Murphy and Mr. Meow are old pros when it comes to Halloween. They’ve been with us long enough to know that when I put up the graveyard and break out the ghosts that the Trick or Treaters will soon follow.
But last year because we were in the midst of still trying to sell our home, which we did take off the market late in October, I didn’t “do” Halloween like I normally would. Therefore, even though last Halloween was technically Tabby’s first with us, she didn’t get a taste of how her mom normally does up the holiday.
I handed out treats, but I didn’t dress up nor did I put up any decorations. But this year she’s gotten to help her brother and sister help me getting ready for Halloween.
Ghosts
Years ago, back when we first moved into our house in Jacksonville and I seemed to have more time and creativity, I took some old pillow cases and made ghosts to hang in our windows.
Murphy and Mr. Meow paid no heed when they appeared this year. But they sure caught Tabby’s eye when she saw them “flying” in one of the windows where she often perches.
Like a lot of cats, when something spooks her her hair stands on end. But her little tail also puffs out. It took me a second to figure out what had frightened her (I was in my office across the way and watched her dancing about wide-eyed and puffed up), and when I did I laughed. Then I got up and touched the ghosts to make sure she knew they were harmless.
Mr. Bones the Caged Pirate
Mr. Bones, as I’ve taken to calling him, was a decoration I bought on sale at the end of last Halloween season. But Tabby wasn’t the only one afraid the first time she came across it.
See, I had envisioned hanging Mr. Bones outside in our graveyard (see topmost photo above), but I didn’t realize his raggedy clothes are basically just paper mache. He’d never last outside.
So I hung him from the banister until I could figure out some place to put him. Mr. Meow came around the corner, saw these skeleton feet and bolted for a corner.
Seconds later, trailing after him as she’s prone to do these days, came Tabby, also unaware of the pirate skeleton. She saw the cage first and looked at it curiously, went to rub her face against it, which made one of Mr. Bones’s hands to fall on her. She looked up, puffed up even bigger than I’d ever seen her when she got a look at his face, and took off for the top of the cabinets.
I swear I heard Mr. Meow chuckling about that one.
Scaredy Cat
As I wrote about in Picking Halloween Pet Toys, I did order Murph the “meowing” stuffed cat that had caught his attention when I played the sound bites from Doctors Foster and Smith’s site.
He’s over the moon for this toy, but the noise must sound very real to the cats. Every time he sets it off, they come running to check it out. And every time Tabby sees it lying on the floor, she keeps her eye on it while giving it a wide berth. As if she’s not quite sure whether it’s another cat in the house and if she has to worry about it ambushing her.
I’ve sort of taken the decorations for granted since I’m so used to them, but because they’ve all been new to her it’s brought back some fun to Halloween this year.
Now the question is, if I decide to dress up tonight, I wonder what she’ll make of all that?
Courtney Mroch writes about animals great and small in Pets and the harmony and strife that encompasses married life in Marriage. For a full listing of her articles click here.
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