Author Archives: Charles Huss

The Bitter Taste of Freedom

I had the day off from work today because it has been very slow. Since I was planning on riding my bike to work I decided instead to take the bike out for a fun ride this morning.

I keep my bikes on the patio and we normally keep the patio door locked so nobody can let the cats out but I left it unlocked this time. There is no way to lock it or unlock it from the outside and I wanted to be able to put my bike back without having to walk around to the front door.

I was gone for about an hour and a half. When I returned, it was almost 11:00 and it was already pretty hot. As I walked the bike around to the back, I heard Chris crying on the patio. At least I thought he was on the patio but when I looked closer, I noticed I was looking at him through two screens.

The far side of our patio was built with a small space for the air conditioner. Chris was outside in that space, probably trying to figure out how to get back in. He was crying and panting and for one second, I thought about taking his picture, but it seemed cruel to make him wait. I walked around to where he was and when I got there he cried some more and indicated he wanted me to pick him up. So up he went onto my shoulders and we walked into the house together.

This picture my help visualize where Chris was when I found him.

I was concerned Puck got out too. I didn’t see him on the patio or anywhere nearby. I also didn’t see him when I walked into the house. After a quick search, I found him in the back bedroom looking out the window.

I don’t know how Chris got out. He is a master at opening doors, perhaps he figured the screen door out. It is also possible that it did not latch when I closed it or someone opened it after I left. I don’t know. I just hope this experience makes him less likely to want to go off on his own again. I know I will be locking that door before my next ride.

More Needy Behavior.

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Chris was being extra needy this morning and since I had my camera nearby, I thought I would video him for you. Enjoy.

Cat and Mouse

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I meant to post this two or three weeks ago but I forgot about it until I noticed the pictures on the camera.

Chris and Puck were going crazy at the front window and I walked over to see what they were so interested in. There was a mouse on our sidewalk. It looked like he was eating a bug and he was totally oblivious to the turmoil he was causing just four feet away. I believe it was the first mouse I have ever seen in the wild, if you can call our sidewalk “The Wild.”

After I took pictures of the little guy, he picked up his bug and moved under the bush, even closer to the cats, still oblivious to their presence. This was like eating a steak in front of a starving man. I actually felt bad for them and almost wanted to open the door but we have had to deal with lizards and snakes brought into the house, the mouse can just stay outside, thank you very much.

I Shoulder a Great Burden

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Chris is making it hard for me to brush my teeth.

Lately, it seems like everywhere I go, there is a cat wanting to get on my shoulders. If I go into the kitchen or bathroom, Chris is right there on the counter next to me. Sometimes he just jumps up and sometimes he stands on his hind legs with his paws on my shoulders and cries for me to help him up. I then have to crouch down, put my arm around his legs and stand back up again.

For some reason, he especially likes to be up there while I am brushing my teeth. That is not good for him because as soon as I am done and have to rinse, he is S.O.L.

He also has developed a certain pattern where he will climb on my shoulders from my right and then have to turn around because he likes to lie with his head on my right. At first I thought he had OCD but then I realized that my wife and I sleep on the same side of the bed every night so I guess it’s common.

Chris has climbed on my shoulders since the day we met but lately it seems more like he has a special need to do it. I suppose it is only temporary though. Next month, I am sure, he will have a new, weird thing that he will be doing.

If anyone has a cat that does this, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear about it.

Needy Cat Chris

Chris’s Springboard

Bad Cat Chris is #1

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Bad Cat Chris on Kindle is now free through Tuesday, July 23. There has been such a great response to this promotion that it is already number one in its category in the Free Kindle Store. Thank you to everyone who has downloaded the book and please help me by leaving a review.

If you don’t have a Kindle, no worries, you can read it on just about any device with a free Kindle app. If you don’t have it yet, you can click here to get your copy.

Who Needs Room?

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Not long after we adopted Puck I mentioned in a post that he had taken over Chris’s routine of hanging out with Rose in the bathroom while she got ready for work. In a recent post, I said that Chris regained that position after we moved into our new place.

Now, every morning, Chris is on the counter while Rose is putting he make-up on. Our last bathroom had plenty of counter space but this one does not, and Rose is constantly trying to get Chris to lie on the other side of the sink where there is more room. That, of course, is a fruitless effort so every morning I hear the call, “Chuck, come get your cat!”

I try, but there is no way I can reach him where he is so Rose pushes him down which only causes more disruption when he jumps back up and tries to get back into his spot. Eventually Rose gives into the fact that she has an unwanted guest that won’t leave.

I think it is both cute and funny, but don’t tell Rose I said that.

Bad Cat Chris is Now a Kindle eBook

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Bad Cat Chris Kindle eBook After many months and countless delays I finally posted my Bad Cat Chris book on Amazon. The book is a somewhat condensed version of this blog with a fair amount of added material as well.

You can find the book by clicking on the book thumbnail on the right side of this blog or by searching for “Bad Cat Chris” on Amazon. You don’t need a Kindle to read the book and you can download a free app that will let you read Kindle books on almost any platform.

If you do read the book, please help me by leaving a review on Amazon.

Early Morning Folly

Chris Recaptures Routine

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A several months ago I wrote about Chris’s Stolen Routine. In that post I mentioned that Chris had a morning routine that involved hanging out with Rose and bothering her while she got herself ready for work. That routine was taken over by Puck and Chris just let it go until we moved into our current home. Now, Chris is back up on the counter every morning interfering with Rose’s routine.

Chris taking up valuable counter space while Puck is back to jealous spectator.

This time around Puck is not able to intimidate Chris into giving up his spot. Unfortunately for Rose, the bathroom counter is much smaller that it was in our last home so it is even more difficult for her to get ready while Chris is playing with her make-up. He even knocked over a full cup of coffee a few days ago, soaking most of the counter, including her brushes.

As we were cleaning up the mess she told me that if I wasn’t around she would get rid of Chris. I’m sure that was the frustration talking because he is so darn lovable.

Happiness is Unrestricted Patio Access

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When we first looked at our new place we were not able to see inside because someone was still living here but we did look at it from the outside and liked the fact that it had an enclosed patio. It was fully enclosed, which is not as good for the cats as just screened but we thought we could open the windows for them and they would be happy.

When we finally were able to meet with the Realtor we discovered that he listed the wrong address and the unit for rent was actually the one next door, which had no enclosure on the patio at all. In addition, the 1100 square feet turned out to be more like 850. That was very disappointing because the location was fantastic and it was very difficult to find a rental in an area that we liked.

This is what our patio looked like when we first saw it. To the left was the unit that was listed by mistake.

When we were finally able to look inside, we liked what we saw but we told the Realtor that for the high rent we would be paying, we would need to have the patio screened. The cats would not have been happy cooped up inside. We later learned that the owners agreed and two days after we moved in we had a new, screened-in patio.

Our new screened-in patio – Notice Chris to the far right.

Once the patio was enclosed we put our cat door on the slider and the cats were able to go in and out at will, even when we were at work, which was not possible before because we could only lock it from the inside and since we had to leave through that door we had to keep it unlocked. We didn’t want someone coming by and letting the cats out so they were forced to stay inside all day.

Coincidentally, we lived in the building in front of Chris two years ago.

Now they can come and go 24 hours a day, which is a real treat. They also have a much bigger patio to enjoy. In addition, we now live next door to a marina and there is a lot of activity for the cats to watch, There is also plenty of birds that make an appearance, especially an egret that must have been fed by the former tenant.

On another note, the bird that laid her eggs just outside our front window on the day we moved in sat on them for almost two weeks until Rose noticed on Friday morning that the nest was empty except for two eggs that were broken open. We think that a predator attacked the nest. Too bad; we were looking forward to seeing little chicks outside our window.