The Paw under the Door

Beware of sneak attacks in the bathroom!

                Having cats is often like having toddlers—for one thing, you never get to use the bathroom alone.  The difference is that while young children might bring toys in with them, cats bring four sets of razor sharp claws to play with.

                The claws come into use on the occasions when I just don’t feel like an audience during shower time.  A cat kicked out of the bathroom is a bent-out-of-shape cat that will do anything to stay involved with the inner workings of the room he’s expelled from.  This results in paws with claws extended, slowly creeping into the bathroom from under the door.  Once in place, the claw sweeps back and forth at random until it either  A.  Sinks into flesh (accompanied by loud audio outburst) or  B. Latches onto any discarded clothing within reach.  Countless times while trying to pull on pants, one of the legs is being gradually pulled under the door.  Most of the time I can stop it before the item completely disappears into the next room.

                Sometimes for entertainment I’ll bat at the paw under the door, but even swatting blindly from an awkward angle, the cat is faster and always draws blood.  You’d think I’d learn not to do that, but I’ll bet next time I’ll try it again.