My High-Risk Life Style

Dear John,

 

It's a good thing I don't believe in germs. And I figured out why there hasn't been any cat poop for six days. The sad thing is that those two statements are linked. It turns out that the dog has been eating the cat poop. And then licking me in the face. And on the mouth. Like I said, it's a good thing I don't believe in germs.

 

We both grew up that way, didn't we? Our mothers were farm girls and not squeamish about anything. I grew up plucking and dressing chickens on a wooden cutting board - not that we killed our own chickens in Atlanta, but because in the grocery stores chickens came with all their innards and most of their feathers. I also survived childhood before seat belts, sunscreen, or bicycle helmets were invented. I rode in the back of station wagons and pick-up trucks, ate raw cookie dough, and even had fish and milk in the same meal (my grandmother was convinced every time that I'd be dead by morning). Yep, I have lived a high-risk life. As an adult I worked in critical care units before universal precautions. I've been up to the elbows in every bodily secretion and have had most of them in my shoes. So I have an immune system. The cat poop doesn't seem to have harmed any of us.

 

I did, however, apply what ingenuity I have toward preventing further poop ingestion. I found litter boxes with covers, but none that Jethro couldn't get his head into. So I had to put the litter box where the cat can get to it but the dog can't. So: I brought the white dressing table up from the basement and put it in the workroom; I put a chair next to it, because Hunter is too small to jump all the way onto the table; I put his bed, which has a lid, next to the chair. Then I put him in the litter box and helped him find his way down. And I sincerely hope it works. I'll prowl on-line, too, and see if they have any litter boxes that would work.

 

This is not a problem I expected. But at least I don't believe in germs.

 

Your healthy and old-fashioned wife,

Joan.

 

P.S. - I found the cartoon on Pinterest, and knew you'd love it. So it's just here for you to enjoy!