Our new Catio 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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Where are you lizard?
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…
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.
As long as we have had Floki the rule of thumb has been Chris for napping and Frankie for playing but the rules have changed. Lately I have been seeing Floki napping with Frankie.
Perhaps moving to a new home turned everything upside down. I guess we will see if this continues.
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.
If you didn’t read my last post, we had guests for a long weekend. They arrived Thursday afternoon and are planning on leaving this morning. In the meantime, the cats have been relegated to the upstairs while the dogs have the downstairs.
Chris was perfectly fine with this arrangement, probably because he needed an excuse to not drag is 20 pound body up and down the stairs. Frankie and floki were not as happy about the arrangement. Floki would sneak downstairs sometimes when nobody was around but Frankie would not put up with any restrictions.
I think he felt like this is his house and he’s not going to let any dogs push him around.
There were a few near altercations but there was always someone around to stop it before it got too far. Personally, I think the dog was lucky.
Amazingly, by Friday night Frankie was in the living room lying on the chair while the two dogs were each on one of the sofas.
There were a few more scuffles on Saturday but the living room scene repeated that night with Frankie on the chair and the dogs on the sofa.
Of course, I don’t want to see any fights, but I was a little proud of how Frankie stood his ground to protect his territory. It is his house and if he wanted to be downstairs he was going to be downstairs.
Has anyone else had issues with dogs being introduced to cats?
Our Friends from Virginia came to visit us late Thursday and they brought their dogs. Just like the last time, the cats were not happy about it.
Check out the look on Frankie’s face when he realized we had company.
The bigger dag was curious about Frankie and barked at him a couple of times. Frankie responded by hissing and trying to whap him.
Like last time, it became a house devided with the cats upstairs and the dogs downstairs.
We are looking forward to a nice weekend with friends but I do feel bad for the cats who are stuck upstairs and can’t enjoy the new catio we just had built.
