(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Caturday Pootie Diary: The wrong side of the door [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-07-29 “Why is this door closed?!” Freddie yelled from the other side of my bedroom door. “I’m quarantined,” I called back. “You can’t come in.” There was a pause while he mulled this over. “Who says I can’t!” he demanded. A gentle reminder of how we do things: 🐱🐶🐦 Do not troll the diary. If you hate pootie diaries, leave now. No harm, no foul. Please do share pics of your fur kids! If you have health/behavior issues with your pets, feel free to bring it to the community. Pooties are cats; Woozles are dogs. Birds... are birds! Peeps are people. Whatever happens in the outer blog STAYS in the outer blog. If you’re having “issues” with another Kossack, keep it “out there.” This is a place to relax and play; please treat it accordingly. There are some pics we never post: snakes, creepy crawlies, any and all photos that depict or encourage human cruelty toward animals. These are considered “out of bounds” and will not be tolerated. If we alert you to it, please remember that we do have phobic peeps who react strongly to them. If you keep posting banned pics...well then...the Tigress will have to take matters in hand. Or, paw I sighed. It was going to be a long four days. “I’m sick,” I explained. “You don’t sound sick!” he shot back. I coughed. “Do you hear that?” “If you were sick you’d be under the bed!” “Humans don’t do that,” I explained. ‘We spend sick days on top of the bed.” I sat on the floor and leaned back against the bedroom door, so he could hear me better. “You’ve never kept me out before, even when you were sick,” he pointed out. “That’s true. But this time the virus I have can make you sick too. So you have to stay out. It’s to keep you safe.” He thought about it for a minute. “I don’t believe you,” he said, finally. I could hear his claws against the wood of the door as he scratched his demand to be let in. Cats do not like a closed door, and Freddie is very much with the majority on that. “Why are you even upstairs?” I wondered. “Shouldn’t you be in the living room right now? Ignoring me?” “I’ve never ignored you,” he scoffed. I barked out a shocked laugh, then immediately started coughing. I coughed so hard it made me a little dizzy. Several deep breaths later and I straightened up, feeling a little better. “Are you okay, human?” he asked quietly. “I will be,” I promised. "You ignore me all the time,” I said. “Yeah, but that’s just the routine. We wake up together, you feed me, I ignore you, you leave, you come back, we cuddle on the couch, you feed me, I ignore you, we go to bed.” Now I wasn’t sure if it was the virus making my head spin, or this cat. “The routine has been disturbed,” he continued. “We didn’t wake up together. You won’t let me in!” “I’m sick,” I reminded him. “Let me in!” "It’s only for four days,” I soothed. “That’s only eight meals.” “That seems like a lot.” “Then we cuddle, but I’ll have to wear a mask.” “That sounds weird.” “It’s to keep you safe.” “But if I don’t like it, is it really keeping me safe?” "Yes,” I said. “A lot of things that keep you safe are things you don’t like.” “I just don’t see how you ABANDONING ME keeps me safe.” I rubbed my head, suddenly feeling tired. “I need to go back to bed,” I told him. “You always say you sleep better with me next to you,” he reminded me, sounding a little desperate. “I do! And soon we’ll sleep together again. But not for at least four days.” He clawed the carpet in front of the door, comforting himself and communicating his desire to come in. I endured another coughing fit, and then sat, catching my breath. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Freddie asked, quietly. “I’m okay,” I reassured him. “I’ve got medicine. The important thing is that we keep you from getting sick. I would not be okay if you got this nasty virus.” “I want you to stay okay,” he said finally. “I’ll sleep out here. You can tell me if you want me to bring you something.” “What would you bring me?” I wondered. “There are crickets in the bathroom,” he offered. I grinned. “I’ll let you know if need any crickets,” I promised him. “See you in four days, human.” “Yes, you will.” Happy Caturday, Peeps! After over three years of dodging it, COVID finally caught me. I’m doing well — my symptoms are mild and I scored some Paxlovid about fifteen minutes after I tested positive. I’m hoping to be symptom free soon. Freddie is not taking my isolation well, unfortunately. There has been much wailing and carrying on. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/29/2183958/-Caturday-Pootie-Diary-The-wrong-side-of-the-door Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/