Monthly Archives: February 2022

Our Little Attention-Getter

I took Frankie for a walk on Saturday. Sometimes he gets very vocal and won’t shut up until I take him out, then he is as quiet as a church mouse.

We started at our next-door neighbor’s house where Frankie had to do a thorough inspection of her bushes. I didn’t want to be standing right in front of her house, so I picked up Frankie and moved him to our side. Just then I heard her car door shut and then watched her drive away. “Okay, Frankie. Smell away.”

From there we walked across the street where we encountered a woman walking a small Yorkie. Surprisingly, the dog wasn’t barking. The woman thought Frankie was very cute and was amazed that he let me put a harness on him. While we were talking, Frankie walked up to the dog, the two of them smelled each other for a few seconds, and then Frankie quickly lost interest and continued walking.

We walked through the grass toward the pool. When we got close to the pool we encountered several people and dogs. To our left was a woman walking a small, white dog who was barking at Frankie. To our right were four people and two dogs in a parked golf cart. The dogs were not small but not huge either. The woman in the driver’s seat was so impressed by a cat walking with a leash and harness that she got out and walked toward Frankie with her phone because she wanted to video him. While she was doing that, Frankie started toward the barking dog.

When Frankie get to within five feet of the dog he stopped and changed directions. I think it was the woman who distracted him because he walked up to her and let her pet him. He then continued toward the golf cart where everyone was ooohing and aaahing. I’m not sure if Frankie liked the attention but he sure was encouraging it. He walked up to the golf cart, stopped and looked at the dogs for a second or two, and then continued on.

After that, he spent a little time rolling on the ground.

He followed that up with some grass-eating.

Finally, it was time to rest and to see how long Dad could put up with standing around waiting.

It occurred to me that if I wasn’t already happily married, and if I didn’t live in an old people’s community, walking a cat would be a great way to meet girls.

Photo Friday: Let Sleeping Cats Lie

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During my last volunteer shift at the shelter, one of the kittens fell asleep on my lap.

I had other cats to visit so I couldn’t stay there all day but I was also hesitant to move and wake him up. Since I had already been in that pod for quite some time before he fell asleep, I decided to let him sleep for five more minutes but then I had to move on.

New Cat Litter and the Return of an Old Problem

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Here is a post about cat litter from June of 2015. In case you are wondering, we still use Dr. Elsey’s unscented cat litter.

Bad Cat Chris

Recently I heard about the possible health risks of clumping cat litter. After doing some research, I learned that the controversy started in 1995 after Marina Michaels wrote an article for Tiger Tribe Magazine titled Clumping Clay Kitty Litters: A Deadly Convenience? In it she described several litters of kittens dying of an unknown cause until she determined it was the clumping clay litter that was causing the problem.

Upon further research, I found that all other articles about the subject pointed back to Michael’s’ original article and it seems that no research has been done to prove, or disprove, her claim. It also seems that if there is a problem, kittens are affected considerably more than adult cats.

Proof or not, I thought it would not hurt to take away a potential danger and replace it with a healthier alternative. I also thought it would be lighter and…

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Facebook Milestones

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As many of you know, Chris has a Facebook page. You might also know that Facebook wrongly declared this blog as spam and won’t let me share my blog posts on the page. There is also no way to correct their mistake because it seems only computers work in the Facebook customer service department. Despite all that, the followers have swelled to 25 short of the 3000 follower milestone. If you don’t follow Chris on Facebook and would like to you please click on the link above.

The real milestone is my other blog, Just Fur Laughs. I never gained very many followers on that blog but the Just Fur Laughs Facebook page just passed 10,000 followers.

It makes me feel good that people actually like what I put out there. Now, if only I could make money on it.

A Day at the Shelter

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I have not been volunteering much lately at the SPCA because of my job. I work part-time but I rarely know in advance when I will be off. Usually, I come in in the morning and work until everything is done. Sometimes that is all day and sometimes not. When I do work all day I often have to call the next morning to see if and when I should come in. The shelter likes people to sign up a day in advance but I can’t do that so the few opportunities I have to work I sign up a few hours before the shift starts.

Before Covid I had a regular shift every Friday from 1-4 as an adoption counselor. Back then I had a different job and was able to do that. Now I just go in when I can. Last week I happened to have Tuesday off, which is a day the shelter is closed. I decided to go in as what they call a “Cat Cuddler.” It is what I did when I first started volunteering. The idea is to just pay attention to the cats. Many cats need to have human interaction. I think because they like it, number one, and number two, they become less afraid of humans and more easily adopted. The last one applies to some cats but not all. Some are just naturally social or they come to the shelter already socialized.

When I arrived I went first to the isolated cats, which are cats that just had surgery or cats that need to be seperated for some other reason.

The first cat I saw looked like a Persian, which I have never seen at the shelter before. I opened her cage to get a better photo but she kept trying to escape and wouldn’t stand still.

The shelter was less than half full but there was still plenty of cats for adoption. Many were mellow adults.

There were a couple of black cats that were very friendly. I took many photos of them being friendly but none were good enough to show.

Then there were the youngsters.

This one had a littermate but it was difficult to get a good photo of both of them.

See what I mean.

Both of those kittens were shy, as was this one.

Lying in their litter box is a sign of stress and another reason that human contact is so important.

A couple of the young ones were not shy at all.

Then there were the in-between cats. The cats that were not shy but also not eager to come out for attention.

It was nice to get back to the shelter and I am looking forward to my next opportunity to go back.

Frankie’s Favorite Spot Becomes Permanent

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Rose bought a sectional sofa from Babcock near the end of 2017. I am sure it was expensive but I never wanted to know how much she paid, given my aversion to spending money on stuff we don’t need. Nevertheless, it is a comfortable sofa and Frankie loves lying at my feet when I have the footrest open. There is a little nook in the footrest that fits Frankie just right. He usually lies in the corner on my left but if I get up for some reason, when I come back I find him stretched out and I then have to sit at an angle.

About a year and a half ago, the pull cord that opens the footrest broke. I tried to contact someone at Badcock about it but I could not get through to a real person. I don’t remember why. It is probable that the wait time was an hour or more and I didn’t want to do it. By the way, if any company says that your call is important to them and then puts you on hold for more than five minutes, they are lying.

I did find an email address for them and sent an email explaining my problem but I never got a response. In the end, I drove up to the store, paid them over $25 for the part, and then had to wait over a month. If I remember right it took way longer than that. I think it came in after we went to West Virginia the first time.

I picked it up and put the piece on after we came home in January of last year. It was the most difficult thing I have done in recent memory. I almost never swear but I was like a drunken sailor that day.

Now, just over one year later it has broken again. Really, less than a year since we did not use the sofa for two months.

I went back to Badcock but the thought of paying twice to fix something that should not have broken once disturbs me. I tried to argue my point to no avail. I did find out that the sofa is an actual Badcock brand and it has a three-year warranty which means I was charged for the first part before the three years was up. I guess I will have to try calling them again.

In the meantime, I have to leave the footrest up and Frankie loves it.

Photo Friday: Double Bed

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I saw Chris and Floki sleeping together in the same bed yesterday and had to get a photo.

I think it is a great picture except the image quality is disappointing. As soon as I downloaded it to my computer and looked at it I decided I should go get my good camera and try again, but when I got up I noticed that Floki had already abandoned his position. I guess I made him nervous taking pictures. Oh well.

Catnip, I have You Now!

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Here is a post from June of 2015 for Throwback Thursday. I think we moved the catnip to a high cabinet after this but that did not stop Chris. Today he is too old and overweight to get to where the catnip is.

Bad Cat Chris

I was making dinner Monday night and I opened a drawer to get something out. When I tried to close the drawer, Chris had both paws over it and I couldn’t push it shut. I could have pushed him off but I had to stir my food and I thought it wouldn’t hurt to let him look for a second. After all, it was just kitchen stuff. What could he possibly want?

I forgot about him for a minute and saw him inside the drawer when I turned around. I thought it was a cute picture so I grabbed my camera to get a picture of him before I got him out of there. I kept calling his name but he wouldn’t lift his head so I could get a good shot. It was then that I realised that he was ripping something apart. I quickly picked him up and…

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Frankie’s Belated Gotcha Day

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I forgot Frankie’s Gotcha Day which was last week on the 9th. Since his chart labeled him as three years old, I also consider it his eleventh birthday. Frankie was actually an early Valentine’s Day gift for my wife in 2014. she wanted a cat instead of jewelry that year. Rose’s previous cat, Puck, became my cat as did Frankie, eventually, which is why we got Floki but I’m getting ahead of myself.

You can read about Frankie’s adoption here. I also posted several photos of Frankie in two posts three years later. See the first one here. I won’t repeat those here but I do want to show some newer photos of Frankie as well as one photo from day one that I forgot about.

Here is Frankie on his first day with a blanket in his mouth.

I thought that habit developed later.

Here he is in 2017 on one of his walks that he loves.

Here he is with Floki enjoying the catio we built at a previous home in 2018, days before Puck died.

Here he is after one of his many escapes. He uses vehicles to make it difficult for me to catch him. If I get close, he simply backs up where I can’t reach him.

I always consider Chris to be the touchy-feely cat but Frankie has his moments. Here he is with Puck.

We usually see Frankie stretched out.

But sometimes he likes to curl up into a ball.

We are very happy we adopted Frankie and I think he is happy too.

A Day of Double Remembrance

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The day after Valentine’s day is not a good day for memories. In February of 1999, I was informed that my father, who had been receiving treatment for colon cancer on and off for the previous three and a half years, was not doing well. I was on a plane to Chicago a couple of days later.

I arrived on a Friday and my dad seemed okay then but he was worse on Saturday. Valintine’s day was the next day and I thought about getting him a Valentine’s Day card for him to give to my mom. I didn’t have a car so the thought never turned into action but I regret not making the effort.

When I spoke to my sister that day I thought about telling her to cancel her tickets for next month and get on a plane tomorrow. I thought about it but didn’t do it because I had no idea how long my father had left on this Earth. I regret that too because by Monday he was gone.

Recently my mother brought some old photos to me and I would like to share some of my father, Charles Huss Sr.

Here he is back in the 60s. I’m not sure when this was taken but it is possibly before I was born.

Here he is with my mom in 1973.

Here is our family on Dad’s parent’s fiftieth wedding anniversary on New Years Day, 1986.

Here he is in 1994 at my parent’s second home on Pine Island, near Fort Meyer’s, Florida. I helped him plant that tree a few years earlier after he fished a couple of coconuts out of the water.

Finally, here he is in June of 1997 with my mom at my cousin’s wedding.

In 2018, also on the day after Valentine’s day, we lost our sweet boy Puck. You can read my post about it here. My father just turned 59 and Puck had not reached six years old. Both died way too young.

Puck came to us as a kitten after abbey died in 2012. Chris took to him right away and seemed to act like a father figure to him.

Chris greets Puck on his first day as he comes out from under the bed for food.

When Puck was young he would hang out with my wife while she was getting ready for work. Sometimes he would chase a Qtip and then bring them back to her so she could throw it again.

Puck and Chris became close buddies.

Our cats Chris and Puck napping together.

They also played together but they were never mean to each other.

Eventually, Puck started having health issues and was at the vet a lot. He liked to hide behind me while we waited for the vet.

This is one of the last photos of a happy Puck taken on February 11, 2018, the day we finished construction of their new catio. Sadly, Puck did not have much time to enjoy it.

Thank you for indulging me while I share my memories. Despite the untimely endings, these are good memories.