Author Archives: Charles Huss

A Cure for Frankie’s Puking

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When we adopted Frankie in February of 2014, we noticed that he puked a lot. To be honest, I don’t remember if we took him to the vet for that specific problem but he has been to the vet a few times since then and I can’t imagine I never mentioned it to the vet. I think we just assumed that he ate too much too fast and then puked it up.

We don’t know Frankie’s backstory. I used to think that he was bulimic but now I think he must have had gastric bypass surgery before we got him and his stomach can’t handle eating too much food at one time.

For a long time I have been feeding our cats a large 5.5 Oz can of cat food in the morning and another later in the afternoon. That is 1.83 Oz per cat and actually a little less because I would often end up with uneaten food on at least one of the plates. It doesn’t seem like that much food but you have to account for the extra that Frankie was eating, usually at the expense of Chris

When I was working full-time I would feed them when I got up in the morning and again when I got home from work. This year I’ve been working almost full time in addition to working at home. Rose has been working from home more and usually Frankie bothers her so much that by 3:00 she feeds them.

That was the routine when we lived in Florida. Very often, but not always, Frankie would quickly finish his food and then he would finish Chris’s for him. A little while later I would have to clean up puke.

When we moved here to West Virginia and I took a two-month hiatus from my job I decided to buy the smaller, 3 ounce cans of cat food and feed them three times a day instead of twice.

I think the smaller portions have worked. Frankie has only puked twice in over two weeks. The first time was probably because I had brought the larger cans with me and used them up the first few days we were here. The second time he puked was after I gave them a large can of tuna as a treat.

I don’t like paying more per ounce for the smaller cans but considering that a lot of it was getting wasted it probably comes out even. Plus, I don’t have to clean up puke as much.

Two Options for Losing Sleep

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Since moving here to West Virginia, Chris has become quite the pain at night. Not that he wasn’t before but now he is worse. Chris is too annoying to allow in our room at night so we close all the cats out of our bedroom when we go to bed. At our Florida home, Chris learned to accept this and was usually quiet until around 4 a.m. or so. Here, he is quite different.

I have water and food bowls upstairs and downstairs for the cats. The food is usually empty except for a small amount a few times a day. I save one of those times for bedtime and I draw Chris out of the room with kibble and then close the bedroom door and go to bed.

The quiet lasts until Chris is done eating and then there is a constant scratching at the door and crying. The cry is almost a howl and it sound so sad and pathetic, as well as annoying, that I feel like I need to let him in, if only for a little while.

So lately I look at it like sleep training. When he starts his nails in the face routine I move him down to my feet. Sometimes that works for an hour or two and sometimes he is back in fifteen seconds. Never had I made it through the night with Chris. Sometime between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. I have to get up and put him out the door along with any other cat in the room.

I think what irks me the most is once Rose and I are awake and up for the day, that is when Chris decides to go to sleep on our bed.

I feel like sleep training will never work so I should probably give up and just ignore him, but it is equally difficult to sleep with him out there making all that noise. Plus, he is ruining the door.

We’ve Created a Moster

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Our new Cameo has been a great place for the cats to go. They really enjoy it.

Unfortunately, Frankie has become quite the pain. Now that he knows he can go out there, he won’t stop asking to go outside. Anytime I am anywhere near the back door there is a cascade of meowing from Frankie. He gets all excited like he does at the other house when he knows he’s going for a walk, but most of the time I am busy doing something else and don’t have time to sit out there with him.

Maybe soon I will feel comfortable leaving them out there without me being there. For a little while anyway, I want to make sure that nobody will scratch holes into the screen and escape.

Catio Time

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Our cats are finally starting to enjoy our catio after the interruption of our dog visitors. It took Floki until Wednesday but once out, he loved it.

Frankie greets Floki

Frankie goes out more often than Chris or Floki, not because he likes it more but because he is the one most likely to be hanging out near the back door when somebody goes outside.

The weather is starting to cool down here and I expect we will be outside more often which means the cats will be outside more often too. Its a win win.

As a side note, we had people over for dinner yesterday and later that evening we were sitting on the catio and a very cut grey kitten came up on the step and peeked in through the screen door. I believe I saw another cat walk by before I saw that kitten but it was dark. I put my hand against the screen and he smelled me and then walked over to the edge of the catio. I wanted to go get treats for him but considering our limited time here it is not wise to get them dependent on us. Fortunately, our cats were not on the catio at the time.

In Search Of: The Lost Frankie

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Welcome to another episode of the drama that is the life of a cat parent. In this episode, we will look into the disappearance of Frankie, who was suddenly and inexplicably absent from the lunchtime meal on Friday.

I scooped out three plates of wet food at about 1:30 yesterday afternoon. Chris and Floki were there waiting but no Frankie. I put the plates down and called, “Frankie! Frankie!” but he didn’t come. I then went upstairs, calling his name and looking in each room but saw no Frankie.

I looked under the beds, which I knew was fruitless because Frankie is not a UTB kind of cat. I looked in my bedroom closet but no Frankie. By then Floki was upstairs eating Frankie’s food that I temporaraly set down.

That is when I got worried and told Rose that I couldn’t find Frankie. I retrieved Frankie’s dish from Floki and headed downstairs to look. I checked the closets down there and Rose went upstairs to look. I also checked behind the sofa and I looked outside on the catio and in the laundry room.

Not finding him, I set the food down and looked upstairs again after Rose came down without finding him. We considered the possibility that he got outside because we had a visitor and because I went out several times that morning, but the laundry room is a buffer and we always close one door before opening the other. Nevertheless, I walked around the block looking for him.

I returned without any luck, but I did meet some nice neighbors who said they would keep an eye out for him. Rose wanted me to drive around the neighborhood but I wanted to search the house one more time.

I turned on the flashlight on my phone and started checking closets more thoroughly. I checked downstairs and then upstairs. I then checked the bathtubs because Frankie likes to go in the tub sometimes but no Frankie. It was then that I remembered the closet in the bathroom and opened it and saw Frankie looking up at me. He gave me a short “meow” and then walked out.

We headed downstairs where he found three empty bowls. I figured after what he went through he deserved some wet food so I opened another can for him.

About an hour or so later, when I decided to write about his adventure, he was on my desk looking for attention.

How could I refuse?

Photo Friday: Frankie in Contrast

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I was at our local riverfront park taking photos yesterday morning. As I was downloading them into the computer, I noticed Frankie next to me soaking up the sun and decided to photograph him with my Canon, which I have not used much since moving.

There was so much contrast between Frankie’s bright fur and the black background that I thought it was different enough to be good. What do you think?

Three Cats, One Yard, No Lizards

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Here is a post for Throwback Thursday from February 2015 when we lived at my favorite home (out of about 22). We managed to let all three cats out in the backyard at the same time.

Charles Huss's avatarBad Cat Chris

Sunday we let all three cats explore the back yard again. Frankie still needs to be on a leash so he doesn’t run away but Chris and Puck were free to play while Rose kept an eye on them.

Frankie is getting used to the leash and harness and did not get as freaked out by the sudden stop like he did in the past. The three of them spent some time, just like last week, trying to catch lizards. Unfortunately for them, the lizards were a bit quicker than they were last week when Chris and Puck both caught one.

Cat looking for lizard Where are you lizard?

cat on leash

Everything went well until after we brought the cats inside. That is when, after noticing how desperate our plants needed water, I decided to go back out and water them. I should have been more watchful for bad cats because on the way out Frankie surprised me…

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Getting Back to Normal

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I mentioned yesterday that Floki has been napping with Frankie lately. I noticed him back with Chris yesterday afternoon so I think things are starting to get back to normal.

Later, while we were all downstairs watching TV, I noticed this:

I guess hanging out with both Chris and Frankie might become the new normal for Floki. There is nothing wrong with that.

Chris is Still Chris

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I got out of the shower yesterday and saw Chris on the floor waiting for me. As I dried myself Chris jumped on the toilet and then on the sink. He looked like he wanted to jump on my shoulders, just like the old days, so I put my towel over my shoulders and let him.

There is something else Chris did in the old days. He would use me as a springboard to get to a higher place. That thought didn’t occur to me until two seconds after he jumped on my shoulders and then jumped up to the top of the linen closet.

By then Floki was in the bathroom. Upon seeing where Chris was he jumped on the sink and started crying at me.

I let him up on my shoulders too.

I thought he would jump up there with Chris but I think he was afraid to try. He stood on his hind legs and had a short conversation with Chris but decided not to join him.

That left me with the problem of getting Chris down. When he was young he could jump down but now he is old and heavy so I didn’t want to risk him getting hurt.

I finished getting dressed and went downstairs and got the stepladder. I then pulled Chris off the shelf, which he was not happy about.

I am glad Chris still has some of that adventurous spirit in him, despite his age and weight. It gives me hope for my future.