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.
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.
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.
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.
I thought that Chris had finally broken the habit of pooping on the floor. He was so good these last few months. Only on rare occasions did he have an “accident.” All of a sudden this last week or two he is back to his old ways. About once a day, sometimes twice, I find a poop on the floor, right in front of the box under the stairs.
This time is a little different though because he is now always pooping in the same spot. I had a small rug next to the box to protect the carpet but when I had it in the wash I put down an old towel in its place. I then replaced that towel with another when I needed to wash it and have rotated towels for the last week.
I started mixing in the frozen raw food with their canned food again last weekend. I ran out of that food over a month ago and for some reason I never bothered to buy more. I also ordered the Purina Fortiflora probiotics from Amazon and started putting it in their food when it arrived on Tuesday. Chris seems like he is pooping more than usual which is part of the problem. I tried something similar a few years ago but only had a two-week supply and I gave up when I didn’t see his problem getting any better. This time I am going to give it at least two months to see if he improves.
When I came home to poop on the towel Friday evening I decided to put the rug back where I had it, even though it is harder to clean. Since then he has not pooped anywhere but the boxes. It could be that the towel was a better substitute for a litter box then the rug was. It could also be that the probiotics are starting to work or maybe it is just that it is the weekend and the boxes get scooped more often.
A friend of mine is staying with us this weekend and while he had his suitcase open on the bed, Chris, being the bad cat that he is, decided to climb into it and lie down on his clothes. When he picked Chris up to move him, Chris let him know in no uncertain terms that he was very unhappy with the treatment he was receiving.
Later, we decided to go out for breakfast and had to get the cats off the patio so we could leave. I picked up Puck and put him inside but Chris put himself under the cat perch, which he knows is the hardest spot to get him out of. When I tried to pull him out from under there, he rolled on his side and braced himself with his rear foot and front paw against the cat perch. He then proceeded to cry, growl and hiss at me the entire time I was trying to get him out. It took a bit of effort but I finally got him in my arms and was carrying him to the door when Puck ran back on the patio.
I love getting out but sometimes I really hate leaving the house.
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.
I mentioned before how Chris loves visitors and was reminded of this the other day when the exterminator came to our house. Nobody was home when he arrived but Rose got a full report from him later.
He said that Chris followed him around the house and was closely investigating everything that he was doing. He was there because we had a problem with ants but because Chris was sticking to him like glue he felt it was not safe to spray, so instead he decided to just put down some ant bait and hope for the best.
The exterminator is not alone. We have a cleaning woman who comes once a week and a couple of times I came home after she left and found poop on the patio. I think this is because Chris gets in her way when she is trying to clean so she puts him on the patio and closes the cat door so he can’t come in. Since there is no litter box out there, when he has to go, he poops on the floor. I don’t like that I have to deal with that but I know Chris and I understand the need for it.
I think it is very unusual for a cat to enjoy the company of strangers. If anyone reading this has a cat that likes strangers, please leave a comment. I am very curious.
This is the story of Bad Cat Chris. The name implies that this cat is bad so if I would say to you that Chris had been bad lately, you would probably say, “Duh!” From your point of view, you would be right to say that but when you live with a bad cat every day you tend to become immune to the behavior. So, the fact that I think Chris has been bad lately must mean that he has been really bad.
Perhaps Tigger’s death has affected him, I don’t know, but he seems like he doesn’t know what to do with himself lately. It is like he is a kitten again with all this built up energy. My wife and I like to read at night but lately he has been going back and forth between us, first interfering with her book and then, two minutes later, interfering with what I am reading. This continues back and forth until Rose gets angry and throws him down. This slows him down but soon he picks up where he left off.
Of course, getting in the way is not enough. he has to also bite. For some reason, Rose is immune to most of the biting but I am not. If he is not biting my nose, he is biting my knee, ankle, shoulder or whatever else he can bite that will annoy me. He doesn’t always do this but sometimes he just gets in a biting mood. Those moods seem to be quite frequent lately.
I have been working on this post in the evening using my tablet computer that has an attachable keyboard. I sit on the bed and write while Rose sits on her chair and reads. When it is my turn to be bothered, Chris goes out of his way to step on the keys. This is my second evening trying to write and I think I will have to finish this post tomorrow on the desktop computer, even though Chris bothers me there too. Below is a Simon’s Cat video that does a great job explaining what I go through.
Chris also seems to spend more time getting into cabinets lately. He has become a pro at opening the doors and climbing inside but the doors shut behind him and he is not as good getting out as he is getting in. Often we hear the familiar bang…bang…bang. It’s Chris in the cabinet pushing the door open. Usually he has to step over a bunch of stuff to get in, but then he is behind all that stuff and he can’t get the leverage needed to open the door, so I have to find the cabinet he is in and let him out.
He has figured out where we keep the catnip. Until Rose moved it the other day, it was on the top shelf, above where we keep our spices. The video below shows Chris getting to the top of the cabinet above the catnip but it does not show him opening the door from above and reaching in it. A couple of days ago he was actually able to pull it out of the cabinet. That is what prompted Rose to put it in the storage closet.
We thought getting Puck would be good for Chris because he would finally have another cat that was willing to play with him. While that has been true, since Tigger is no longer with us, he now has nobody willing to nap with him and perhaps he needs more physical contact. I don’t have the answers but I hope we figure something out soon before he drives us crazy.
I have tried to live a relatively healthy life and, except for an occasional slight issue, I have not been sick in over ten years. My concern lately was that I would be destined for an illness due to my lack of sleep caused by Chris waking me up early every morning. That hit home on Tuesday morning when I woke up with a minor sore throat.
I was planning on riding my bike to work and I feared that would be difficult with a sore throat. Fortunately I felt better after an hour or so but all day I did not feel quite right. The next morning I felt bad again and Rose insisted that we keep Chris out of the bedroom that night, which we had not done lately because she did not want to punish Puck for Chris’s bad behavior.
I set up the plastic under the door along with the brick and candles along the edges. I described this in a earlier post where I talked about how these were necessary to keep Chris from digging a hole in the carpet. In consideration for Puck, we left the door open when we went to bed. Usually, but not always, Chris can be in the bedroom with us when we go to sleep without any problems. It is at three or four o’clock that he becomes a huge pain, which is what happened on Thursday morning. Rose was nice enough to get up and throw him out and close the door. He cried for a while, dug at the plastic and scratched the door but I was actually able to sleep until 6:30, which I had not done in ages.
We left Chris and Puck with a sitter and are enjoying a couple of days, cat free, in New Smyrna Beach where I was actually able to sleep until 6:30 again. I still feel like this illness is trying to take over but it has not got me yet. I seem to feel worse when I get up in the morning and then better once I have been up for a little while. We are going home tomorrow and I really want to be better before I have to deal with Chris again. Maybe if we throw him out when he is bad he will eventually learn to stop waking me up so early. Probably not but either way, I should finally get the sleep I need.
probiotics from Amazon and started putting it in their food when it arrived on Tuesday. Chris seems like he is pooping more than usual which is part of the problem. I tried something similar a few years ago but only had a two-week supply and I gave up when I didn’t see his problem getting any better. This time I am going to give it at least two months to see if he improves.
Bad Cat Chris 