Today we had the pleasure of putting up our Christmas tree… with help from the cats, of course.
Chris managed to get into the bag before I got tree tree out.
Frankie was there helping me put the pieces together while Puck supervised. Unfortunately, Puck’s pictures did not come out well.
The tree looked great after Rose decorated it,
It definitely met with Chris’s approval.
I put up lights around the windows after the tree was done and Frankie was there to help every step of the way. I asked Rose to take a picture of us but when she did she called Frankie to look her way but he jumped down and went to her instead.
For over a month now a tabby cat that I have called “My Little Buddy” has been waiting for me almost every morning when I get to work. I don’t feel that name fits that cat anymore because I get the feeling that she is female. I’m not sure why I think that, perhaps it is because she reminds me of my cat Abbey, shy but not fearful. I feel like I need to name them all but without knowing their sex, it is difficult.
Until a few weeks ago, three cats would come around to eat but only the one tabby would be there waiting for me. A fourth cat joined the group a few weeks ago (See There’s a New Feral in Town) and about two weeks ago the white and gold (ginger) cat joined the regular breakfast crew.
Do you see the second cat in the grass?
Sometimes now the gold cat is close and the tabby is in the distance and doesn’t come closer until I put the food out. I am not sure what the dynamics of their relationship is yet. I do know that the gold cat is the least fearful of humans, or at least me, and lets me get pretty close before backing away.
A week ago the new Tabby was there waiting for breakfast when I got to work and I have seen him once or twice more while I was putting food out.
The pictures above are screen shots from a video that was too shaky to show here. I noticed the other three cats are ear-tipped but I did not see it on this one until I looked at the video. I did manage to put together another video that is not too shaky, although it could be better.
Chris and Frankie have both been increasingly annoying lately in their attempts to get one of us to let them outside. Frankie is the vocal one. He will make lots of noise while sitting and staring at the door. Chris is the sneaky one. Every time I go outside I check to make sure there is no cat around and then make a quick dash out the door. More often than you could imagine, before I get a chance to close the door, Chris is already outside.
At least I don’t have to worry too much about Chris running off and often I will let him stay out for a few minutes before I bring him in. He mostly just eats grass or lies on the driveway. If I leave him out too long he will start to wander off and then I know it is time to bring him in.
Frankie I have to worry about. If he escapes it is very difficult to catch him. He tends to travel far from home and I worry if I ever lose track of him he might not remember how to get home. So to allow Frankie to have some outside time and also to let him get used to the neighborhood, I have been trying to take him for a walk more often lately.
These walks are always an adventure. Granted, a good part of the time spent outside is Frankie standing around smelling bushes.
Some of the walk is a bit boring for me, as you can see from the video, but there is always some excitement, such as Frankie trying to run after a bunny or a lizard. On our last walk we had both of those plus a snake, which required great effort to keep him from catching.
One time we even encountered a big dog off his leash.
The camera just stopped recording at that point but everything turned out fine. The dog owner apologized and said the dog was best friends with a cat at home. Even so, I hope he keeps him on a leash from now on.
The main problem I have with taking Frankie out is that the more he goes out the more he wants to go out. At least, that used to be the main problem. A new, bigger problem appeared the other day.
On Friday Rose noticed what she thought was an eye booger on Frankie but when she removed it she discovered it was a flea. That led to DEFCON 5 in our house and we had to buy flea medication for all the cats, which I don’t like because it is unhealthy for them, but Rose thinks my all natural methods are a bit crazy at times and I knew I wouldn’t win this round with fleas in the house. We bought a six-pack of Advantage II for cats at PetSmart which was expensive, about $76 before tax. I then discovered it on Amazon for much less but we needed it right away.
Now Rose insists that Frankie and Chris never go out again. I don’t agree with that but for now Frankie is stuck inside. Chris has already been out this morning but only because he is better than Frankie at escaping.
Two weeks ago we bought two cat toys from Friskies called Pull ‘n Play. The toy is like a Weeble. which they call Wobbert. It is weighted on the bottom and it wobbles. It is shaped like an animal but I’m not sure what it is supposed to be, perhaps a bear. The head twists off so you can put treats inside. It comes with a bag of Friskies Party Mix and it also has a string-like treat that you thread through the ears. There is a small hole at the bottom so treats will fall out when it wobbles just right.
When we introduced it to our cats, Chris dominated the toy. As expected, he was the first, and still only, cat to figure out how the toy works. I recorded the first few minutes of them playing with it but later, after the camera was put away, I watched Chris wobble it and then immediately look for treats. Sometimes treats would come out and sometimes they wouldn’t but he was smart enough to expect it.
Later we brought the second toy to Rose’s sister, Felice. Her cats were different. The were more interested in the string and our cats were after the treats.
I used to buy the Party Mix as a treat for our cats and they loved it. Here is a video from a few years ago related to those treats.
I will say that I stopped buying those treats because I wanted our cats to have a more healthy treat. I now give them a raw, freeze-dried cat food that I use as treats. The brands vary because they love everything I have tried so I buy whatever is a good deal. Currently, I am feeding them Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw. After the Party Mix was gone I put some of the raw treats in the toy. Even though they love it when I give it to them as a treat, they mostly ignored it in the toy. Cats can really be frustrating at times.
Has anybody else tried this toy or another treat toy?
I believe the concept of Earthing was introduced in a book called Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever! I have not yet read the book but I read several articles about the subject and watched a documentary called Grounded. As best as I understand it, when we are disconnected from the Earth, like we are in our homes or while wearing most shoes, we build up free radicals in our bodies that cause inflammation. That leads to a long list of other health problems. By taking our shoes off and touching the Earth for 30 to 60 minutes a day, we allow a free exchange of electrons that can neutralize these free radicals and restore health. Even just standing on unpainted concrete, like a driveway or sidewalk, will allow an exchange of electrons.
I had been wearing minimalist shoes for over a year but decided I needed to get as close to barefoot as possible. The best option I could find was a pair of traditional moccasins that only had a single layer of leather for the sole. The leather, once worn in, conducts electricity and is the perfect compromise between shoes and barefoot walking. Plus, they are very light and allow my feet to move freely in them. The only problem was that I had to learn to walk like humans are supposed to, by landing each step less on the heel and more toward the balls of my feet. Striking the heel on a hard surface like I was used to with sneakers, or even the minimalist shoes, was somewhat painful.
Since moving a few months ago I have not been walking on the Earth much and lately I have been thinking about ways that I could get out more. Suddenly I realised that our cats get outside to touch the Earth even less than I do. I have always felt it was good for pets to get outside where they could run around and breathe fresh air and now I have another reason to get them out. I am sure that if connecting to the Earth can help people it could help pets too, perhaps even more so for inside only cats that never have contact with the ground.
Unfortunately, getting my cats outside has always been difficult. Busy traffic near our last home and rules against outside cats where I live now keep our pets inside. It also doesn’t help that Frankie is a runner and I fear he will go to far and get lost if let out without his harness, but finding time to “walk” all of our cats is difficult.
Going forward I will try let Frankie and Puck outside more often for walks on the harness. That will help me get out more too. Hopefully Puck can get over his nervousness because I want him to get outside as well. Chris doesn’t need a harness but I plan to spend more time letting him eat grass before making him go inside. In addition, I may pick up an earthing mat to use in the home. It is a mat that connects to the grounding plug in your home or to a wire that leads outside into the ground. It might be helpful when I sit at the computer with all the EMF radiation around me, then the cats could lay on it when I am not using it. I read that pets are naturally attracted to it.
What do you think? Does anyone have any experience with Earthing?
When we went on our cruise at the end of last month we decided to go to Ft. Lauderdale a day early to reduce the chance that car trouble would cause us to miss the ship. We stayed at a hotel called Hyatt Place which was close to the cruise terminal.
About an hour before we planned to go out to eat, I walked down to get something out of the car. On the way I crossed paths with a little gold cat. He was very friendly and freely let me pet him but he seemed to be on a mission. He was looking through the bushes and picking things up to see if they were edible. I felt bad and was sure he was starving but I had nothing to give him. I went into the hotel but the only thing they had at that time was pastries.
While at dinner, I ordered the steak. I thought that was the best thing on the menu for bringing back leftovers. I ate about half of it and cut the other half into small chunks and brought it back with us.
When we arrived back at the hotel we found the gold cat, along with a tabby cat, in the bushes across from the front door of the hotel. They were eating dry cat food from a bowl that someone had tucked away in the bushes. That made me feel better but I still thought they would enjoy the steak better than the dry food so I gave a piece to each of the cats. The gold cat ate his right away but the tabby was timid and delayed long enough for the gold cat to take both pieces. The tabby had backed off so I threw a piece to her and I set the container down on the ground. The gold cat would grab a piece of meat, retreat to the bushes and eat it, then come back for another piece.
Note: Because there is a song playing in the background of the video, YouTube may restrict views in Germany.
The next morning, after breakfast, we went outside to wait for the shuttle to the terminal and the gold cat was out there. The cat just seemed to want attention at that point. We also learned from one of the drivers that the cat is a female named Puma. That surprised me a little because most gold cats are male but obviously not always. It also is another plus for people who believe gold cats are friendlier. I may have to rethink my position on that.
Kudo’s to the Hyatt employees who decided to not turn a blind eye and are taking care of these kitties.
Update 10/26/2017: After rewatching the video, I believe the employees might be wrong about the gold cat being female. Do you agree?
While we were on vacation we had two cat-sitters watching our boys. Lynn did a great job keeping us updated with texts and photos (see here) and Nancy was nice enough to bring gifts for the cats. Unfortunately, one of Nancy’s cats recently passed away and the other is not very healthy and does not use the items she brought over.
One of the items was a nice cat perch that I see the cats lying on now more than our other two small perches.
Next is a cat tunnel that everyone loves.
Finally she brought a nice scratching post. I will let Chris describe his feelings about that.
Our patio suddenly became too crowded so we decided to give Rose’s sister, Felice, the scratching post, one of our perches and a couple of other items. She said she could use them at the vet’s office where she works.
I started to bring the items outside on Saturday so I could put them in the car but the first time I opened the door, Chris came out of nowhere and zoomed out the door. I put down what I had and decided to leave Chris outside until I finished. He usually stays close and eats grass. I thought leaving him alone for two minutes would be easier that fighting with him every time I wanted to go out or come in.
Sorry about the quality
After I finished bringing the cat stuff outside as well as the garbage, I went back in and waited for Rose. She was involved in something, I don’t remember what, but it was probably another half-hour before we were ready to leave. When I walked outside I saw Chris lying there outside the door. I had completely forgotten he was outside. If he had wandered off, there was a chance we would not have known he was gone for several hours. I feel like such a bad parent.
We often do a cat count before we leave, mostly because they get into closets, so Rose probably would have discovered him missing but it is still a scary thought.
he was the first, and still only, cat to figure out how the toy works. I recorded the first few minutes of them playing with it but later, after the camera was put away, I watched Chris wobble it and then immediately look for treats. Sometimes treats would come out and sometimes they wouldn’t but he was smart enough to expect it.
Bad Cat Chris 
