Anyway,..the inhaler disappeared for a while. I started to look for it and then,.the sixty six year old came into the room and asked why I was not.."making our company feel welcome." I gave up the search for my breathing device.

My husband and I sat down to talk to his sister, and the neice was playing with my six cats,.who were chasing a string that she obligingly dangled for them.

As we shared coffee and gossiped about local events,..all of the adults lost track of the adolescent and her feline playmates. Usually,..one of us keeps an eye on her from the minute that she comes through the door of our house!!

Arrrrrrrgh! Suddenly,..there came a squalling and mewling that even I could hear! My namesake had locked herself in our downstairs bathroom and was giving all of my poor kitties a breathing treatment with my inhaler!!

As my husband ran to get a screwdriver to unfasten the hinges on the bathroom door,..I reminded myself that this was not a time for "self-rightious indignation." My sister-in-law lives with this child..24/7. I have her only when this poor woman wants the relief of adult company.

My sister-in-law loves her daughter. I have not the depths of my sister-in-law's love for this child,..still,..I will not run from her or the fact that people like her exist or deny her a place in the human race because her brain..works..differently.

Back to my poor kitties!! When my son told the vet at the emergency vet clinic what was in the inhaler,..he said just to let the cats sleep off the effects of the bronko-dialater..(the med in the inhaler.) I was also to watch them for signs of "disturbances" in their behavior."

Tipper has been chasing a "ball," or at least went through the motions of ball chasing and pouncing on something even though there was no ball or "pouncible" object in sight!! How can I break the news to this normally sane and practical cat,..that he could be hallucinating?

Lizard Breath has been terrified of "Squirrely," our smallest fixed kitty,..who has been running through the house non-stop as though he could never run out of energy...and yowling at Lizard as if he was going to beat her up for all of the times that she swatted his ears!!

Lizard Breath even let Squirrely mount her! This is a most unusual behavior in both cats because Lizard Breath is usually the "top cat," and Squirrely has been fixed for a long time!!

Squirrely also beat up Tipper,.who weighs in at fourteen pounds and is a "full unfixed Thomas Cat!!" Squirrely and Tipper are now,..it appears,..playing peacefully together with Tip's imaginary ball!

Talk about an "upset" in the feline social order"..around here!! Under normal circumstances,..Squirrel is the last cat in line at the feeding bowl!! Now,..he rules the roost..with an "Iron paw!"