Tag Archives: cat

Our Bathroom Attendant

28 Replies

About a week ago, we noticed that Puck was spending a lot of time in the bathroom. No, he does not have a medical condition. He would just hang out in there. Sometimes I would see him sleeping in the bathroom and other times he would be staring up toward the ceiling.

20140820_210641_Puck

Rose and I wondered if there was a bug that the other cats failed to notice. Perhaps there was the sound of a rat in the ceiling. We didn’t know but we found out the other day. The call came from Rose while I was in the kitchen. Chuck! Come Quickly! Oh my God! Hurry!

I thought she hurt herself or one of the cats was in distress. I hurried to the bathroom to see Rose pointing at the wall. Just above a large picture on the wall was what looked like a
Mediterranean Gecko. It is not native to Florida and looks so different from the lizards we usually see (there is a variety but most are called Brown Anoles) that it caused Rose to get pretty excited. We think it was hiding out behind the picture and Puck knew it was there. It was missing its tail so I assume Puck came close to catching it.

Brown Anole

Brown Anole

Mediterranean House Gecko

Mediterranean House Gecko

I got a towel and with much effort finally managed to catch it and bring it outside. Puck did not realize I had caught it and he is still holding vigil in the bathroom, three days later, waiting for the gecko to slip up. Or he’s just looking to save fifteen percent on car insurance. I cant be sure. 

Our cat Puck looking for gecko.

Puck still looking for the gecko

Note: If you live outside the U.S. and don’t get the car insurance joke than click here. 

I’m Not Ready to Go Inside Yet

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It happens every time. Whenever it is time for Chris to come inside, he gives me a run for my money. I suppose I can’t blame him. When I let him out I have to watch him and I rarely have the time to just hang out and babysit a grown cat.

Lately, Chris has been the only one allowed outside. Frankie turned out to be a runner so it is not safe to let him out. He’s been out twice and both time we had to chase him through the neighborhood to get him back. I’m afraid we will lose him if it happens again. Puck likes to go outside and he generally stays close but sometimes he gets nervous and wants to go back in right away so I don’t feel bad leaving him inside.

Chris makes getting out the door his mission in life. I often let him out just because it is easier than trying to stop it. For example, if I have a lot of groceries to bring in I let him out so I don’t have to fight with him on every trip. Sometimes I don’t let him out but he slips past me anyway. In either case, I usually give him a few minutes and then try to retrieve him and bring him back inside.

That is when he gives me the most trouble. He knows when I am ready and he goes out of his way to avoid me. I think that is also when he starts looking for a lizard because he doesn’t want to go back in empty-handed (or empty-pawed).

Here is a recent attempt of me trying to get Chris to come inside.

Chris’s Kitten is Back

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Chris is one of those cats that continued to play like a kitten well into adulthood. Lately, however, the kitten in him did not come out very often. That changed the other day when Rose found a mouse under the refrigerator. It was a small mouse that I had never seen before. It must have found its way under the fridge shortly after coming out of the package.

I don’t know what is different about this mouse than all his other mice but he plays with it like he is a kitten again, and after several days, he has not become bored with it. I still see him chasing that thing around several times a day. It’s nice to know my lovable “bad cat” has not fully grown up yet.

Bad cat Chris playing with mouse toy Bad cat Chris playing with mouse toy Bad cat Chris playing with mouse toy Bad cat Chris playing with mouse toy

The Cat Tree

15 Replies

Out of our three cats, Chris is the only one I feel comfortable letting outside. Puck is okay when let out. He doesn’t go far but he is near impossible to catch when it is time to go in. Frankie can never be let outside. It is unfortunate but after leading us on a long chase through the neighborhood… twice, I feel if he ever got out again we might lose him. When Chris is let out he usually starts by eating grass, nothing worrisome there, but I do have to remind myself that he is still a bad cat and I need to keep an eye on him.

Sunday afternoon I had to bring the trash out and Chris was at the door crying to be let out so I thought a few minutes outside wouldn’t hurt. As unusual, he ate grass while I brought the trash to the barrel at the side of the building. On the way back I got into a long conversation with the neighbors. While this was going on, I kept checking on Chris, who was gradually working his way toward the side of the building. When he got far enough away, I ended my conversation and went to get him.

Naturally, Chris doesn’t want to get got so he runs away from me, which I expected. My main goal was to herd him toward the front door. I’ve noticed lately that Chris tends to be very casual while outside until he knows it is time to come in, then he desperately starts looking for a lizard while avoiding getting caught himself. A few times he has shocked me by actually catching one with such short notice. On this day there were no lizards in sight but he wasn’t ready to be caught yet so he tried something new. He ran up the side of the tree in our front yard.

Bad Cat Chris in a tree.Bad Cat Chris in a tree.I was a bit surprised at first, especially because he went up it like he had done it a hundred times. I took my phone out and took a couple of quick pictures but then had to put it away because he started climbing higher and I wanted to get him while I could still barely reach him. He wasn’t too happy about being pulled out of that tree but unfortunately tree climbing is not one of the benefits of being an indoor cat.