Turning Heads at PETCO

I went to the PETCO store today and turned a few heads in the process.  It begins with our cat, Noelle.

There’s a nice lady at the PETCO store who cheerily greets each shopper as they enter.  She was filling up the dog treats display in the store which is more akin to what you and I would regard as a buffet table.  They have a full and tasty assortment of dog treats in different shapes, flavors and colors.  I still remember with a smile the time I noticed a small child standing by his father near that buffet.  I grabbed a canine treat that looked like a cream filled chocolate cookie and took a bite.  Gave the kid a smile and motioned for him to try one.  The kid’s face was worth it!  He was astounded!  He grabbed his dad’s coat and said … “Dad!  That man is eating the dog treats!”  Dad looked me over as I continued munching with half the “cookie” in my hand and he slowly shook his head and said, “You are a sick man.” 

Well I was not so motivated on this visit.  I was on a mission.  Noelle absolutely loves to be outdoors.  We don’t want her beating up on the neighborhood pets so we keep her on a 40’ leash that is anchored in such a way as to allow her to get into several interesting areas of the yard (for hunting, for relaxing, for running etc) without getting into trouble.  The problem is that it is very cold right now and I do not feel as though it would be acting responsible to put her out when the weather is below 20.  It’s been in single digits the last couple of days.  Noelle doesn’t understand that though.  She cries at the back door, looking longingly through the glass, pawing up at the handle when she sees either Linda or me coming (if she could open it she would) and generally making a pest of herself trying to communicate what we already know: “I want to go outside!!!”  If I get up from my chair … she runs to the back door as automatically as the garage door goes up when you press the button on the remote.

The responsible thing to do is get her a coat.

I went to the gal in the PETCO store and said, “I have a daughter who loves to go outside.  We have a leash that we tie her to but it is really too cold to just put her out there these days.  I was hoping to find her a coat here.  She regarded me rather thoughtfully for a moment and I almost wondered if she might ask, “Are you the guy who eats dog treats?”  But no … she said, how big is your dog?  “Good guess”, I said, “but it’s my cat.”   Her eyes got a little bigger as she said, “Ooookaaaaay, we don’t have them for cats.” 

“That’s OK, my cat thinks she’s a dog so maybe we can fool her.”

So the kind lady pointed me to the corner of the store where they kept the dog coats.  I liked a couple of them but they had liners that had dog bones printed on them.  I didn’t think that was appropriate.  I did find some though that were “species neutral” and was then faced with another challenge.   No problem, another nice salesperson came along and asked if she could help. 

“I’m looking for a coat but not sure what size I need.”

“Oh”, she said, “I can help.  How big is your dog?’

“It’s my cat”, I said and then continued … “What size would you say you wear?”  The quizzical look which she gave me was precious!  She laughed though, knowing I was joking with her.  She then inquired, “How much does your cat weigh?”  I knew enough, dear reader, not to push it much further with that question so I replied straightforwardly, “10 pounds.”

We quickly found a coat that would work and I was happily on my way.

Noelle is now in possession of a reversible Pink/Gray fleecy coat.  She loves me!  Probably not for the reasons I would hope … but because now I will feel more ready to let her outside.