Toby's Bad Day

I started last night. It was a little after 9 and I was thinking about getting ready for bed. It began with the sound of Toby galloping across the hall. He was really hoofing it. I thought for sure it was a game. Then I heard the squealing. It was a chirpy little sound. And consistent, like a squeaky wheel on a wagon. Squeak, squeak, squeak. I started to pay more attention to it when it began to sound a little like screaming. It was obviously a small voice. Toby was relentless in his chase. That's when it occurred to me - he's chasing a MOUSE! Oh no. I hate mice. And no one is home but me. The men are up north and Bailee is at her boyfriend's house so I will have to deal with this all by myself. Shit.

I got up from my chair, tentatively. Toby's little cat ears were casting a shadow on the wall across from the basement steps. I tip-toed over to the steps and he was sitting there meowing quite seriously while trying to get behind some jars sitting in the corner of the first step. The mouse had to be behind it. I decided to play chicken and leave Toby to the dirty business of getting the mouse. When he finds them he tends to bat them around until he kills them. Then he will just sit there jabbing at them as if he's wondering why they won't move anymore. So I went back to the living room, turned off the television, and picked up a little. I checked the locks and peeked at the cat. He wasn't on the basement step anymore. Uh-oh. Where's the damn mouse?

I was too tired (and scared) to pursue it so I headed through the foyer to go upstairs to bed. Toby was sitting in the foyer with his head buried in a decorative crate in the middle of the foyer. He must have let the mouse go temporarily only to catch up with it here. Or else there is more than one! I'm not gonna think about that, I'm just going to bed. I better make sure I shut the bedroom door I don't want Toby bringing me any little mice gifts in the middle of the night.

I got up to the same familiar sound from the night before. Toby was scuttling across the hall. By the time I got downstairs, his head was buried in the crate again. I wonder if he chased that thing around all night. If so, he must be exhausted. After all, cats need about 20 hours of sleep. I put the mouse out of my mind, got my coffee and settled in to read the Sunday paper. On occasion, I like to sit in my big chair in the living room to read the paper. Normally, we read the paper at the kitchen table, but when it's cold in the house, the comfort of the big chair is nicer than the cold wooden kitchen chairs.

I finished with the paper and started my chores. I put some laundry in the wash machine and headed to kitchen to start food prep for the day. Toby was lying on his rug in front of the patio door, just watching me work. Apparently he forgot about the mouse. Note to self: tell Jeff to look in the crate when he gets home today and get rid of the carcass. I started frying bacon, pouring more coffee in my cup, and washing some apples when Toby got up and scurried to the corner of the room. All of a sudden the mouse comes running from the corner to under the garbage can. I screamed so loud the cat stopped his pursuit to turn and look at me. At this point, I'm standing on a stool as he looks up with this WTF look on his little kitty face. Of course he lost track of the mouse once I screamed.

I knew it was under the kitchen garbage container so I just went back to what I was doing hoping it would just stay put. It didn't. Toby chased the thing from the corner to under the garbage and back a few times. I think he finally got tired of the game and went back to lying on the rug. The rug split the difference from the corner to the garbage so he had all the bases covered.

Usually I like the quiet of the family's absence but this one time I was hoping they would be home early and they weren't. Bailee came home around noon with her boyfriend's two cats. Toby was back in hot pursuit of the mouse again and it was hiding under the computer desk. The new kitties were introducing themselves to Toby and he didn't seem to mind. At least at first he didn't. Then the cats started hissing at him. He didn't like that. He didn't seem to like the distraction from his mouse mission either. I explained the situation to Bailee who was no help. She said she hated mice too and wouldn't want to have to get rid of one either. Her cats took off to an unknown destination.

Toby seemed to have forgotten about the cats and went back to his mission of chasing the mouse. Jeff and BJ got home around 1. I explained to the boys about the mouse and the two cats that are roaming the house somewhere. Jeff approached Toby and he hissed at him. I'm thinking that was a late reaction to the new cats. Or he was pissed off about the many distractions from his mouse mission. Jeff decided to get in on the hunt. He got out his leather gloves and a yardstick to force the mouse out. As he did this, Toby seemed more interested in Jeff than the mouse so he missed him running by. Jeff yelled at the cat.

I figured between the cat and the mouse, exhaustion should be setting in and they would both give up. The cat figured out the purpose of the yardstick once he saw the mouse go by. Not much gets by this cat, he won't make the same mistake twice. So Jeff goes after the mouse again. This time Toby let the mouse run right past his leg. But at that moment, he picked up his paw to hold the mouse down. Jeff picked the mouse up from under the cat's paw. The poor thing was probably so tired he just didn't care anymore.

Jeff took the mouse outside and let it go. Now all poor Toby had to deal with was the other two cats in his territory. They buried themselves under a shelf in the basement. Apparently they were as happy to be here as Toby was to have them here. Bailee pried them out from their protective hiding spot and brought them back upstairs. Now that the mouse distraction was gone, they all just sat and hissed at each other.

I know Bailee thought it would be a good thing to bring the cats over to a larger place to run, but apparently they were much happier in their little home. So she packed them up and took them back to her boyfriend's apartment. Toby's busy day must have worn him out. He sat on the rug struggling to keep his eyes open. I wiped out his dish, put new food in it, rinsed out and refilled his water dish, and he walked over to eat. A few minutes later he curled himself into a ball in his sleeping place and was out for the day. And probably for the rest of the night till tomorrow.