I began to see the (dark) humor of the situation:
Okay…back to the beginning of the story.
So, yesterday, around 5:00 p.m.-ish, I decided to boil up some water for a pot of tea. So I filled the pot, turned on the burner, and set the cat on fire.
Wait…WHAT???
Yeah…let’s try that one again.
My cats are animals composed principally of hair and bad habits. One of Minnie’s many bad habits is jumping up on to the countertops and the stove. Now, perhaps, you see where this trainwreck is headed.
I filled the pot, turned on the burner, and as the burner “whooof-ed” alight, the hapless cat leaped up on to the top of the stove and went “whoof” herself. I clapped my hand to her side immediately, extinguishing the flames before they could do more than frizzle her whiskers and singe about a quarter-inch of length off a palm-sized area on her side.
The spot on her side where the fur singed is nearly invisible, but Miss Minnie is going to be going around looking like she got a perm in her whiskers for quite some while, I think.
It’s kind of funny now, but at the time, I felt like the most negligent cat-owner on the face of the planet. I hope her whiskers are completely grown out before it’s time to go to the vet for her annual vaccinations!
When mine was younger (and I was younger) I was doing the deed with some boy with romantic candles on the windowsill and suddenly the smell of burnt hair filled the room. The cat had walked over the candles and set his tummy on fire. Quite the mood ruiner, but he was none the worse for wear. I chalked it up to his second of nine lives at the time. (I’m pretty sure he’s done the face in the candle thing too, but only once!)
So either this is normal, or we’re both terrible cat owners.
Ha ha ha oh man, this story brought laffs. Our zsazsa is forever on the counters and stove, much as we discourage it, and i know one day she’s going to burn a paw pad on the hot stove grill. Whatcha gonna do? Stupid aminalz.