...On a warmish, semi-sunny Saturday afternoon, with my brain still out of order, and the house smelling of comfort food?
Lots of stuff on the must-do-soon list, but most of it requires a functioning brain, and the other things involve manual labor, and whatever crud I'm battling has given me a bad case of randomly sore muscles.
So, a task from the to-do list for which a functioning brain is not required, and indeed may be disqualifying... giving the kittens their first bath!
While taking them to the laundromat may seem tempting, it might not be the best idea, especially as they'll still be around for a few weeks before I inflict them on other people. So:
I'd brought up the subject at my favorite pet-supply store a couple of weeks ago, and left with (a) a bottle of extra-gentle puppy & kitten shampoo, and (b) a suggestion to wear Really Good Gloves.
So what do I do?
Fill a shallow pan with very warm water with some of the shampoo mixed in. Leave it in the laundry tub. Leave the tap running, on very warm, with the faucet in shower-head mode.
In short sleeves and bare hands, pick up Top Hat, who seems the most amenable to such treatment.
Into the pan!
She squirms, but I manage to rub the suds into her fur, then rinse her (as she tries to climb out of the sink), then towel her off and deposit her in front of the electric heater, placed in the living room for the occasion.
Repeat with Huckleberry (the most hydrophobic of the bunch) and Southmoon (the wild one, who turns out to be the most cooperative with regard to bathing).
Mop the floor, change to a dry shirt, check for damage: no scratches, no bites, and the kittens seem mildly disgruntled but not traumatized. I even got a purr out of Top Hat a moment ago (the other two are busy eating at the moment).
Update: by the time they'd finished drying out, things were pretty much back to normal. Playing with each other, climbing into my lap, and generally acting like happy little varmints. Plus! They don't smell funny anymore.
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