Training to be a service cat

Lexi Lexi: Well it's been a while since you've heard from us. A lot has happened both good and bad, but we still feel blest. There have been a lot of ups and downs with me since I was diagnosed with CKD. The biggest problem is my eating. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't. I've lost a lot of weight so it's really important that I eat so mommy worries a lot when I don't. Any purrayers you can spare would be appreciated.

Anyways, we've been telling stories of our Service Cat training on our blog. So we thought you might enjoy hearing one here. You know mommy raised me from the time I was 10 minutes old and watched me grow and mature and get bigger. The day finally came when she said I was old enough and big enough to learn to use the phone to call for help if needed. She would sit me by the phone and press my paw on the long bar, and a loud purr would come out of it. It was one of the old fashioned corded land line phones with a speakerphone and answering machine built right in. After pushing my paw on the long bar, mommy would then push my paw on some small buttons till someone was talking to me from inside the box. Mommy would make meow noises that didn't make any sense to me, and then push my paw on the long bar again and all the noises went quiet. She would do this over and over again. After each time, she would praise me and hug me and kiss me and tell me I was so smart. I really wanted to learn cause mommy was so happy about me doin' it.

Lexi with the phone We did this several times a day for seems like furever, and then one day I did it all by myself. Mommy was sooooo proud. I had finally learned to dial 911. (Please remember it's a crime to call 911 if you don't have a true emergency. And it takes up valuable time from someone who does. Mommy always unplugs the phone and uses a recording to simulate an actual 911 call. Only after she is certain that I or any cat is sufficiently trained will she make arrangements with the 911 dispatchers to make a live test call. There is a form she fills out with the telephone company so they can attach a note to her account that tells the 911 operator to send assistance if they receive a call with a cat(s) meowing.) On with our training adventure.

The next lesson had me learning to bring mommy the phone. Mommy would take the funny purr thing with the string on it (cordless phone) and put it in another room and tell me to bring it to her. I thought, well if ya' wanted it so bad, why did ya' take and leave it in the other room? And I'd just look at her. After a few times of mommy telling me to bring it to her and me doin' nothin', Devon (my brofur at the time) meowed "Hey kid, get the phone and take it to her." I meowed back and asked why and explained that she put it in the other room herself. He meowed "It's a training thing. Sometimes she may not be able to go get it herself, so she'll need ya' to bring it to her." Mommy told me again, and I went and got the phone. She waz sooooo excited. She loved and hugged me and told me I was sooooo smart. Then she sang the You are so beautiful to me song to me and Devon and Lucky. We just purred and loved on mommy. I thought, "Maybe this job thing ain't so bad after all. It sure makes mommy happy when I do good at these things. (Mommy can only guess at what our meows meant based on our personalities and following actions.)

We continued this training for a few more days, till I brought the phone to her every time, and then we moved on to the next adventure.

Dezi and Lexi Dezi: You know sissy it's really important to remind people that training doesn't happen overnight and we can't possibly tell every minute of our training process. Our stories although true are not meant to be a training manual. And me would like to remind everybody that we have a fundraiser for sis Lexi's ongoing medical care. We would like to thank those of you who have donated. Every penny is appreciated and no gift is too small. We also thank you for the purrayers and support, they are priceless. And if you liked reading about sis Lexi's training then tune in to our blog at DezizWorld.com where we tell a new story every Monday, Wednesday and Furiday. And feel free to share our stories and posts on social media. We also regret that we don't have photos of us training. At the time we only had a 35mm camera and film was costly as well as developing so mommy didn't take a lot of photos. Certainly not like she does these days. The flashy box (camera) is always going off these days.