Thoroughly Poetic Thankful Thimble Thursday

It's that day of the week again. You know, Thursday, the day we rhyme. It is, after all, time for Angel Sammy and Teddy's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge!

Just as they do every week, our hosts gave us a photo prompt to help us out this week. The image for this week's poetry is this one here:

I have always been intrigued by ballet, and so I figured my poem this week would go along with it. After all, the image above is one of ballerinas! But, lo and behold, my mind ended up taking another route. Seeing this image made me think of ballerinas going on stage, and then my mind wandered to other stage productions. One random thought led to another random thought, and ultimately I scribbled up this:

Cats!

The day had finally arrived.

For this, Sarah was willing to make a long drive.

The journey would take five hours or more,

But Sarah had been waiting for this since she was four.

Perhaps this discourse needs a bit more explanation.

Sarah would finally be viewing the most famous show in the nation.

That show was none other than Cats!

Surely you have heard of that.

Sarah slapped on her finest clothes,

On her legs even donning those less-than-cozy hose.

Most importantly, though, she kept her ticket close,

For it was the possession she presently prized the most.

And so with ticket in hand and all gussied up,

Sarah hopped into her little old truck.

It sputtered, chugged, and stalled.

Sometimes it barely even ran at all.

But to Sarah that did not matter one bit,

For the show ahead was bound to be a hit.

Her truck may have been smoking upon arrival,
But Sarah was glad for its trusty survival.
After all, it had brought here,
To the theater where she would watch a tale most dear.

Sarah quickly found her seat inside,
And her excitement she simply could not hide.
She impatiently waited for the show to begin.
When the curtain drew back, her face lit up with a grin.

At first the stage remained empty as could be.
No actors, at first, did the audience see.
Then, though, onto the stage the first character did walk,
The sight of it eliciting gasps of shock.

"What in Sam Hill is this?" someone did spew.
At the very same time, that first actor let out a mew.
It was a line spoken with pure authenticity.
After all, this actor was a furry, full-tailed kitty!

The cat sauntered right on over to center stage.
Right then and there it went on a tail-chasing rampage.
After that battle, the kitty's energy was zapped,
And so it curled up and fell into a nap.

While other audience members whined and grew riled,
Sarah immediately clapped and smiled.
This is exactly what she had been waiting for.
No wonder critics gave this Cats such a high score!

While the first character still snoozed away,
Half a dozen more cats appeared for their parts in the play.
Just look at that kitty over there licking its bum!

And another cat nearby batted around a crumb.

No, wait, on the crumb the kitty did sup,

But only to hack it and a hairball right back up.

This was even better than Sarah had ever expected.
The kitty characters had their parts more than perfected.
Sarah cheered as one kitty clawed its way up the big red curtain.
It made it to the top in record time, for certain.
A cardboard box then appeared on stage,
And it immediately became all the rage.

Sarah's eyes darted this way and that,
Trying to catch the roles played by each and every cat.
She did not want to miss one second of this show.
It was already so wonderfully keeping her on her toes!

Two great big tabbies began hissing and growling.
The crowd around Sarah was clearly judging and scowling.
Sarah, for one, was eager to see what happened,
When one tabby turned and slapped a cat deeply napping.

After that, the chase was on.
Into this race, every cat on stage was drawn.
Tabbies, black cats, white cats, and torties,
The cats on stage numbered at least forty.

It was an orange cat who took the lead in the race,
Until a little calico surged ahead in the chase.
She hopped, jumped, and bounced off the wall,
But never once did her pace even begin to stall.

Out of those big red curtains the calico made a swing,
So that right into the crowd the little kitty did fling.
People scurried and ran as the whole cast of cats flew off stage.
In their giant game of tag they were all still quite engaged.

The cats scaled and jumped off of those in the crowd.
The screams that ensued were really quite loud.
Sarah knew not why the folk around her acted so appalled.
They were watching the best ever showing of Cats, after all!

***

Today, just as with every Thursday, Thimble is now here to show you just how cute she is, and to participate in Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop. As a preface, Thimble helped model something for which this mom here of hers is very thankful. And that is, recently being a winner over at The Cat on My Head, where I won a pair of kitty socks from Our Sock. As a winner in this giveaway, I got to have an image of one of my kitty's heads put onto a lovely pair of socks. I had no trouble choosing which kitty would be on my first pair of socks from Our Socks.

Can you see past Thimble and that glaring sun to recognize that beautiful calico kitty on the pretty pink socks?

It's my angel Rosie! Truth be told, I've been eyeing the socks over at Our Socks for quite some time now. I plan on getting a pair for each of my furbabies over time, but I already knew that, when it came time for my sock collection to begin, my sweet angel Rosie would most certainly be the first one to adorn a pair. I was so happy and grateful to win the giveaway over at The Cat on My Head, because now my collection has officially begun. Thank you so much, Kitties Blue!

Thimble insisted she model the socks in every shot I tried to take of them.

Thimble truly believes that no shot snapped by a camera should exclude her.

Really, Thimble?

Let's be honest, I won't be wearing these socks. They're just too pretty and purrfect to get shoved onto my feet. Instead, I'm more than likely going to frame them and hang them in my room. I've also considered hanging some sort of mock clothesline on one of my walls, from which I could hang my now growing collection of furbaby socks. Either way, these socks will be a wonderful addition to my collection of Rosie images and art.

***

Tomorrow is the Friendly Fill-Ins! So, today we have the fill-ins to help you prepare. Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. I deserve a gold star for _________ today.

2. Right now, I am loving _________.

3. The best advice I've ever been given is _________.

4. If I had to choose a new first name, it would be _________.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends!

***

Our Tip of the Day:

We've given tips here and there on cats and their litter boxes. The litter box plays such a crucial role in not only your cat's daily life, but also their health and happiness. That's why we've decided to do an entire, comprehensive series of tips on that box of litter.

The first tip in this series is all about selecting the type of litter box. You wouldn't think a litter box could come in all that many varieties, but the litter box aisle at the pet store begs to differ. Litter boxes come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and configurations. That means there are a lot of considerations to make when selecting that litter box.

So, let's start with size. Is your cat of the larger variety? Especially in the case of a large cat, it is important to make sure the litter box is big enough. Out-of-box behavior, even if in the form of accidental misses, can occur if the box is too small for the cat. Sometimes, you'll even need to make sure to get a box that is not only large enough but that also has tall enough sides. Some cats are more prone to raising their rear end when urinating, for example, which would mean that a box with tall sides is a far more ideal option.

The above being said, also take into consideration if your cat is small. If you have a petite cat or a kitten, you might at least have to start with a small box. Being able to climb over the edge of the box in order to get inside is of course important. A kitten might very well outgrow their first litter box, but when they're small, they of course need to be able to comfortably climb into the litter box. In truth, though, no matter the size of your cat, stick to whatever size of box they seem to prefer and do well with. Some cats might be large, but also might prefer and do just fine with a small box. Take any such preferences your cat has into consideration.

There are also different shapes of cat litter boxes. There are rectangles, squares, circles, ovals, and even some triangular ones that can fit into corners. When selecting the shape of the litter box, you can base your decision on concepts such as how the shape might affect your furbaby's ability to get comfortable when in the box, or how the shape might affect the way it fits in your home. Then again, as mentioned above, your cat might reveal a preference for litter box shape, and if so, go with that.

Next up is an oft debated litter box detail. And that is, do you get a covered box? Or, do you get an uncovered box? Let's go right ahead and touch upon the fact that, ultimately, the cat gets to pick. Some cats prefer a box that is covered, such as for the sake of privacy. Other cats do not like covered boxes. That being said, covered boxes can harbor smells far more easily than uncovered boxes. Imagine walking into a portable toilet, one in which all of the smells just sit and fester. No one enjoys using a portable toilet, and that might be how some cats feel about a covered litter box. Again, though, the truth of the matter is that the cat should get to pick what kind of toilet they use. If your cat will not enter or use a covered box, but will willingly urinate or defecate in an uncovered box, then an uncovered box it is. If your cat urinates or defecates outside of an uncovered box, but will willingly go into a covered box and use it, then no matter what your thoughts on this topic are, your cat just gave you their answer.

So, when it comes to selecting the type of litter box your cat will use, of course take into consideration their size, whether the box will harbor smells, and other such details. That being said, though, just like us, our cats often have preferences and opinions on various matters. The litter box might very well be one of these matters. That's why, when it comes to any of the details of the litter box, if your cat shows a preference, take note of that and run with it.