Osa Washes

Osa-the-cat has what might be called “an unfortunate voice.” Nyel compares her to Janice, the ‘oh-my-gawd’ character on “Friends” who was Chandler’s girlfriend. Certainly Osa’s gravelly meow is just as annoying. Add persistent, unmodulated, and fractious. If there were elocution lessons for cats I’d sign her up in a New York minute!

Other than her snarky sounding voice (which, curiously, she often produces simultaneously with a friendly sounding purr), Osa really has no troublesome characteristics. She is friendly and, though we wish she were more cuddly, she is companionable in a parallel universe sort of way. She is neat and tidy, too – washes her face after meals, doesn’t scatter the kitty litter around, and pretty much confines her scratching to her own special scratching platform.

Osa’s Manicure

However, she does leave discarded claws hither and thither throughout the house. When I first began to see them – usually on the carpet, but also on the window sill or the mantle – I was somewhat taken aback. I’ve never before had a totally indoor cat nor have I ever had to supply a scratching post as part of my furniture. Sharpening claws always took place outdoors and it never occurred to me that there might be claw-shedding involved.

Voodoo Doll

Little did I know that when the cat’s nail has grown beyond the blood supply, the outside sheath is discarded to make room for a newer, sharper version. Apparently, this happens to each claw about every two to three months in the average housecat. We’ve had Osa since February and she has shed quite a few claws by now.

This morning when Osa began her caterwauling at 4:30, I suddenly wondered if there wasn’t a use for those old claws. You know, utilizing them in some way to cause her voice to modulate? Like someone might use human nail clippings in a black magic ceremony? I do have a voodoo doll that I got forty years ago in Haiti. She comes with a straight pin (suspiciously like a hat pin) but with no instructions.

Oh well… it was one of those pre-dawn fantasies that usually evaporate with the first cup of coffee…