Tag Archives: cat

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

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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.

One Night Suspension of Bedroom Lockout

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Human sleeping sign

Do you think putting this sign up would help?

I always feel bad for the other cats,  Puck and Frankie, because they must be locked out of the bedroom because Chris is bad and can’t be in there. The reason Chris can’t be there is because he is the most annoying cat ever when we are trying to sleep. Nevertheless, I decided to leave the bedroom door open last night since Rose was away. I decided I would just give him a chance and if he was too bad I would just throw them all out and shut and lock the door (I have to lock it because Chris knows how to open it).

Chris and Puck immediately took advantage of the open door. Puck laid at my feet like the good cat that he is and Chris laid down by my head and immediately began clawing at my face and biting my shoulder and my nose. I expected that and put up with it for about ten minutes. I was hoping the excitement would wear off and he would get tired and go to sleep.

Hah! That’s like hoping a root canal won’t be that bad. Chris, of course, would not stop annoying me so I picked him up and put him down next to my side and held him there. That almost never works but this time I annoyed him and he got up and left, taking Puck with him.

The next thing I know it is 4:45 and Chris is crying and poking my face. I guess I would rate that experiment a moderate success.