When Poppy woke up for her day, she was immediately horrified. She got a look at herself in the mirror, and could not believe her own eyes. She was lacking fur in a lot of major areas. During the night, she had felt nervous and itchy, so she had worked on herself a little. She had been so busy and stressed out about the impending undercover operation that she feared she might have neglected her appearance. So, she began grooming–and did not know when to stop. She had over- groomed, sometimes a danger with conscientious kitties. Rosie and Willie tried to put on brave faces to give a positive spin to the situation.
“It’s not so bad,” said Rosie. “You can pass it off as just a bad fur day.”
“Yes,” said Willie. “It’ll be OK–I have some nice scarves I can lend you.” “Let’s turn it into a fashion opportunity,” said Rosie.
Poppy felt bad. There was no other way to say it. She had de-furred herself in several key areas. She was especially embarrassed about the area around her tail. There was no denying it. This was one very bad fur day.
Poppy was not overly vain, but she did like to put her best paw forward. Rosie and Willie immediately sprang into action. Neither was inclined to rest in hammocks when there was work to be done, and this was an emergency. The all important kitty dignity was at stake.
Willie immediately got on the wire with her doctor friends, and found an ointment to give Poppy. She also advised her to take the day to rest.
Rosie sought to console Poppy, and reminded her that their COBRA group would understand her condition–that everyone would know to be kind to her.
“Oh my Halibut!” said Poppy. “My first thought was to hide out, but our spy business cannot wait. I must go on no matter what.”
In one way, Poppy was fortunate. Because the secret undercover operation was going to be launched soon, she would not be presiding over her usual KIT meeting. And she had heard that the Truttyfore grandkids, Vivian, Colin and Malcolm, were coming for the weekend. This would be a good distraction. The kids were just so much fun that entertaining them would surely take her mind off her predicament.