Chris is very touchy-feely. He always has to be touching someone. This photo was taken in low light so the technical quality is not great but I think it is still worth sharing.
Who else has touchy-feely pets?
I made a new Fort Box for the cats. This time I did not put a hole on the top because it just invites conflict. Instead, I put an entrance hole in the front and a smaller escape hatch on the side near the back. I also put several small peepholes around the perimeter so that the occupant could see if an enemy was approaching.
Naturally, Chris took over the fort which left Frankie on the outside planning his attack strategy.
After a successful defense of the fort, peace was restored in the kingdom . . . for now.
Chris has a lot of trouble with his ears. He probably doesn’t want Floki to have the same problems so he makes sure they are clean.
Chris is a very needy cat and always has to be touching someone. He can be quite annoying, especially to Frankie, but Frankie is usually pretty good about tolerating Chris.
“Usually” means about 70% of the time. About 20% of the time Frankie just gets up and leaves. The rest of the time there is hissing and whacking going on.
It has been over two months since the local SPCA told all of us volunteers to stay home. They are still taking care of and adopting pets but they are doing it with just their paid staff. That means the cats and dogs are still finding homes but they have fewer people around to pay attention to them while they are there.
While I was volunteering, I took photos of some of the cats almost every time I was there and I thought this would be a good time to share some of the ones from this year. The last time I was there was March 19th, over two months ago, so I’m sure all of these kitties have found homes by now. At least I hope so. I also have forgotten all of their names except Grampa Hulu who was unusual because he was a male tortie.
Hopefully they will be letting us volunteers come back pretty soon.
Today is National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day.
During this difficult time people have stepped up and have been fostering or adopting pets at a much higher level than I anticipated, but there are still many pets stuck at shelters.
Volunteer duties have been suspended at the SPCA where I volunteer, but they are still open with paid staff and the shelter is taking reservations for people who want to adopt.
I hope to see an empty shelter when I am able to return.
That probably won’t happen but hopefully the pets at the shelter will be kept to a minimum.
That could happen. I am sometimes almost embarrassed to be human because of all the stupid, mean things that people do but during a time of crisis people tend to put the humane in humanity.
I took Frankie for a walk the other day because it had been at least a week since his last escape and I had been procrastinating about taking him out so I decided it was time. Of course, he helped motivate me by being extremely annoying. Somehow he knows when I make the decision to take him out because he gets very excited and follows me around the house meowing constantly. Then I take his harness out of the drawer and the excitement level rises to epic proportions.
On this day we didn’t go very far when Frankie stopped about ten feet from a parked car and stared. I didn’t know what he was looking at but soon saw a black cat under the car.
The cat had a collar but I could not tell if it was a flea collar. Outside cats are not allowed where I live so either somebody is breaking the rules or someone put a flea collar on a stray cat as a friendly gesture. It could also be a stray or feral cat that someone has been taking care of and the collar is to discourage trapping.
Surprisingly, Frankie did not growl or hiss at the cat nor did the cat growl or hiss at Frankie. That could be because it was female. I don’t know. Frankie quietly inched his way forward and the truce lasted until he was very close and then the cat hissed and ran under the next car.
Frankie didn’t pursue. Instead, he found a tree about about forty or fifty feet away and left his calling card.
We try not to eat too much chicken in our house because when we do we attract vultures, otherwise know as cats, who want to take our food off our plates. Yesterday we ordered pizza and chicken wings for lunch. We ate the pizza for lunch and saved the wings for dinner. This is what happened at dinnertime.
The technical quality is not great because it was taken in very low light without a flash, but I think my wife’s timing was perfect. It really captures the story well. I guess a picture really is worth a thousand words.
Chris loves Floki like a son and Floki seeks out Chris’s attention which no other cat has ever done, although Puck did tolerate Chris pretty well.
A few weeks ago, my wife ordered a new office chair that had a retractable footrest because her foot started hurting around the time this lock-down started and she wanted to be able to raise it while she was working. Unfortunately, she did not find the chair to be comfortable and gave it to me with the instruction to get rid of my old chair, which I happen to like. Garbage pickup was several days away so I had two chairs in my “office” while I was waiting for trash day. I didn’t find the chair to be as comfortable as my own but I needed to get rid of one of them because I didn’t have much room for both and I couldn’t see getting rid of the new one after she spent so much money on it.
During that time Chris would lay on my lap while I was working and annoy the crap out of me. He constantly claws at my chest like he wants to climb up or pull me down. It is something he started doing several months ago and I can’t get him to stop. If I put him down he just starts biting my legs.
One day I put a pillow on the new chair and put Chris on it and he stayed there. He was right next to me and I was able to pet him while I worked so it was all good. Now when he is annoying, like he is now while I am writing this, I can move him to the chair.
There are times when that doesn’t work. Now, for example, Frankie is on the chair so I can’t put Chris there.
Other times putting him on the chair doesn’t work and he comes right back to bother me some more. When that happens I do the only thing that works and I get up to put a little kibble in their bowls, which I just did so I could finish this sentence.
So it looks like I will have to deal with having two chairs in my way until something changes.
On a sadder note, I just learned that Yoda passed away yesterday. You may remember my recent post about losing Jerry. Yoda and Jerry arrived at the shelter where we adopted Chris in 2006 and never left. They were best friends in 2009 when I volunteered there and met Chris, and they were best friends until the end. I suspect losing Jerry was too much for Yoda so he left to join him at the Rainbow Bridge.
Bad Cat Chris 