Earthside Challenge: Making It Home (G) by Adina_Atl

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Challenge: Earthside
Title: Making It Home
Spoilers: None
Rating: G
Warning: None
Words: 100 exact
Author: Adina_Atl
Summary: When the cat's away, the mice make play.


The stargate opened beyond the window of Jack's office, seen and not heard, traveled by others and not him.

Walters coughed from behind Jack. "Sir? About the Atlantis requisitions?"

Jack waited until SG-12 had appeared safely on the ramp and then turned. "What about them?"

Walters silently handed Jack a form.

Jack read over it and felt his eyebrow rising. "Atlantis is requisitioning...a cat?"

"Alien foodstuff. Mice." Walters shrugged. "The cat Dr. McKay left behind on Earth is a good mouser, Colonel Sheppard informed me."

Jack gave Walters a stare that bounced off his entirely too bland expression.

"Approved."

Comments

[girly-curl-3.livejournal.com]

Awww...Rodney gets his cat!

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I can imagine traveling to another galaxy, even without an expectation of being able to return, but not if I had to leave my cats behind!

[jic]

That's adorable!

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Atlantis *could* get mice, after all.

[saffronhouse.livejournal.com]

Oh, very nice! Of course Jack would approve it!

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Sam and Schroedinger would disown him if he didn't.

[sholio]

That's just too cute. And I like that Sheppard had to get his 2 cents in there and try to help Rodney get his cat! :)

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Sheppard is definitely the one who requisitioned the cat (and probably manufactured the reports of mice).

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

also, the kitty is probably safe from the Wraith.

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

"Rodney?" John's voice was suspiciously calm. "About your cat..."

"Jane? What about her?"

"She left an iratus bug in my bed. Half of one. Again!"

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

heeee!

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[(Anonymous)]

"She left an iratus bug in my bed. Half of one. Again!"

"She definitely likes you."

Actually, I don't think many people have thought through what it would take to ensure a cat's survival on Atlantis. Would a cat be happy in a place where the ground and walls are all hard, where nutritional needs are entirely dependent on the human population, and where nothing looks or smells the way it ought to? (Mind you, given the lifespan of the average cat, I don't think most people care about their cats' welfare nearly as much as they claim to.)

Cats have different nutritional requirements than humans. They need regular checkups with a veterinarian. They need to be able to perch in high places at will. They need to be able to get to the litterbox at will and have a bit of privacy. They need to walk and run and mark territory. They have to be kept away from harmful flora and fauna and mechanical dangers, and away from sterile areas, stargates, and ships. They have to be kept out of your way while you're desperately trying to save the world again, and while you're doing that, *somebody* still needs to be feeding them, watering them, and cleaning the litterbox.

You know, the only way I can think of to justify a cat in Atlantis would be if it was a documented experiment (The Viability of Earth Pets In an Artificial Environment by Dr. Felix Amor, DVM...) with a dedicated person manning the project.

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Would a cat be happy in a place where the ground and walls are all hard, where nutritional needs are entirely dependent on the human population, and where nothing looks or smells the way it ought to?

You mean like an apartment in New York city? *grin*

[argosy.livejournal.com]

I'm not even a cat person, but the hints of McShep here are too cute, *hugs*

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Glad you like it.

[hajimebassaidai.livejournal.com]

I love that Walter is completely poker-faced for this and Jack really doesn't care that this is the world's flimsiest excuse!

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

It is pretty flimsy, isn't it? *grin*