Tag Archives: Cats

My Return to the Shelter

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I have a couple of part-time businesses where I make most of my income but work has slowed recently and I ended up with too much free time so I decided to get a part-time job. The person working there wanted to semi retire so it was decided that we would each work 20 hours a week or less, depending on how busy it was. I thought that was perfect for me except there was a problem. The other employee quit the day I started.

That left me working almost full time on top of the work I already had. I had no time to volunteer anymore. I decided to quit my position at the Red Cross and I put the SPCA on hold. After about two months a new person was finally hired and I was able to get Friday off.

There used to be a lot of volunteers at the SPCA but since the pandemic it seems many of them have dropped out. When I signed up for a Friday afternoon shift on Friday morning there were no other volunteers scheduled. That has been common for the last year or so (there used to be two or three per shift) which makes it even more important that I go.

This week the shelter was moderately full. Four of the eight pods had cats in them and about another five or six cats in solo cages. While I was there a few more cats and kittens were added and two cats were adopted.

Many of the cats there were very friendly and wanted attention.

One female cat was friendly but was also being harassed by a young male cat so she would alternate between coming out for pets and hiding. He wasn’t fighting with her but he was doing a lot of growling and hissing.

As much as I like the friendly cats, I feel it is equally important to pay attention to the shy ones, perhaps more important. I think the more attention a shy cat gets the more likely he or she will be less afraid of future visitors and thus more likely to be adopted.

For example, this cat is a two-year-old male named Tony. He was very nervous at my presence at first.

But I slowly gained his trust and before I new it he was rolling around and letting me pet his belly.

Another great thing about volunteering is that sometimes you get to watch kittens play, which is more entertaining than most televisions shows.

On anther note, I am having trouble with Facebook and I can use your help. For some strange reason, Facebook has decided that my blog is a threat to the fabric of society and sharing it could be the end of the world as we know it. Basically they think it is spam. I don’t know why they think that, it’s just a cat blog. I tried to appeal the decision but I don’t think real people work at Facebook anymore, at least not in a customer service capacity.

Can you please copy and past the URL of one of my blog posts and try to share it (the Facebook button below won’t work for this purpose). You will get a message that says “This URL goes against our Community Standards on spam.” Just hit continue three times and then “Disagree with decision.” If you actually agree that it is spammy please let me know what you are seeing so I can try to correct it. Thanks.

By the way, the reason I think real people don’t work at Facebook anymore is because about three weeks ago Facebook sent me a notification that there was suspicious activity on my account and I should change my password. I did that and when I logged in I discovered I was kicked out of Facebook marketplace. I know I did nothing wrong so I explained that I might have been hacked and I got a notification from Facebook that they would review it and get back to me within 24 hours. That was three weeks ago and I still get that 24 hour message every time I click on the marketplace icon.

Annoying the Annoyer

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Chris has always been good at annoying people and cats alike but this past year his annoyance level seems well above what it has been in the past. Knowing that, I couldn’t help but laugh at seeing Chris on the receiving end for a change. I think I spent a good two or three minutes laughing before I thought to record what was happening. I managed to capture the last thirty seconds of Floki annoying Chris. Enjoy.

Photo Friday: An Excuse to Not Make the Bed

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I usually don’t jump out of bed and then make it. There is some time for relaxing and enjoying a cup of coffee. During that time at least one cat will often decide to nap on the bed. Three cats sleeping on the bed when I need to make it is rare and a good reason to put off the task.

Of course, I can never put it off until the next day so I guess it is not very helpful.

Outside Time

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Since returning from West Virginia, Frankie and Chris have enjoyed much more outside time, although not as much as they would like. Our trips outside usually start with Frankie who gets really excited when he knows, or thinks he knows, when I am getting ready to take him out. My wife has to get him even more excited by saying things like, “Are you going outside, Frankie? Oh boy, you’re going outside!”

Once outside, after the initial excitement wears off, we usually spend time smelling stuff, especially plants.

When the smelling is done it is time to lie in the dirt.

Sometimes he pulls a Harry Houdini on me and starts to slip out of his harness.

When that happens it is usually too risky to try to fix it “in the field” so I will pick him up and carry him home while he hisses at me the whole way there. Usually, by that time we already had a good walk and Chris is at home waiting for his turn.

The first thing Chris does when he gets outside is do the “happy roll.” This is something I never see him do inside.

He then does a little exploring but he usually stays close to home which is why he doesn’t need a harness, although I still need to watch him because he sometimes wanders away.

Eventually he finds some grass to munch on.

After that he sometimes lies down for a few minutes and is then ready to go inside. I don’t have to carry him home while being hissed at.

Anyone else have inside cats that go out?

Photo Friday: Sharing

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Chris loves napping in his bed by the window but Wednesday Floki was sleeping in it. I heard growling and hissing and looked to see Chris standing over Floki. I didn’t see what Chris did to him but I did see Floki leave the cat bed and then Chris lie down and take a nap. A little later I saw this.

I guess Chris knows how to share after all.

Frankie Versus Chris

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I was looking through videos and came across one from December and thought that it was a perfect example of what happens around here just about every day. Usually Frankie and Chris get along pretty well but then, all of a sudden, there is a cat fight. This fight usually, but not always, has Frankie as the agressor while Chris defends himself while lying down.

I’m not sure how this lying down defense makes much practical sense but I am not an expert at cat fighting.

Cat Grass Fever

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I used to think cat grass was a perineal, like regular grass, and that I was just somehow terrible at keeping it growing. Now I realize that it is not like regular grass and will always die after a few weeks. I don’t know for sure but knowing how everything centers around money in America, I assume the seeds are picked less for the cat’s benefit and more for the benefit of the company’s bottom line.

After my last batch of cat grass died I just left the pot outside for several months. I had no desire to try again but I was cleaning out my shed and noticed a half-used bag of cat grass seeds and decided to give it another go. I knew it wouldn’t last but I still thought it would be worth it for the cats’ sake.

After a week or two the grass was tall enough to bring in for the cats.

As expected, Chris was the king of the grass-eating with Frankie a close second. Floki seemed to show just a mild curiosity. I guess I need to accept the realty and just replant the cat grass every so often.

What about you? Do your cats like cat grass?