(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Caturday Pootie Diary: Shiny and new [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-22 The box was big, but kind of narrow, so I was genuinely surprised by how much stuff came out of it. “It’s a TARDIS in here,” I murmured, pulling out a bag of screws. “Ah ha!” I said, shaking the bag, having spotted the allen wrench. “What is all this?” Freddie wondered, standing amongst the pieces of carpeted wood. “This is your new tower!” I cried, excited to finally be getting it together. 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. “Is that a box?” Freddie asked, perking up. “’Tis!” I yelled, happily. It was too high for him to jump into comfortably, so I picked it up and moved it over the tower parts on the ground, then laid it on its side so he could climb in. He did immediately. “I hope you’re as happy to use this tower as you are that box,” I said, sitting down on the couch and setting to work organizing the pieces. “This is a pretty good box,” Freddie said, poking his head out of the side of it. “Don’t get too comfortable in there,” I advised. “It’s going out to the trash as soon as I’m done.” “You wouldn’t throw out something I like,” he said, confidently. I snorted, turning a screw with the allen wrench. I turned over the piece I had put together. “Shoot!” I said. I looked over at Freddie. “It’s backward.” “I’m going to have this box for a long time,” he said, ducking back inside. I studied the directions. They were a series of simple drawings, taking you through the process step by step. All of the parts were labeled with little stickers giving them a number or letter and it actually made it very easy to understand. "I can do this,” I told the box. “I like this box,” he said. The tower was about halfway built. It was big. “This is big,” I said, standing up to put together the next part. Freddie didn’t answer. I bent over to look inside the box. He was gone. A little anxious after all we had been through the past week, I quickly looked around for him. I spotted him immediately. He was lounging on the top of his old cat tower. I shook my head at him. “That one is about to become obsolete.” I had to reach up over my head to screw the last part in place. Once that was done, I gave the tower a few shakes, testing its sturdiness. It seemed pretty sturdy. And big. “It’s so big,” I said. Freddie appeared suddenly, leaping up the arm of the couch next to me. I startled, badly. “Freddie!” I said, clutching my chest. “Don’t do that!” “What is that?” Freddie asked, ignoring my dramatics. “It’s your new cat tree. Tower. Whatever.” He cocked his head, staring at it. “I already have one of those,” he said. I nodded. The original plan had been to get rid of the old one, but he had been spending so much time on it since he got sick that I didn’t want to get rid of it just yet. It was his safe place. “Now you have two,” I said, indicating the new one proudly. “And this one is really big!” “Hmm,” he said, looking at it. “Wait,” I said. “Let me put it against the wall and then you can explore it.” It was a bit of a struggle, especially with the box it had come in in the way, but eventually I was able to maneuver it into place against the wall of the family room. I turned too Freddie. “Now you can play in here!” I said. He jumped off the arm of the couch and sauntered over to it. He smelled it in a few places, then turned to leave. “Where are going?” I asked. “To sleep on my tower,” he said, not looking back. With a shake of my head, I picked him up and plopped him down on the middle platform. I released him and stepped back. “Isn’t it cool?” I asked, a little desperate. He walked inside the sleep cubby and turned in a circle, smelling it. I was delighted and hopeful. Once he finished his perusal, he moved to the edge of the platform and jumped to the floor. “I’m going to sleep on my tower,” he said, leaving the room. “You’re going to love this tower eventually!” I called after him. Happy Caturday, Peeps! Freddie seems to be doing much better. He’s almost totally back to his old self and seems to be doing really well with the insulin. He doesn’t love being manhandled and doesn’t much care for the process. I’m hoping that will change once we’ve been doing this for a while. Thank you, everyone, for your kind words and advice last week. This is the best community and I love all of you. 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