Author Archives: Charles Huss

Two More Days

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By this time Friday morning, we will be preparing to get on the road back to Florida so the cats are enjoying the catio as much as possible while it lasts.

We made a major decision on Saturday morning. I was lucky enough to be allowed to take two months off of work but it did not go well for my boss. They guy that was supposed to replace me got Covid and never came to work. Then my boss got Covid too. It was a mess. Needless to say taking another two months off next year seems like too much to ask so we concluded we would not come back next year.

Since we are not coming back we decided to rent the house. Rose listed it Saturday morning and by that afternoon we had a potential tenant. We listed it as four bedrooms instead of five so we could use one room to store personal stuff we can’t bring home. We then bought a bunch of boxes and have been separating our stuff between going and not going. I scheduled a Uhaul trailer but it seems our going pile has become quite large. I hope it fits in the trailer and I also hope it fits in our house.

I think our boys are really going to miss this big house and especially the catio but I know they will not miss the back and fourth car trips.

Cats Everywhere

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I looked out the front door yesterday and saw one of the beautiful white stray cats in our front yard.

A day earlier I saw her and another white cat hanging out together at the house behind ours.

Frankie was scratching and crying at the door like he knew someone was out there. I was tempted to open the door so he could look out through the storm door but decided against it. It wouldn’t have mattered because the cat soon walked out of view.

I went back to whatever I was doing but Frankie insisted I let him out on the catio, which is in the back of the house. When I opened the door, he and Floki went out and there was soon a commotion. I looked and saw the white cat walking through our back yard.

By the time I took the above photo the cat had walked through the picket fence. With no more cat, things should settle down. But wait! Suddeny there was more commotion on the side of the side of the catio.

The neighbor’s cat was outside on a table in their backyard and Frankie and Floki both noticed. Fortunately, the cat didn’t come over for a visit like last time and our cats quickly got bored and dispursed.

Imagine if humans acted like that whenever another human walked by. I bet New York City would be even more interesting.

That’s My Blanket

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A couple of friends of ours from Florida, Nancy and Joe, visited us over the weekend. They recently bought a Winnabego and had taken it on the road. On their return to Florida, we were not too much out of the way so they stopped here for a couple af days.

On Saturday, while we were sitting at the dining room table, Nancy was cold so Rose offered her the blanket that she keeps on the couch. The same blanket that Chris loves to sleep on because it is very soft.

While she was sitting there with the blanket over her lags, Chris tried to reclaim the blanket by lying on her feet.

He actually took a nap there on her feet. I guess she will think next time about who’s blanket she decides to steal.

Frankie Escapes

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I was at the supermaket yesterday morning when Rose called me. “Frankie got out!” she said. “And I’m locked out of the house with no shoes on.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’m coming home right now.”

I quickly checked out with what I was able to get and went home. When I arived I saw nobody at first but then saw Rose and the pest control guy crossing the street. The guy was here to do an annual termite inspection and Frankie got out when Rose answered the door.

The man was carrying a fishing net and Rose pointed and said “Frankie is under that truck. As soon as we approached, Frankie ran out.

He ended up under a van a couple of houses down so I asked the guy to push at Frankie with his net. I hoped he would come out on my end but he shot out the front and ended up back under the pest control guy’s truck.

From there he went into the neighbors back yard and was about to jump the fence into our yard but changed his mind and skirted past me. After a little more chasing he ended up in front of our house too pooped to care anymore. I held my hand out and he gave it a good sniff while I move in close enough to grab him.

My biggest worry is that he is unfamiliar with the area. I have been lazy and have not taken him for a walk since he seems very content to just hang out on the catio. With one week more here I don’t think I will worry about walkling him here but once we get back to Florida I will have to do that.

The New Scratching Chair

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Here is a good one for Throwback Thursday from 2015. Rose bought a chair for this house recently with a similar fabric and history is repeating.

Bad Cat Chris

Rose: Don’t even think about scratching my new chair, Chris. You ruined the last one.

Bad Cat Chris scratching new chair

Chris: I’m just looking at it. Besides, it wasn’t all me. Frankie helped ruin the other chair.

Rose: Just behave, and don’t be a bad cat.

Bad Cat Chris scratching new chair

Chris: This is really nice fabric. I’ll bet this was expensive.

Rose: Chris! What did I just tell you?

Bad Cat Chris scratching new chairChris: Check out the workmanship.

Rose: Chris! Stop it! Stop scratching the chair!

20150321_Cats_1104Chris: Mom, this chair is really nice. I would talk to Frankie about keeping his claws off of it.

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Staying Warm

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We went to bed Monday night with our thermostat set to cool. Tuesday morning we woke up to an outside temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit. I didn’t notice what the temperature was inside the house but it was pretty cool. It is not very often that we see all three cats sleeping together like this. I think this was an attempt to stay warm.

Another Visit From a Kitten

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My wife and I were on the catio with the cats yesterday afternoon when we heard the sound of a cat crying. I saw that there was a kitten in a tree next door so Rose started talking to the kitten. Upon hearing her voice, the kitten decided get down from the tree and come visit us.

Unlike the last two visits from cats, this one was not tolerated very well by Frankie.

I had to get up and stop Frankie from tearing at the screens because I was worried he might get through and attack the kitten. I guessed this kitten was a male because of Frankie’s attitude compared to the last two cats.

Frankie did settle down a little bit when he knew I didn’t like what he was doing. There was a little hissing and growling but I have heard much worse. Perhaps because he was a kitten he wasn’t much of a threat.

He was indeed a male because the neighbor came out and we talked to her about him. Rose asked if that was her cat and she said “It looks like he will be.” She had already given him a name like Sugar Plum or something with sugar in it. She was calling his name trying to get him to come back to her side of the yard because she didn’t want him to annoy our cats. Like a typical cat he didn’t pay much attention to her but he did eventually listen and went through the hole in the fence back to his side.

It was very good to know that at least one of the stray cats around here is going to have a home.

An Abbey Story

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Some early readers may remember Abbey. All of my pets have been special in one way or another and I would hate to pick favorites but Abbey was pretty close to the top. She suffered liver failure shortly after I started this blog and slowly lost weight. At first the reduced weight actully made her more active. I was concerned that she had gone from fat to normal but she was eating and jumping on things that she stopped jumping on when she got heavy.

Abbey

I should have been more concered but I’m not sure if it would have mattered. When we finally got the diagnosis she still seemed healthy. I did not want to take away any part of her life until it was clear that she was actually suffering. That happened in October of that year, 2012.

But this post is not about the sad times, I want to talk about one of the funnier episodes involving Abbey.

One day my wife and I were sitting on the sofa wile Abbey lied on my lap, which she did quite often. We were talking about something, which I don’t remember, but it must have been a hot topic because Rose had raised he voice almost to a yell. We were not arguing but it must have sounded that way to Abbey because she got off my lap and bit Rose in the arm. She didn’t bite her hard. It was more of a warning bite.

We quickly surmised that Abbey did not want Rose to yell at me. She was acting as my protector. As an experiment, Rose started yelling at me while wagging her finger. Abbey quickly got up and bit her again.

I must admit, it feels good to have someone looking out for me. It takes me back to my youth and my dog, Tascha. I remember my dad’s friend, Jack, was teasing Tascha by pretending to want to grab my arm. He would move his hand closer to me and Tascha would growl. He would back off and then do it again. By about the fourth time Tascha just bit him. Served him right for teasing a Doberman.