Hanging Outside With Dad

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Saturday is typically outside day for Chris and Frankie. I first take Frankie for a cat walk on his leash and harness and then I let Chris outside for some fresh air and grass.

Chris doesn’t require a harness because he generally stays close to home. I do watch him because he wanders off sometimes and I have to pick him up and bring him back. Mostly he just eats grass and relaxes.

I usually sit at our table outside and watch him. Sometimes he joins me at the table.

Sometimes I sit on the steps and he joins me there.

Other times he wanders to the back of the house and I have to uproot myself and follow him. I’ll sit on the blocks behind the shed and Chris will hang out with me there too.

I think we make a good team.

Update on Our Friendly Stray and Her Two Shy Kittens.

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The stray cat and her kittens have become somewhat regulars at our house recently although their visits are still somewhat unpredictable. They seem to come between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m but some days I don’t see them and some days I do. When I do see them, sometimes it is just the mother. Other times there is one or both kittens with her.

I have learned that the mother is not feral and is actually quite friendly. The other day she even rolled upside down on top of my foot and let me rub her belly. It was very brief but It amazed me at how quickly she learned to trust me. She still hisses at me sometimes but that is usually when I come out with food. I think maybe she is not sure who I am at first.

I noticed one of the kittens has a darker face than the other. That one is shy but he does take risks while the lighter faced kitten stays in the shadows. The lighter faced kitten has a hint of tabby marking which makes her, or him, somewhat unique.

Below are a video and some pictures that I took Thursday morning. The kittens were here at 5:30 in the morning eating and then I noticed them an hour later playing on the other side of the house while the mom lied in the grass watching. Our cats watched too. They seemed just as comfortable at our neighbor’s house than at ours.

Notice the tabby stripes?

I wonder how the planter got knocked over.

I was late for work when this playing was going on which is wy the video is so brief but my wife says she was quite entertained watching them play for a while after I left.

This morning I was able to get another video that shows how friendly the mom is and I captured a funny moment when one of the kittens was torn between fear and hunger.

My wife talked to a person at the TNVR place and he said they only trap on the weekend and put us down for next weekend so cross your fingers that everything goes well. I just fear that we will catch one or two but not all three and that would leave that kitten alone and scared.

Photo Friday: I Think I’ll Rest Here

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You just never know what to expect when you take a walk with Frankie.

The Paper Forest

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Floki’s favorite toy, by far, is a rolled up piece of paper. It is like an addictive drug to him and my wife is his dealer. When Rose records receipts in the checkbook, Floki is there waiting for the crumpled up paper when she is done. He will chase that paper all through the house and sometimes will bring it back to Rose and wait for her to throw it.

Often the paper just gets lost somewhere in the house. I had another post where I discovered our broom closet was a receptacle for lost wads of paper but I discovered an even bigger place where paper goes to die.

I saw Floki sticking his paw under our coffee table one day. There is only about an inch of space so I had to get a flashlight and put my head on the ground to see what he lost. I was shocked to see a whole forest of wadded up pieces of paper under there.

I got a stick and pulled out a few of the wads of paper. There was even a mouse in the mix. It was like Christmas all over again.

Of course, I quietly disposed of some of the balls while he was busy and not paying attention.

Siamese cat and paper ball

I love a cat who can appreciate a cheap toy. I am not looking forward to his teenage years.

Forgotten Photographs

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Recently I came across a folder on my computer dated December 15, 2009. It was simply labeled “Camera Tests.” I’ve seen it before but I didn’t think it was anything important so I just ignored it until I came across it the other day.

It was a month after we adopted Chris and the camera my wife ordered for me for Christmas arrived. I don’t remember but I assume she allowed me to open it and make sure it worked before she put it under the tree. So naturally, I took pictures of cats.

I thought it would be interesting to share these pictures of Chris’s early housemates since so much has changed since then.

We’ll start with Chris on the bed with Abbey, He probably annoyed her and caused her to leave.

Here is Abbey during a moment of peace.

Chris when he was still skinny.

Best buds, Alex and Tigger.

Another cute picture of Chris.

Our cat Princess did not come with us to Myrtle Beach but she did join us later. I don’t know if she was there when these pictures were taken but here is her picture.

Our other cat, Flash, was Tigger’s brother and a bit of a recluse. He was probably hiding somewhere when I took the other pictures.

So what do you think of Chris and his early siblings?

Our Unpredictable Ferals

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After my last post about the feral cat and kittens that have been coming to our house, I didn’t see them for about a week. I kept food out for them and some days it would be gone when I checked on it and some days it would still be there. We were never sure if the cats were eating it or some other animal was coming around until Wednesday evening when the mother cat and her two Siamese looking kittens showed up.

I wasn’t expecting them to be there when I walked outside to do laundry. I was surprised to see two kittens take off in opposite directions. One hid under my car and the other crawled under the home behind us and one over. That made me wonder if they were living there.

The mother stayed close and hissed and growled at me. Actually, it wasn’t really a growl. It was more of a low pitch sound that I sometimes hear from our cats when a strange cat comes around.

I decided to skip laundry for a while and went back inside. Soon, one kitten was back and I took these pictures through the window screen.

I then put a small can of wet food on a plate and brought it outside. The kitten ran away but the mom let me stay out there and take pictures while she ate. She does not seem afraid of me which makes me think she is not feral like her kittens. Even so, she is not overly friendly either.

I wanted her kittens to come back so I went in the house and waited. Sure enough, one of the kittens showed up.

I took this video which is a bit long but at 4:16 it skips ahead to a new can of food and a kitten eating it. I am unsure if it is the same kitten or if the timider of the two came back for a meal. Perhaps your eyes are better than mine. Also, my wife thinks the kitten’s belly shows signs that he or she has worms. I don’t know. Also, at 2:53, Frankie scares the kitten away by pulling himself up to the open window.

I called the TNVR place on Thursday morning but I am still waiting to hear back from them. In the meantime, I have not seen the cats since Wednesday and I have only seen the food in the bowl get eaten twice since then, including some time last night. Maybe they are being fed somewhere else or maybe some days they feast on rabbit, which is plentiful around here.

Pull ‘n Play Cat Toy

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Our cats loved this toy, especially Chris, until I put healthy treats in it.

Bad Cat Chris

Two weeks ago we bought two cat toys from Friskies called Pull ‘n Play. The toy is like a Weeble. which they call Wobbert. It is weighted on the bottom and it wobbles. It is shaped like an animal but I’m not sure what it is supposed to be, perhaps a bear. The head twists off so you can put treats inside. It comes with a bag of Friskies Party Mix and it also has a string-like treat that you thread through the ears. There is a small hole at the bottom so treats will fall out when it wobbles just right.

When we introduced it to our cats, Chris dominated the toy. As expected, he was the first, and still only, cat to figure out how the toy works. I recorded the first few minutes of them playing with it but later, after the camera was put away, I…

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Our Cat Has an Eating Disorder

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For many years now, we have had a tradition of turning skinny cats into fat cats. Case in point:

Frankie, on the other hand, has stayed skinny.

I’m sure this is because he scarfs up his expensive, canned food and home-made raw, organic chicken cat food, and then pukes it out. I feel bad for him when he does that but, I’m ashamed to say, I feel bad for my wallet too.

I think I would feel worse for Frankie if I thought there was something physically wrong with him but he seems pretty healthy otherwise. If he was human, I would think he has bulimia, but what he probably has is something called Eatwaytoofast Disorder.

I don’t know if there is a cure. Anyone else have experience with this?

Fifth Blogiversary

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Today marks five years since I started writing this blog. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. When I started I read that most blogs don’t last a year so I guess I am doing good.

When I look back, some things amaze me, like the fact that I wrote 693 blog posts. I know some of you are far ahead of me but for me, that’s an accomplishment.

I also have over 1700 pictures in my media library. Virtually all of them have been posted on this blog. You can almost say this is a photo blog with some words in it.

My most viewed post ever is “Are Ginger Cats Friendlier,” which doesn’t definitively answer the question but does show how many people are asking it. I will have to do me research on the subject.

My personal favorite post, it think, is “The Great Escape.” It was one of my first posts and it really showed a bit of Chris’s personality during those early days.

My favorite picture is a tough choice.

Maybe it’s Tigger washing young Chris.

Maybe it’s Daredevil Chris

Maybe it’s Chris sleeping on Tigger.

Maybe it’s baby Chris.

Maybe it’s not Chris at all, Maybe it’s Frankie . . .

. . . or Floki . . .

. . . or Puck.

Do you have a favorite?

What I really enjoy about blogging is the wonderful people that I have met, or at least virtually met. There are over 10,000 comments on my blog and then there are everybody else’s blogs too. It’s hard not to feel like I am surrounded by friends. Hopefully, before another five years passes, I will be able to meet some of you in person.

Until that time, Happy Blogging.