Chris was not the center of attention during the cat’s weekly outing in our backyard on Sunday. Frankie took that trophy in a big way. He not only caught the only lizard of the day, he managed to climb onto our roof. He then was unsure how to get down.
Unfortunately, I have not perfected my movie making skills yet and was distracted by bringing Puck into the house when he made his way to the roof. I then spent the next 10 minutes following Frankie with the camera as he searched for a way down. Unknown to me then, the last half of that time was spent with the record button off. He did finally jump down to the roof of our neighbor’s truck and everything ended well.
Here is the video from Sunday. If you don’t want to watch the entire thing, I recommend starting at around 5:22.
Yesterday we broke with our new tradition of letting the cats outside on Sundays and let them out on Saturday. They all had a lot of fun running around, rolling in the dirt and chasing down lizards.
Frankie was good for the most part but, unlike last week, he ventured through the fence… twice. I didn’t worry about him though. I jut kept an eye on him and he came back before going too far. I did have to go through the gate and pick him up from the side of the property, both times, and bring him back to the back yard. He also used up a lot of energy and I saw him panting several times. I thought he was tired and would slow down, but I was wrong.
Last week both Chris and Puck caught a lizard but this week Chris was the only cat to bring home the prize. He did it by showing us he is still a bad cat. He wondered onto our neighbor’s patio and walked back out the door less than twenty seconds later with a lizard in his mouth, proving he is still the top lizard catcher in the family, despite his weight gain. I don’t totally blame Chris for going on her patio. If she would close the door that wouldn’t happen.
Chris showing off his lizard
Frankie tired and panting.
I uploaded a video of what I go through with these boy but it is fairly long. If you don’t have the time I recommend starting at around 6:45. In case you don’t watch the video, I should mention the lizard is alive and well, assuming some other creature hasn’t eaten it since yesterday.
Puck, being a black cat, is somewhat difficult to photograph and I have very few good photos of his face. This one of him with Frankie is not perfect but I like it. What do you think?
It has become a routine lately that the cats go outside for ten or fifteen minutes every Sunday. I put Frankie’s harness and leash on and walk around the yard with him while Rose keeps an eye on Chris and Puck. It seems that Frankie has gradually come to realize that there are plenty of interesting things in our own back yard and has become less envious of what is on the other side of the fence. The last time I had him on the leash he did not even attempt to go through the fence.
It was then that I decided it was time to lose the leash and let Frankie play with Chris and puck unencumbered. I was pretty confident that he would stay close if I watched him and “herded” him away from the fence if needed. I was also certain he would return home since he has done so before and he was now very familiar with the area. I did need to hedge my bet a little in case I was wrong so I decided to stop at PetSmart last week. They have a machine there that engraves tags, so I bought one for Frankie and put his name, our address and phone numbers on it.
On Sunday I put the tag on a collar that I have had for awhile and put the collar on Frankie. We then crossed our fingers and let them all out.
Surprising, Frankie was not a bad cat and stayed close most of the time. The only issue I had was when he walked into our neighbor’s patio like Chris did a few weeks ago. Chris, however, caught a lizard and ran into the house with it. Oh well, at least they had fun.
When we moved into our current home almost two years ago, an egret would show up every afternoon expecting to be fed. I assumed the previous resident had fed the bird and I felt bad letting him (I will assume it is male for this writing) go hungry, but we typically don’t have meat suitable for birds lying around the house. I tried giving him cat food but that was a no-go. We did buy hot dogs for him once but we are not always home and didn’t want the bird to become dependent on us so we stopped feeding him when the dogs were gone. Soon he only came around occasionally and then not at all.
That changed the other day when he showed up at our back door looking for food. I’m not sure what changed but he apparently has a long memory.
Again we had no food for him. Rose wanted me to throw him some cheese but I didn’t think that was a good idea, partially because the cats were very interested in him and opening the door would have been difficult with two bad cats and Puck wanting to run out.
Eventually he got the hint and went away. I felt very bad not giving him anything but I think it would be better if I teach him how to fish.
I just finished putting together a compilation of some of my favorite Bad Cat Chris videos. I hope you enjoy, and please check out Chris’s YouTube channel and subscribe to be the first to see the latest videos from this crazy household.
Today I had the day off from work and we had two contractors scheduled for the same time. The plumber arrived first and all three cats were on the patio at the same time so I just slipped the cover on the cat door so they couldn’t come inside. Chris was actually the good cat this time while Frankie and Puck were desperate to come inside.
I was a little surprised Puck was desperate to get inside a house with a stranger in it but I understood that under the bed was where he was comfortable riding out the “stranger” storm. Of course, getting to the bed meant going right past the big, bad plumber. Frankie didn’t surprise me. He is a pain when he wants to go out and a pain when he wants to come in.
I thought the desperation in both cats was worth getting on video so I quickly opened the slider, stepped out and closed it again. Unfortunately I wasn’t fast enough and Puck slipped past me and into the house, bumping his head on the door as he went in. I felt bad about that but it didn’t slow him down in his effort to get UTB.
I did manage to capture Frankie’s desperate attempt to get in the house while Chris lied on the ground and watched his craziness.
As soon as the plumber left I let them back in the house. Five minutes later, two guys showed up to replace our living room window, which the lawn guy chipped several months ago. Puck was still under the bed so I picked up Chris and Frankie and put them in the bedroom and shut the door. After about fifteen minutes of loud banging, they were done and life was back to normal.
What do you do with your pets when a stranger comes to your house?
Sunday we let all three cats explore the back yard again. Frankie still needs to be on a leash so he doesn’t run away but Chris and Puck were free to play while Rose kept an eye on them.
Frankie is getting used to the leash and harness and did not get as freaked out by the sudden stop like he did in the past. The three of them spent some time, just like last week, trying to catch lizards. Unfortunately for them, the lizards were a bit quicker than they were last week when Chris and Puck both caught one.
Where are you lizard?
Everything went well until after we brought the cats inside. That is when, after noticing how desperate our plants needed water, I decided to go back out and water them. I should have been more watchful for bad cats because on the way out Frankie surprised me and slipped out the door with Chris right behind him. Fortunately our neighbor left their patio door open and Frankie went inside to explore. I didn’t have my camera so I was not able to get pictures of him trapped in someone else’s home.
I didn’t want to possibly break the law by going inside so I went around the other side and was able to get him to head towards Rose who scooped him up coming out the door. Hopefully someday I will be able to let him out without worrying he will run away.
Bad Cat Chris 