Giving New Meaning to the Phrase, "Putting the Cat Out"

As long time readers may know, this is a cat house. There are four of them at current count. One of them, previously blog-named The Mighty Hunter, has the unfortunate habit of spraying when he doesn't get his way. The result of this is that he has us very well trained to give him his way; usually letting him out of the house to patrol the neighborhood. We have also gotten into the habit of putting him out at night, having grown weary of being awakened by a characteristic noise -- followed by a distinct, also characteristic odor -- in the bedroom as he expresses his desire to go outside RIGHT THEN. That it usually happens around 2:00 am does not appear to have any significance to him whatsoever. Therefore, an important part of our bedroom routine is to make sure that the cat has been put out.

As long, medium and short-term readers of this blog, and perhaps some others, may know, tonight is the second night of Hanukkah, a minor Jewish holiday celebrated with the lighting of candles. To the surprise of no one (I hope) we lit our Hanukkah candles again tonight. We sang the blessings and exchanged gifts as we waited for the latkes to finish frying.

This particular evening, the cat jumped up on the table. This is not new; he does it all the time. After all, he has to help us read the newspaper, check out what is on our plates and stuff his snout into the glass to lick out the last remnants of chocolate milk. (Not to worry; he doesn't do this during actual meals, usually just during what passes for breakfast as we struggle to read the paper and snarf something down before speeding out to work.)

At any rate, tonight he hopped up onto the table and began exploring. He approached the menorah (which held three lit candles) and began to sniff one of the flames. His curiosity temporarily sated, he proceeded to pass around the menorah (which still held three lit candles.) The NinjaBaker watched as TMH passed perilously close to the flames. In fact, as I was told later, NB actually thought, "Hm, I wonder if he's going to be dumb enough to catch on fire."

Well, he was, and he did.

Luckily, NB immediately blew him out -- along with the candles, which were quickly re-lit (before I even realized what had happened.) Fur was slightly singed, but no lasting damage ensued to cat, candles, menorah, table or gifts. And the phrase, "Did you put the cat out?" has now gained entirely new meaning in our little household.

Next night addendum: Same event; different cat. It's the only way an indoor cat will ever legitimately get put out.