CATS | PETS | FAMILY
My Cat’s Spring Fever Was Just Buried in the Snow
An abrupt change in weather calms the wild beast.
Jasper checking out the snow in 2019. Photo by author.
Last week I wrote about our cat, Jasper’s, spring fever. It seems a lot of people could relate to the wild antics spring brings out in our pets. Ironically, after weeks of spring fever craziness and a 76-degree day last week, this morning we woke up to 4 inches of snow. I know in some places it’s not unusual to have snow in mid-April. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s practically unheard of, outside of the mountains.
The scene this morning:
Jasper, the mighty predator, senses something unusual outside. He smells it in the air, feels it in his bones. He sits in the entryway, waiting patiently for me to get my boots and coat on and harness up our dog, Kola. I open the door, letting a blast of cold air in. Jasper is up in a flash and ready to bolt out the door after Kola and I get out of his way. I confirm my wife is on her way to keep an eye on him while Kola and I venture out into the snow.
Jasper rushes out the door behind us and stops just a couple of feet from the door. The whiteness is blinding. The cold bracing. He sniffs the air. Interesting. Jasper is a super curious guy and is usually intrigued by the snow. He’ll walk through it a bit before deciding the new stuff is cold and heading back inside. This morning, however, the loud snap of a branch high up in the evergreens, followed by a cascading waterfall of snow proved too threatening for our little wild thing. He ran back inside the house before even reaching the end of the porch.
His brother, Max, who is occasionally brave enough to venture outside, didn’t even bother coming near the front door this morning. I think he saw the strange white stuff from the windows, smelled the cold air, and said, “Screw that!” He’s now sleeping in one of his favorite spots, behind the bathroom door where the heating vent traps warm air. Clever guy!
Jasper is not experiencing spring fever today. After coming inside, he parked himself on his mat that sits on my wife’s desk and quickly fell asleep. There’s no racing around, no picking on Max, and no loud…