Maybe the heat is making our guests at the cats-only boarding facility a little cranky. Whatever the reason, I’ve been playing the role of scratching post at work lately!
I won’t post pictures of my injuries, but just to tally them up: I have an inch-long bite mark on my left wrist, a three inch claw mark on my left forearm, two half-inch claw marks on the inside of my right forearm, three scratches on my chest, a two inch claw mark on the front of my left shoulder and a few more scrapes on the back of my left shoulder.
Several of these came from the same cat yesterday. She’s a new guest — a homeless or abandoned or feral cat who made friends with the owner’s cat. The cat eventually “invited” the new kitty (who they named Mercy) into the house to share his food and she decided to stay. We have both cats at the boarding facility this week.
Mercy has a cute habit — she likes to climb onto a person’s shoulders. I’ve seen her do it to my coworkers, and she’s done it to me. Most of the time, she’s pleased as punch to be up there.
One time, she wasn’t. I’m not sure what set her off, but she went from purring and happy to yowling and clawing. My coworker L. had a good laugh at the full-body shimmy I did to try and get Mercy to jump down onto the nearest piece of furniture. As soon as she was down, she calmed down again and I picked her up and tucked her back into her condo.
The bite on my wrist is thanks to a cat who felt the need to guard his dirty litter pan. I reached in for the pan; he lunged forward and bit me. In order to get the litter pan out, I had to distract the cat with breakfast.
Another possible cause just occurred to me: during the cooler winter and spring months, I would wear a long-sleeved shirt underneath my scrubs. Maybe that was protecting my arms (and chest) (and shoulders) from casual claw action!