Domestic Violence on a Sunday Afternoon...

There is nothing quite like a Sunday afternoon. It's relaxing and laid back, just spending time with family and friends. However, in our house, apparently, it is the setting for violence and rage (look at the wound on Paul's arm and the smug look on Scooters face - this is no joke :). All the cats like Paul more than me; it's something I've come to live with. Scooter especially, has a soft spot for Paul so, it was no surprise when we were watching some TV yesterday and Scooter assumed her position on Paul's arm/shoulder (even though he was leaned forward - she didn't care, she is happy to wait until he leaned back). We were watching Criminal Minds and the violence in our living room was worse then what was on screen....

Scooter assumed her position and I was walking over to get a drink and as I walked by I gave her a quick scratch on the head - she understandably, took this as a sign of aggression apparently because she used Paul's arm as a leaping pad that she could spring off of to get away from my sneaky "attack" on her. Paul, who was just an innocent bystander in all this got scratched and SCREAMED "Janet, if you are going to pet them DON'T do it when they are on me", I was in such shock at what was going on - #1, that my cat that I defend and fight for (when Paul says he wants to give her away), not to mention, feed, clean up after and take care of can't stand me touching her and #2 that my 30 year old husband was screaming like my nephew when he fell into a cactus on our hike in Snow Canyon a couple Winters ago (see "Blood Everywhere"). So, I did what seemed logical in the hear of the moment. After Paul yelled at me, I yelled at Scooter for picking on someone so much smaller than her (eye roll) and then followed her as she ran away into the bedroom. Meanwhile Paul yelled after both of us "NEVERMIND THAT I'M BLEEDING HERE!!!!". So I walked in and grabbed the benzyl peroxide and band aids and walked back into the living room to administer to my patient. He was SO scared when I grabbed his arm and he pointed out to me "how much blood was 'gushing' from the wounds" and I told him how sorry I was as I dabbed the cotton in the peroxide. When I went to administer it to the arm, Paul jerked away and said "no, wait, what are you doing - are you pouring alcohol in it?" I wanted to say "Nope, it's lemon juice... just for fun you know" but I said "no Paul it's peroxide" and he said "okay but... just be gentle, be careful" so I dabbed it and Paul made a face and then looked down and said "see it's infected, I knew it". I asked if he wanted to go to the hospital so that he didn't risk losing the whole arm but he said he would be brave. He then asked if we had a sling in the house or enough materials to fashion some kind of cast for him. I told him I could probably handle the sling but I might have to say no to making a cast. He settled on a band-aid but made a grimacing face the whole time I put it on.

After the tension had died down a little bit I told Paul he should probably apologize and make up with Scooter since he scared the crap out of her... he said "no, if anything SHE should apologize to me!", I told him to wait on that and see how it worked out. I did feel bad though because it took Scooter ALL day to feel like she could approach Paul again (see the picture of her ashamed face) but she couldn't stay away longer than that.

We later went to Paul's Mom's house and he was too embarrassed to wear the band aid there. I asked why and he said "well I don't want people thinking it's a big deal" and I said (In a slow sarcastic tone), "right, you would hate for people to think you over-reacted or anything" ;) He didn't worry though about what I thought (or our neighbors for that matter) since he made NO secret of the intense pain as he was in ripping off the band aid. He also made me look at it to see "just how much hair had been pulled out when he ripped it off".

On second thought, the band-aid was probably not the best idea but, hey, I'm a first-time Mom here... I didn't know how to handle my child getting attacked like that. I'm too busy sneaking up on un-suspecting animals to be concerned with other people’s welfare j/k

Disclaimer: I do have Paul's permission to use these photos and report this story and you all have MY permission to give Paul a hard time and/or... call animal control regarding our feroucious and devious cat Scooter ;)