Author Archives: Charles Huss

New Home, New Cabinets to Open

After we moved I noticed Chris, on a few occasions, unsuccessfully try to open cabinets in the new home. These were different from he was used to. The cabinets in the kitchen had no knobs and seemed to offer less of a gap for Chris to get his claws into. The ones in the bathroom were held in place by magnets. It appeared that Chris was not going to be opening cabinets in this house.

Seems the cat food is better when Bad Cat Chris open the bag himself

That is a good thing because just before we moved out of our old home I bought a new bag of cat food and put it under the sink next to the container that I keep the food in. I did not put it inside the container because the old food was not finished yet. When I got home the next day the cabinet door was open and there were several holes chewed into the bag.

I was certain that was not going to happen again. I even felt sorry for him while I washed the dishes and watched him try to get into the cabinet besides me. That feeling ended a few seconds later when the door popped open and Chris went inside.

The cabinet door that The The door Chris managed to open.

What could be so interesting under the sink?

Well, I thought, at least the bathroom sink was secure. Those doors were held in by magnets. Suddenly a quote from the movie Jaws entered my mind: “He can’t go under, not with three barrels on him!”

Later that day I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and Chris came in and tried to open the cabinet under the sink. Do you see a pattern here? He likes to be bad in front of people. Cats sure are funny.

I stood there thinking about Jaws again. “Your not going to open these cabinets, not with magnets on them!” That was when the door popped open and in he went…again.

There is one more cabinet that may be tough for Chris to beat. Our china cabinet has three drawers in the middle and a sliding door on each end. Chris had figured out long ago how to open those doors but recently Rose had the great idea of opening one of the drawers slightly to keep the doors from sliding. I watched Chris work on one of the doors for a good five minutes this afternoon to no avail. He must have wondered why it was not opening all of a sudden. He came very close to pushing the drawer shut a few times and I found myself actually rooting for him to figure it out but he stopped trying before he did. I’m sure he will get it one of these days.

The Window and the Bird

The Fun Sport of Moving

2 Replies

A few weeks ago we decided to move yet again. We were living in the apartment community that Rose manages because of convenience and because of a thirty percent rent discount. The property was bought by another company last week and the new company does not give rent discounts so we decided we would be better off living where we could enjoy living.

We found a place close to where we used to live in Dunedin and spent the next couple of weeks packing. The house was essentially turned upside-down and we had boxes and other things piled high in the dining room and bedroom. Puck wasn’t sure what to make of the disruption but for Chris, it was an early Christmas.

There was so much to get into. Piles of boxes to climb, open cabinets to jump into, closets with high, empty shelves. It was the sport of getting into trouble and Chris was at the peak of his game. Even Puck got into the game at times.

On moving day we locked Chris and Puck in the bathroom and then when the movers were done we brought them to our new home and shut them in the bathroom until all our stuff was inside. The whole process took only three hours. When they were let out, Puck was nervous and hid but Chris was like an explorer who just discovered “The New World.” He investigated every part of every room, from top to bottom.

Eventually Puck got used to his new surroundings and now both he and Chris seem quite happy in the new place. We are too.

It’s Been a Great Year

2 Replies

Yesterday, June 3rd, marked the one year anniversary of the Bad Cat Chris blog. It has been a great year and I have really enjoyed sharing Chris’s story as well as connecting with great people I would not have met in person without the blog.

We just moved last weekend and things have been a bit hectic but I will share the moving story with you as soon as our unpacking is done and my computer is set up. Thanks for reading.

Need Proof Readers for Bad Cat Chris Book

Chris the Computer Wiz

10 Replies

Until this morning I never really thought about how much more Chris knows than I do about my computer. This morning he brought up a Windows search window. I don’t recall ever seeing that window before, yet Chris, a cat, was able to bring it up with nothing more that a couple of key strokes. Amazingly, he not only brought up one window, but twelve, faster that I could say “Get off the keyboard!”

He is always bringing up strange windows, most of which I would have to research to find the proper keystroke combination, and he does it without even a second thought. His favorite is full screen mode. I am constantly looking up how to get out of full screen mode. In case you are wondering, it is F11, I just looked it up.

He is even able to change my screen while I am working on my tablet, without the keyboard. He knows just where to stick his paw. I am starting to wonder why I am even writing this blog. I should have Chris write it.

Let Them Eat Snake!

9 Replies

Yesterday evening Chris comes shooting through the cat door from our screened-in patio. Puck came in close behind and they were both playing with something under our dining room table. Rose notice what it was and started yelling, “He’s got a snake! He’s got a snake! Get it! Get it out of the house!”

It was a small snake, perhaps nine or ten inches long, and it was on the ground trying to escape but Chris and Puck had it corralled. I tried to grab it, but I wanted to pick it up near the head so it wouldn’t bite me. That slight hesitation gave Chris enough time to pick it up and run with it. It then became a game of keep-away.

I quickly got tired of the game and picked up Chris, with the snake in his mouth, and carried him onto the patio. I then held him down near the outside door until he dropped the snake. When he did, I pushed the snake under the door to the outside. Done… at least that is what I thought.

As soon as I let Chris go he ran to the door, reached as far under it as he could, and pulled the snake back inside. Bad cat! I had to go through it again. This time I held Chris down until he dropped it and then left the snake alone and put Chris in the house. I then picked up the snake, which was no longer moving, and threw it outside. If Rose wasn’t there I might have just let him eat it so the lost life would not be wasted.

Later I wondered why he always has to bring his catch into the house. Rose said he is giving us a gift. I am well aware of cats bringing dead animals to their owners as gifts, but when they bring it in and then play keep-away, it is not a gift.

You’re Not The Boss Of Me!

New Cat… Almost

4 Replies

The Sunday before last, Rose and I were in PetSmart buying cat food. Of course, we can’t go there without looking at the cats that are up for adoption and then feeling bad because we can’t save the world.

Frankie

This particular day we saw a cat named Frankie. He was the largest domestic cat I had ever seen in person. He seemed to be the size of a bobcat but with different markings. His description said something about him being gentle and not to worry about his size. Rose noticed he had deep blue eyes and basically fell in love with him right there. There was nobody working in the adoption center at that time so we took it as a sign that maybe we shouldn’t rush into getting another cat.

Chris has needed another playmate (napmate actually) since Tigger died and after thinking about it for a day Rose decided she wanted to adopt him. It was too late to call Monday night but Tuesday Morning Rose called the Oldsmar PetSmart and talked to someone who, let’s just say, did not impress her very much. She was given a phone number that turned out to be wrong.

I ended up calling PetSmart and got the correct number. It was for a cat rescue group called Here Kitty Kitty Adoptions. I spoke with a nice couple, first the wife and then the husband, who told me Frankie was removed from the shelter because of a slight health concern and that he had a possible adopter but they wouldn’t know for certain until that Thursday.

I’m not sure why but somehow things become more desirable when there is competition for it. That is what happened here while we were waiting for Thursday to come. Rose decided that she didn’t want any other cat but Frankie, even though we had only seen him through a window.

It didn’t help when I saw he was listed as a snowshoe. I never heard of of the breed so I looked it up on Wikipedia. The article states: “Snowshoes were first produced in Philadelphia when a Siamese breeder’s cat gave birth to three kittens with white feet. The breeder, Dorothy Hinds-Daugherty, then began a breeding program to produce what were originally called “Silver Laces”,^[1] crossing the strangely marked Siamese cats with bi-color American Shorthair cats and other breeds.”

This made us even more interested and we were disappointed when we heard the news that he was adopted. I then looked up snowshoe cats to see if any others were for adoption to no avail. I only found breeders and I won’t buy a cat from a breeder when there are so many cats in shelters that need a home. Besides, I have not found one breed of cat to be better than another. They are all individuals with distinct personalities.

Since that ordeal is now over, I think we need to focus on getting a cat that can put up with Chris’s annoying behavior. Like I said before, Puck will play with him but he won’t nap with him and I think Chris needs physical contact. He has become very needy lately and it is even difficult to write this post because he is on the desk looking for attention.

The problem we have now is that the property Rose manages is being sold and we do not have confirmation that the new company will retain the staff. It is pretty certain that they will but if they don’t, another cat could be a problem. I think we will know pretty soon.

Bad Cat Chris

The Baddest Cat You'll Ever Love