and hunt mice for a living, so our 22-pound Maine Coon-cross was quite an adjustment when he began jumping (Whoomp!) onto the bed in the middle of the night, or hopping (umph!) into the middle of my chest when I'm home alone at noon, taking a nap.

It's hard enough keeping the salad dressing out of the upholstery without a miniature lion trying to share it with you.

The price of pet ownership was somewhat higher than I anticipated, and I'm not just talking about kitty bowls.

A month or two after Whiskers, the free cat, joined our family, he began walking funny and howling quietly in as dignified manner as he could.

A trip to the vet, hip surgery and a few hundred dollars later, and he's good as new. There have been the usual expenses over the years, including annual shots and a trimming, before we learned that a good combing now and then would keep the knots out of his orange fur.

So, when his old plastic bowl got broken, a few bucks for a new one was no big deal.

My wife looked over the selection. The best seemed to be a heavy plastic model, for about $4.50.

Then inspiration struck. With our kitchen's fruit theme in mind, she headed over to the "people" bowl section.

Sure enough, she found a ceramic one, complete with fruit, for 65 cents.

Congratulating herself on her superior thrift and ingenuity, she turned toward the checkout counter, when something caught her eye.

There, out of place, next to the "people" bowls, were three other plastic kitty dishes.

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