Tag Archives: cat

Goodbye Tigger – Rest in Peace

I am very saddened to say that Tigger is no longer with us. He was a good, loving cat who died too young. He will be missed.

I woke up Saturday morning around 4 a.m., as usual, because Chris was bothering me. I think I managed to get him to stop a couple of times, just long enough for me to go back to sleep before he would start biting my nose again or treading on my neck. I finally dragged myself out of bed a little before 5 a.m.

I didn’t turn the light on because Rose was still sleeping so I walked downstairs in the dark. When I reached the bottom of the stairs and turned the corner I stepped in something wet. I turned the kitchen light on and saw there were two or three small spots of poop on the floor. I thought Chris had a problem with runny poop again and it all didn’t come out in the box.

I cleaned my foot, cleaned the poop off the carpet and then made coffee. While it was brewing, I went into the bathroom to clean the box and noticed several more spots of poop next to the litter box and in front of the bathroom. It was looking like a real problem so I decided to check the rest of the first floor. There were several spots in the living room but under the stairs and behind the television, where the other litter box is, was the biggest problem.

There were several more spots of poop but there was three large areas of vomit. I spent quite awhile cleaning the mess quietly, and while I did that, I saw Tigger climb into the litter box and vomit again. I suspected it was Tigger but I knew for sure then.

When I heard Rose was awake I brought up coffee and noticed more poop in our bedroom. That started a cleaning frenzy that lasted almost four hours. Rose notice vomit on the bed downstairs and washed the comforter, only to have him puke on it again as soon as it was replaced.

She made an appointment at the vet for 11:00 but wouldn’t let me come with her. She suspected Tigger would not be coming back and thought I couldn’t handle it. I knew she was wrong and I insisted that I come with her but she said she wouldn’t go if I went. Eventually I just gave up and let her go. She was right, he did not come back.

Tigger has been somewhat unhealthy for a while. When he was young we had to rush him to the emergency clinic late at night because he was having trouble breathing. It turned out that he had eaten too fast and had a clump of food stuck in his esophagus. They took x-rays during their diagnostics and noticed, in addition to his current problem, that half of his heart was enlarged.

A couple of years ago he developed a problem with his gums and had a problem eating. The vet said it is something that cats sometimes get and did not have a real solution to the problem except to give him steroids or antibiotics, either treatment was only a temporary fix. He said that removing all his teeth might stop the problem from coming back but he couldn’t guarantee that, so every couple of months the problem would come back and we had to get more antibiotics. We picked up the last prescription last Saturday and had not finished giving it to him yet.

He also seemed more Grumpy lately. I wrote in a recent post how he had been attacking Chris lately, which was not his character. We thought Abbey’s death had affected him, since they were close, but it could have been that he was just not feeling well.

Now it is just Chris and Puck, and Rose does not want to get any more pets because it is too hard to lose them. I totally understand. We have lost too many pets during the last three years.

In memory of Tigger I have created (on Flickr) a set of photos here. I also created one for Abbey here.

Tigger and brother Flash

Tigger and Alex

Tigger and Abbey

Tigger playing Monopoly

Tigger in Flowers

Young Chris and Tigger

Tigger, Chris and Puck

The Wrath of Tigger (badcatchris.com)

The Bird Tormentor

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The following was meant to be published last August so it is out of sequence. I just happened to notice today that it was marked as a draft. Oops

Chris enjoying sunshine while looking out window

Considering that cats tend to nap most of the day away, Chris is no ordinary cat. He is usually looking for trouble to get into while Abbey and Tigger are snoozing. That being said, there are times when he will relax. When we lived in the condo, he would often lay on the spare bed and look out the window. This was a favorite spot for all the cats.

Mocking bird finds Bad Cat Chris

One day a mockingbird spotted Chris in the window and started hovering just outside, trying to intimidate him to leave. This of course just caused him to become more interested in the bird.

Chris tries to catch bird – notice wings on left

This went on for a couple of weeks, sometimes several times a day. A few times I had the window open a few inches and Chris would slide his body between the glass and the screen in a vain attempt to get the bird. I had to keep the window shut because I was afraid he would push the screen out and fall from the third floor.

The funniest part of all that was the bird only picked on Chris. When Tigger and Abbey were laying there, the bird was nowhere in sight. I suppose this might have been a mother bird protecting a nearby nest and to her, Chris just looked like trouble. Only Chris could cause problems by looking out the window.

Mockingbird Tormentor returns

I do know that mocking birds can be pretty mean for their size. I have regularly seen them chasing larger crows and even an Osprey. Rose said when she was young she had an outside cat that lived in fear because a mockingbird would attack it every chance it could. She thought it was payback for something bad that the cat did but I think the cat’s territory just overlapped with the bird’s.

Eventually the bird stopped bothering Chris. It was around June so I suppose it was nesting season and once the young birds were out of the nest, there was no reason to protect it.

The Wrath of Tigger

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Lately, every once in a while, I will hear the sound of a cat in distress. The first time I heard it I thought one of our cats was hurt or stuck somewhere. When I looked for the source, I found Tigger locked in a stare-down with Chris. He had Chris cornered on the top landing of the staircase and surprisingly, was the aggressor in this confrontation.

When I showed up, the distraction gave Chris an exit opportunity and he took it. He bounded down the stairs with Tigger hot on his tail (literally). When they reached the living room, Tigger jumped on Chris and attacked him. I tried to separate them but it was only temporary. Tigger chased him down and attacked him again. Usually once a cat retreats the fight is over but not this time.

It was shocking because Tigger has always been such a nice cat. I know the old saying is true; what goes around, comes around, and Chris definitely was due for something to “come around,” but this was not the play fighting that Chris had annoyed the other cats with for three years. This was an attack by a pissed off cat, and it has repeated several times over the past couple of weeks.

In between the attacks I see the two of them laying together and even washing each other, so I don’t think Tigger has developed a hatred for Chris. I can only assume that he has become grumpy in his old age and Chris is doing something to annoy him (big surprise there), but I have not seen what starts the fights yet so I will have to watch them more closely. Hopefully I won’t have to bring Tigger in for anger management.

Chris’s Stolen Routine

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I mentioned this briefly in my post, Jealousy but I wanted to expand on this issue. Chris used to have a routine in the morning of hanging out with Rose in the bathroom while she got ready to start her day. He would lie on the counter in front of her, occasionally grabbing her makeup or whatever else she happened to be using and pulling it up against his chest. Sometimes he would collect three or four things before Rose would be forced to retrieve them. This would go on until she turned on the hair dryer, which was Chris’s cue to make a quick exit.

When we got our kitten Puck, everything changed. Suddenly Puck would be the first one up on the counter and when Chris came up for his routine, he would take one look at Puck and go back downstairs. I felt bad for Chris but Rose found Puck to be a little easier to deal with.

At first Puck would steal a cotton swab, play with it for a while, then come back for another cotton swab. Much of this playing took place on the bathroom floor, so it was not really a problem. Along with the cotton swabs, he also had a particular mouse he liked to play with. Now, while he still plays with cotton swabs from time to time, his mouse has become the center of much annoyance for Rose.

I very much want to get a video of him and his mouse but Rose does not want to be recorded while getting ready for work. Too bad, because nobody would believe it otherwise. Puck jumps on the counter with his mouse and drops it in the basket that Rose has some of her stuff in. He then waits for Rose to throw the mouse in the bedroom. When she does that, Puck races to retrieve the mouse and then brings it back and drops it in the basket again.

This goes on until Rose gets tired of it and stops playing, but when she does that, Puck pushes on her hand and tries to get her to throw the mouse again. You can imagine how difficult it would be to get ready for work that way. The obvious solution would be to turn on the hair dryer and scare him off, but he is not bothered by it in the slightest. Now Rose is longing to have Chris back on the counter with her.

I would like to see that happen too, but dispute the loss of one routine, or perhaps because of it, he has developed another. He now lies on the back of my chair while I write blog posts.

Update: I did get a video of Puck playing fetch. Here it is.

Chris’s Springboard

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I mentioned before that Chris likes to get on my shoulders, although my profile picture probably makes that obvious. He does not always want to be there but there are certain times where he will climb up my leg and beg to be picked up. Other times he will jump on the counter and then onto my shoulders. Sometimes he jumps on me when I am not expecting it.

As much as he likes being on my shoulders, there are times when he just wants to use me as a springboard to reach a higher place. He can be like Ricochet Rabbit sometimes. From the floor to the counter to my shoulders and then to the top of the cabinets. Ping, ping, ping! It is these times where he not only surprises me but also digs his claws in me and leaves a mark like I was bitten by a vampire.

Sometime he just rides around on my shoulders while I walk around the house. Eventually he wants to do something else and gets down. Sometimes I walk by something that interests him and he decides to go up instead. This Christmas he was on my shoulders as I started to walk down the stairs from the bedroom. I paused for a second for some reason and Chris noticed the window that is above the stairs, almost to the ceiling. That peaked his interest and up he went.

Chris in Window

View from below

Chris jumping down from Window

I was a little worried that it was a bit high and tried to coax him down but he wouldn’t have it. I eventually decided he would be fine getting down on his own so I left him there. A few days later I had a repeat of Christmas Day and up to the window he went again. I guess now that he knows it’s there he will be doing that all the time. I don’t care. The more things he can find that interest him, the less trouble he will get into. That is assuming those things he finds are trouble-free.

View from outside

What’s next for Bad Cat Chris?

Jealousy

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Rose and I discussed getting a playmate for Chris since shortly after we got him. He has so much energy and always wants to play, but until recently our other cats didn’t want to play with him. That changed when we got our new kitten, Puck. He has turned out to be a great playmate for Chris. They spend a good part of the day pouncing on each other or chasing each other. Sometimes I even see them washing each other.

There is, however, a darker side of this relationship: jealousy. Whenever puck comes to Rose or me for attention, Chris is sure to show up seconds later. occasionally the opposite happens. Puck will come to us second and then Chris will leave, presumably in disgust.

Keep in mind that I have a hard enough time trying to figure people out so interpreting the behavior of another species could be beyond my ability. Nevertheless, I feel Chris is the Alpha male in the house and he feels threatened by the kitten.

I have seen behavior from Chris that is different now than it was before Puck showed up. For example, he sometimes will grab Puck or Tigger by the scruff of the neck and hold them down for an extended period, as if he is reminding them who is the boss.

There is also something that he does not do that somewhat bothers me. Rose gets ready for work every morning by sitting at the counter in the bathroom. Chris used to lay on the counter while she got ready. He was somewhat of a nuisance for her but also a source of entertainment. He would lie there and grab her makeup or whatever he could get his paws on and pull it toward him.

Now Puck has taken over his spot so Chris usually just avoids the bathroom in the morning. That makes me feel bad because that was part of his routine that was taken away from him. Of course, Chris could easily take that spot back if he wanted to, so I am not sure why I feel bad about it. Perhaps it is because he does not want to take it back.

Puck takes over Chris’s spot

All things considered, Chris is generally a happy cat and I believe puck has added to his life more than he has taken. Eventually, Chris will reestablish his dominance and all will be right with the world. Well…maybe not the world.

Chris Gets a Playmate

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A few weeks before Abbey died we visited Jeff and Felice, Rose’s sister and brother-in-law. Felice works for a vet and is active in helping stray and feral cats in the area. Her and Jeff have also adopted several “unadoptable” cats with physical problems.

The day we came for a visit she had two very young kittens that she was bottle feeding in her home for a local rescue organization. One kitten was a male that was all black. The other was a black female with calico markings over one eye. They both needed homes and would be ready for adoption in a few weeks.

Of course, with Abbey being sick, we were not ready to adopt another cat at that time. We did not want to bring any trauma into the house during the small amount of time Abbey had left.

It happened that Abbey died when the kittens were old enough to be adopted and the next day happened to be Saturday, the only day that is convenient for visiting Felice. Rose really liked the kitten and wanted to get him, and I agreed, but I was hesitant about it because I didn’t want to cheapen the memory of Abbey by replacing her so quickly. In the end I realized it is the circle of life and there is nothing wrong with giving a home to a kitten who needs one.

New Kitten with housemate just before we brought him home.

So on Saturday, we were off to pick up our new kitten. We visited for a while before taking him home and watched him interacting with the other cats in the house. He seemed to get along with at least one or two of the other cats as well as the other kitten that he was raised with. We felt a little bad taking him away from the only home he knew but we also knew that his stay there was only temporary. He needed a permanent home and we were confidant that he would be happy with us.

When we brought him home we expected some bad behavior from Chris and Tigger. They are cats after all and cats can be very jealous creatures. Tigger, as expected, did a fair amount of hissing when he saw the new arrival and quickly left the room in disgust. Chris, however, was just curious. When we opened the carrier door, Chris greeted the new kitten by sticking his head inside and blocking the only way out.

This went on for several minutes and the nervous kitten just huddled in the carrier and didn’t want to come out. When he did come out he did a little exploring, which Tigger was not happy about. Chris just followed him around and seemed happy to have the distraction. Eventually our kitten discovered the under side of the bed and decided that was a good place to stay for a while.

Felice and Jeff named him either Chow Chow or Chow Man. We heard him called by both names and we are not sure which one was his given name. It didn’t really matter because we didn’t like either one and decided to change it. The reason they gave him the name was because he loved meal time. This proved true when I tried to lure him out from under the bed with a little plate of wet kitten food. In his case, food easily trumps shyness.

Chris greets kitten as he comes out for food.

After he ate he went back under the bed and that became his home away from home for a few days. Eventually he gave up his shelter. Tigger, for his part, gave the kitten hell for a week or two but then got over himself.

Part of the reason we wanted to get another cat goes back to about the time we first got Chris. He had so much energy and always wanted to play but none of our cats wanted to play with him. We thought we needed another cat with his energy level, if one even existed, to help keep him entertained so he would stop bothering us. At that time we had five cats, our limit, so one more was out of the question. There was also the possibility that another hyperactive cat could mean twice the trouble.

Since we moved into our latest home we discussed getting another cat from time to time. I thought if we did get one, it should be around Chris’s age so they would grow old at the same time. Our plan is to retire to a boat, motor home, or both, and old cats might work but a middle-aged, adventurous cat could be a problem in such a confined space. My plan, if we decided to get a cat, was to check shelters for a three-year old cat with ADHD. That opportunity never came up before we met the kitten that needed a home.

Our next dilemma was finding a good name for the newest member of our family. To be continued…

On another note, I moved Chris’s videos to his own YouTube channel, youtube.com/badcatchris. Also, don’t forget to “Like” Chris on Facebook at facebook.com/badcatchris.

Abbey Gets Sick

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The summer of 2012 brought us bad news. At first we did not know what to think when we noticed that Abbey was not as fat as she used to be. We were a little concerned but when someone is obese, losing weight is usually a good thing. In hindsight, we should have brought her to the vet right away, but our thinking was that endless tests for a problem that may not exist can be very expensive.

We kept an eye on her and the weight gradually came off but she did not act sick. Instead, she seemed to be more active, even jumping up on the counters, something usually reserved for Chris. She also had a great appetite. Nothing we would associate with an illness, except for the weight loss.

Because of her energy levels and apparent happiness, we waited too long. She passed normal weight to slightly underweight when we finally brought her to the vet, by that time, the vet said she had liver failure.

We could have put her to sleep then, but I did not see one once of suffering in her. I decided I was going to give her a little more attention than normal to make her final time on earth a little more pleasant.

I was also not 100 percent convinced that her condition was irreversible. Even though we always had fed them good quality food, I started buying the healthiest food I could find. I was mixing raw food with canned food, which is the healthiest option, but I stopped doing that because none of the cats liked it much and would usually leave half the plate uneaten. I wanted to make sure Abbey was eating enough. I also bought some milk thistle and added it to her food but even that was difficult because if I put more than a very small amount in her food she wouldn’t eat it.

Rose and I decided to keep the bedroom door open so Abbey could sleep next to me. That meant all the trouble we went through trying to keep Chris out became null and void. Chris now had freedom to wake us up at all hours of the night, and he did.

Abbey continued to lose weight and Rose thought I was being selfish because I was not ready to have her put to sleep, but she continued to eat and behave like a normal happy cat. I just couldn’t justify putting her out of her misery when she did not seem to be miserable.

We went on a cruise in September and had someone watch the cats while we were gone. We also had a friend come in every day to check on Abbey. She had the unpleasant job of taking her to the vet if it was her time to go.

When we got back, Abbey looked even worse. We decided to take her in that day, even though she still did not act sick. It occurred to both of us that she was eating because she was hungry and she was hungry because her body was not getting nutrients from the food.

We put her in the cat carrier and made the long drive to the vet. It was long because we brought her to the vet that Rose’s sister, Felice, works at.

She cried for half the trip and I felt very guilty because it seemed like she was asking us to go back home. I opened the door and started petting her until she was crying and purring at the same time. I then felt even more guilty.

After we got to the vet we were ushered into an exam room where the vet looked at her and confirmed it was time. We said our goodbyes and Felice took her in the back. We did not want to be there for that part but Felice said she would stay with her, which made us feel better. Not exactly the best end to our vacation.

Abbey – 2004 to 2012

The Call of the Great Outdoors

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When we moved to our current home and Chris was able to go out on the patio again, we thought he would be happy. Unfortunately, it is like that old saying, “Give someone an inch and they will take a mile.” Chris was not happy with his inch. Being partly exposed to the outside just made him want it even more.

Every time one of us came home or left while the cat door was open, we had to figure out how to get through the door without Chris getting out. I use the past tense but it is still true today. Sometimes I would just let him out because it was easier than fighting with him. At first, just like at our last place, Chris would just roll around on the sidewalk, but soon he started making a beeline for the front yard.

Bad Cat Chris in bushes

He did not go far. He just ran around the front yard, investigating every movement. For awhile we thought it was a little cute. We would let him out after listening to him cry for a while, then I would try to catch him after four or five minutes. Of course, this wasn’t easy. He would usually wait until I got close and then bolt away. I would then have to walk across the yard to get him and he would run back. I think this game of “Catch me if you can” was fun for Chris but I got little enjoyment from it.It wasn’t long, however, before he discovered that the outside world had an ample supply of lizards. The first thing he did when he got outside was look for lizards. Sometimes he would catch one as soon as he got out. If he didn’t find one right away, the lizards would hide. It was funny watching him sometimes because he would be searching through the bushes while several lizards hung very still on trees opposite of Chris’s field of vision.

When he did catch one, I would have to get it out of his mouth before he killed it. This usually resulted in some resistance along with some growling. We soon decided that, for the sake of the lizard population, we would try to resist giving in to his begging to go outside.

: You can see what a great strategic position he is in when he waits under the cat perch.

Chris is a very smart cat and can easily adapt, so when we stopped letting him out, he changed his strategy. He started laying under the cat perch, especially when he knew someone was leaving. It is the perfect spot because we can’t pick him up from there and we also can’t hold him down without blocking the door from opening.

As usual, we change our strategy, Chris changes his, we change ours to counter and it goes on and on. It is like playing chess with a cat. When he started hiding under the perch, I started opening the door slightly to lure him out. When he went for the opening I would quickly shut the door and grab him.

Chris countered by waiting under the perch. He is too smart to let himself be fooled more than once or twice so he held his ground until he had a clear shot out the door.

My next move was to give the cats treats when someone had to come in or go out. All the cats would come running for treats which was my chance to close the cat door. This actually worked for a while. I think the lure of treats was too great, even for Chris. Eventually though, he stopped falling for it.

Even when it did work, it was not foolproof because he would sometime sneak out the main door when we tried to leave and park himself under the perch. If I wasn’t in a hurry, I would just let him out because catching him outside was easier than getting him out from his little fortress.

Chris soon stopped looking for lizards and started eating grass. I know it is natural for cats to eat grass so I would give him a few minutes before bringing him in.

Even today Chris is still getting outside. On Halloween I was very carefull to open the door just a crack to give candy out but that was all it took. Aren’t cats supposed to be afraid of strangers wearing masks?

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