Tag Archives: Cats

Photo Friday: Relaxing in the Penthouse

Getting on top of tall things like the china cabinet has always been Chris’s area of expertise. Puck usually just watched as Chris traveled the upper reaches of our home like Tarzan swinging through the vines. But he did more then watch; he learned. Now Puck is able to get on top of the china cabinet like an old pro. He even climbed inside one of Rose’s baskets one day so we decided to turn it on its side and now it is like a little penthouse with a view. It seems to be his second favorite place to be, right behind the top of the couch overlooking our living room window.

Of course, one cat can’t do something interesting without the other getting jealous and wanting to join in. So was the case this day when Chris spotted Puck in his “penthouse” and wanted to see if there was anything he could do to annoy him. In the end, Chris got bored and was off to a new adventure, leaving Puck alone to enjoy some peace and quiet.

Dad! Tell him its my turn!

I’ll wait ’till you’re done.

I can’t wait. I have things to do.

Was it something I said?

Alone at last.

Photo Friday: Happiness is a Dresser Drawer

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I’ve had a passion for photography since my youth. Part of the reason I like it so much is that it helps my memory. Some people are gifted with a great memory, I am not, so it is nice to look back at old pictures and think, “oh yeah, I remember that now.”

I also like to take pictures that are a pleasure to look at, like landscapes, wild animals and pet cats. Yes cats, because they can be so cute and funny and who doesn’t enjoy a good cat picture?

I noticed that a few blogs do “Wordless Wednesday,” which I think is a good idea, but I happen to like words too. I even have a website devoted to funny animal pictures with captions called Just Fur Laughs (don’t click yet). So instead of “Wordless Wednesday” I decided to do “Photo Friday.” This will give me an opportunity to share some photographs that I think you will enjoy and a few words to go along with them. So let’s get started.

This photo was taken after Rose had her top drawer open and Chris climbed inside. He made his way to the back and then up and over so he was behind the drawer. I had to remove the top drawer to get him out, and when I did, Puck jumped inside to see what all the fuss was about. Chris has done this before so now we are more vigilant about keeping him out of the drawers when they are open but sometimes we are not vigilant enough.

Now, can anyone think of a caption for this photo? Once you have one, click here to see what I came up with.

Who Will Watch Our Four-Legged Children?

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Last week Rose and I took a short vacation. We stayed one night in Cocoa Beach, where we met up with Rose’s Dad and his wife, then we boarded the Disney Dream for a three night cruise to the Bahamas. It was a much-needed vacation but unfortunately we couldn’t bring Chris and Puck with us. That meant we had to find a reliable cat-sitter.

I am sure people who think of their pets as animals would be comfortable with googling pet-sitters and choosing the one with the best price, or better yet, finding someone they know that will do it for free. We think of our pets as children so the process for us was more like looking for a baby-sitter.

The last place we lived, the next-door neighbor had a seventeen year old daughter who would watch our cats. She was very responsible and loved cats, especially Chris. She would not only take care of their food and litter but she would also stay and spend time with them. Since moving, she was no longer an option so we had to look elsewhere.

By pure luck, we happened to live next door to a young mother who also happens to love cats. She agreed to take care of our “children” while we were away and we were sure she would do a good job but we still planned for the worst.

My biggest worry was that Chris or Puck would get out and she would have trouble catching them. I wanted to take the cats to get micro-chipped but we just never had the time. Another worry was that something bad might happen that would cause her to not be able to come, so we bought large food and water dispensers that would hold enough food and water for at least a week. It may have sent the wrong message to the sitter that we didn’t trust her, which was not the case, but even the most responsible person can be victimized by circumstances.

Rose called her the first evening we were gone to see how the cats were doing. She then told her we would be on the cruise so she would not be able to call the next day. After the call ended, I mentioned to Rose we would still have cell coverage for another day but she didn’t want the sitter to think we were checking up on her. I said nothing but I was thinking that checking up on a sitter is perfectly normal. I don’t think any parent would not call to see if their kids are okay and having cats is just like being a parent.

In the end everything worked out very well. The cats were fine and the sitter survived. Shockingly, she even offered to watch them again if needed.

The Wild Side of Cats

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Over a year ago I received an email stating that one of Chris’s YouTube videos (http://youtu.be/iFnHCcrlrnI) was being considered for inclusion in a National Geographic documentary titled Wild Side of Cats. I filled out the necessary paperwork but never heard back from them so I assumed (correctly) he didn’t make the cut and made a mental note to watch for the show but then forgot about it.

I don’t watch much television but by chance I noticed that it was showing the other night so I watched it. I found it to be quite interesting. The show parallels our domestic cat’s behavior to that of wild cats. One interesting example is that purring is a method of quiet communication between mother and kittens so as not to be heard by potential predators.

Another example is that wild cats will bury their unfinished kill so that other animals can’t smell it. I often see Chris do this after I feed the cats wet food. He will eat a small amount and then scratch at the floor like he is trying to bury it. I often wondered if he was saving it for later or burying it because it tasted like poop. Now I know.

Towards the end of the show they indicated that some of the affectionate things that cats do are done for non-affectionate reasons. While some of what they say may be true some of the time, I think it is wrong to try to explain away loving gestures in a cold, scientific way.

For example, they say a cat that lies on someone’s lap does it for warmth. I say that whoever produced this show probably does not have cats. Chris can be very needy at times for affection and lies on my lap quite often. I can guarantee he is not doing it for warmth. As a matter of fact, it is hot here in Florida in the summer and the cats lie on the tile floor because it is cooler. The extra warmth Chris gets from my lap is a sacrifice that he makes for attention. In addition, when Rose and I do sit down and watch television, Rose likes to sit with a pillow on her lap and Chris will often come and lie on her pillow. No warmth there but plenty of affection.

I think all warm-blooded creatures have emotions and cats have very strong emotions. They can love you just like you love them. So the next time your cat wants to lie on your lap, be assured that he or she loves you for you and not for your body temperature.

Despite my rantings, I believe the other 99 percent of the show is very interesting and worth watching. You can find more information about it at http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/wild/episodes/wild-side-of-cats/

If you have seen the show, or even if you haven’t, let me know what you think.

The Cat’s Meow

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One of my favorite customers came to see me at work last week with a present for me. It was an electronic cat toy called “Cat’s Meow.” He said he ended up with two and since he knew I had cats thought I would have a use for it.

It took me a couple of days to get batteries but I finally got around to putting it together last weekend. It is a fairly simple concept yet it is amazing that nobody had thought of this before. The toy consists of a motor that turns an arm back and forth around a circle. At the end of the arm is a small ball and attached to that is a tail, or at least what passes as a tail. The mechanism is then covered with a round cloth so that only the tail sticks out.

I put it on the ground on the patio and as soon as I turned it on Chris and Puck both became very interested in it. I started it on fast but soon found that slow worked better. I got out my video camera and recorded them playing with it for almost ten minutes before going inside. I forgot about it an came back twenty minutes later to turn it off and saw Chris and Puck were both still there playing with the new toy.

I would give the Cat’s Meow a thumbs up for holding Chris’s attention for that long but it remains to be seen whether it can withstand the punishment of two cats. Below is a portion of the video I mentioned.

Catnip Bender

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I have a catnip plant that I have been growing for several months now. It has been outside all this time because the first time I brought it inside for the cats they didn’t seem interested in it. Yesterday I decided to try again. What a difference a few months make. I don’t know if it smells different now but the cats had their faces so deep into the plant that I thought they were going to get sucked in and disappear.

Chris was being a bit possessive of the plant and would whack Puck every now and then. When I saw how funny they were I ran to grab my camera. I wanted to also grab my video camera but the memory card was full because of my wretched procrastination. I snapped some pictures and took a short video using my Canon SLR but as always happens when shooting video with my Canon, I managed to screw up the focus. I am sure there is an auto focus setting but I have not taken the time to look for it.

After less than a minute the memory card on my Canon filled up too but I did manage to catch a bit of the action. Now I have so erasing to do.

Finally, Someone to Nap With

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Chris has always been the odd cat out when it comes to napping partners. Other cats would pair up for a nap and Chris was left to join them. Usually that involved waking them up and annoying them, but they would usually accept him being there and go back to sleep.

The problem then was that nobody wanted to play with Chris. He was a gold ball of energy but had no one to help him release that energy. That changed when we got Puck, who would not only play with Chris but would actually give him a run for his money. Then Tigger died…

Puck was the player but Tigger was the only cat left that would tolerate napping with Chris, especially since Chris is not a good napper. I felt bad every time I watched Chris lie down next to a napping Puck, only to see Puck get up and move. We actually considered getting another cat that would be willing to tolerate Chris.

The good news is that lately Puck has stayed put when Chris lies next to him. I have seen them sleeping together several times lately and feel like we no longer need to consider another cat.

The problem now is that Puck spends less time with Rose then he used to. He will come to her for a greeting and then move on like he is too busy to visit. So now Rose wants a cat that will nap with her. It’s always something around here.

Cat and Mouse

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I meant to post this two or three weeks ago but I forgot about it until I noticed the pictures on the camera.

Chris and Puck were going crazy at the front window and I walked over to see what they were so interested in. There was a mouse on our sidewalk. It looked like he was eating a bug and he was totally oblivious to the turmoil he was causing just four feet away. I believe it was the first mouse I have ever seen in the wild, if you can call our sidewalk “The Wild.”

After I took pictures of the little guy, he picked up his bug and moved under the bush, even closer to the cats, still oblivious to their presence. This was like eating a steak in front of a starving man. I actually felt bad for them and almost wanted to open the door but we have had to deal with lizards and snakes brought into the house, the mouse can just stay outside, thank you very much.

Happiness is Unrestricted Patio Access

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When we first looked at our new place we were not able to see inside because someone was still living here but we did look at it from the outside and liked the fact that it had an enclosed patio. It was fully enclosed, which is not as good for the cats as just screened but we thought we could open the windows for them and they would be happy.

When we finally were able to meet with the Realtor we discovered that he listed the wrong address and the unit for rent was actually the one next door, which had no enclosure on the patio at all. In addition, the 1100 square feet turned out to be more like 850. That was very disappointing because the location was fantastic and it was very difficult to find a rental in an area that we liked.

This is what our patio looked like when we first saw it. To the left was the unit that was listed by mistake.

When we were finally able to look inside, we liked what we saw but we told the Realtor that for the high rent we would be paying, we would need to have the patio screened. The cats would not have been happy cooped up inside. We later learned that the owners agreed and two days after we moved in we had a new, screened-in patio.

Our new screened-in patio – Notice Chris to the far right.

Once the patio was enclosed we put our cat door on the slider and the cats were able to go in and out at will, even when we were at work, which was not possible before because we could only lock it from the inside and since we had to leave through that door we had to keep it unlocked. We didn’t want someone coming by and letting the cats out so they were forced to stay inside all day.

Coincidentally, we lived in the building in front of Chris two years ago.

Now they can come and go 24 hours a day, which is a real treat. They also have a much bigger patio to enjoy. In addition, we now live next door to a marina and there is a lot of activity for the cats to watch, There is also plenty of birds that make an appearance, especially an egret that must have been fed by the former tenant.

On another note, the bird that laid her eggs just outside our front window on the day we moved in sat on them for almost two weeks until Rose noticed on Friday morning that the nest was empty except for two eggs that were broken open. We think that a predator attacked the nest. Too bad; we were looking forward to seeing little chicks outside our window.

Bad Cat Chris

The Baddest Cat You'll Ever Love