Growling

I’m hoping Lion isn’t coming down with the crud that’s going around this area. He had chills and a slight fever last night. He decided he’d rather stay snuggled under the blankets than write a post. Actually, he argued with himself about writing a post. He thought he should, but he didn’t think he could. Eventually, staying under the warm blankets won out.

Lion emailed me when he was leaving work. He said he wasn’t feeling well. We decided on dinner and I told him to get in bed and relax. Once he got home, he did get in bed and fell asleep. Then he read my email about getting in bed. He was happy he’d followed my instructions even if he hadn’t read them yet. I was too. When he’s not feeling well, he tends to try to do normal things rather than listening to me. Eventually I have to growl at him to get in bed and stay there.

Once I growl, he knows he’s in trouble. Or about to be in trouble. I don’t normally raise my voice to him. He’s pretty good about following rules so there’s no need. The notable exceptions are his interrupting and when he’s sick. Unless I allow it to fester, raising my voice is usually a warning shot. The next step is punishment. He’s smart enough to heed the warning.

I wonder how many times I’ll have to growl at him when he has his surgery. Sometimes he’s very good about doing what’s good for him. Other times, not so much. Obviously, at first he’ll be in too much pain to do much, but after the first week or so I think he’ll be up and about to some extent. He’ll have exercises to do. Boring and sometimes painful exercises. I may have to remind him to do his “homework”. I may also have to remind him he’s trying to do too much. The rules may be suspended, but that doesn’t mean a lioness won’t growl.

I have a feeling I’ll become very skilled in the art of growling.