Frankie loves to relax and let it all hang out.
Photo Friday: Letting It All Hang Out
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Tag Archives: cute
The Truth About “Bad” Cat Chris
When I started this blog I couldn’t decide what to name it. I had several names in mind, none of which I can remember now. I only remember that all of them were taken. I eventually settled on Crazy Cat Chris and registered it at WordPress.com.
Almost immediately I realized that I made a mistake. Chris was not a crazy cat. I think I just liked it because all the words started with C. I then choose Bad Cat Chris but the truth is, Chris is no more bad then he is crazy. The “bad” in Bad Cat Chris only refers to his behavior, not to Chris himself, and it really only refers to the human interpretation of the word “bad.” What is bad to a human is not necessarily bad to a cat. Like Shakespeare said, “there is no good or bad but thinking makes it so.”
The first several months after we adopted Chris, he kept us from getting a good night’s sleep by attacking our feet, biting our noses, treading on our bare skin and lying across our necks. BAD CAT! Indeed, the people who adopted him before us thought he was a bad cat and returned him to the shelter after one day.
Chris, November 2009
He no longer attacks feet and he has learned not to bite Rose’s nose but everything else is the same. Jumping on counters is another “bad” behavior that we were never able to correct. Nor were we able to stop him from opening cabinets and closets and getting inside. At eight years old he still tries to get out the door every chance he gets and he still scratches the furniture, but only when he knows someone is looking.
Despite his behavior, I wouldn’t want him to change because that is who Chris is. He has always been very entertaining and he makes us laugh. His bad behavior is not really bad, it’s more like naughty, and even that’s not right. He is just a non-human who is very good at not following human rules.
There is something special about Chris, more special than any other dog or cat I have ever had, and I have had some good ones. Chris is pure love. He loves me, he loves Rose he loves everyone who steps foot in our house and he is not afraid to show it. He bleeds affection. Everybody who knows Chris loves him back.
He is even affectionate to all the other cats, although he will fight with them too.
Rose worries that when we lose Chris I will be devastated and she may be right. I think about that more now that Chris will be turning eight. The last three of our cats that passed away, Abbey, Alex and Tigger, all died at eight years old. But, of course, now is not the time to be thinking such thoughts. We have a birthday coming up.
Photo Friday: Young Chris
I was looking through the archives and found this picture of Chris from a couple of days after we adopted him. He was still a kitten then at about six months old. In the picture, you can see Abbey, who was always good to Chris even though Chris annoyed her.
How Cat Fights Start
It seems that almost every time I see Chris washing another cat, it ends in a fight. That is especially true when he washes Floki. I don’t understand how such a nice thing goes bad so often.
Photo Friday: It’s bedtime
It’s bedtime and one of us has to throw the cats out of the bedroom. Even though the vote is always one to one, I somehow lose most of the time.
Would you want to tell them they have to go?
Floki’s First Birthday
Today our little Floki turns one year old. 
We don’t know when his exact birthday is but, if I remember the story correctly, Floki, his brother and one or more kittens from another litter were found in a box in a Walmart parking lot on Memorial Day last year. I subtracted his estimated age when we adopted him on the Fourth of July and came up with April 18.
I thought I would show some highlights from the past year.
Below is the picture my sister-in-law sent us to let us know she had kittens available. We don’t know for sure if this is Floki or his brother.
This is the first known picture of Floki at the vet where we came to see him and other kittens.
This was one of his competitors.
Here he is with his brother and another cat. We wanted to take them all.
Here is Chris meeting Floki. This went better then when he met Frankie.
Below is our first vet visit.
Chris shows him who’s boss.
Floki takes to the cat tunnel.
And he turns out to be a daredevil.
He makes friends.
And discovers new heights.
All while finding his place in the group and in our hearts.
Shoe Fetish
Frankie loves shoes to the point were I worry he may have a problem.
Hello Neighbor
Our neighbor on the north side of our house moved in a few months ago with two cats. I often see one cat or the other, sometimes both, sitting on their patio and looking out the window. I see them but I have never been aware that any of our cats had noticed them. Our patio, also known as the cats’ room, is on the opposite side of our house and the cats don’t look out the other windows too often except when they hear me pull into the driveway after work.
Chris and Frankie have been outside countless times since the neighbor moved in but every time they both seemed blissfully unaware of the other cats’ presence, even though they were only 10 feet away at times. Of course it helps that the other cats just casually watch Chris and Frankie without making a fuss. I found it hard to believe that they couldn’t smell them but I guess they were both just busy enjoying being outside.
The other day I brought Frankie out for a walk and he surprised me by walking right up to their patio door to say hello, like he knew they were there.
Unfortunately, the cats were not on the patio so we missed an opportunity for a meet and greet, but maybe next time. I guess Frankie knew all along there were kitties next door but chose not to let me know that he knew. Or something like that.
Photo Friday: Tolerance
Did we really need a kitten?
Is he talking about me? I’m not a kitten. I’m a big boy now.
What’s the matter Frankie? You don’t like to have fun?
Photo Friday: Musical Chairs
It seems whenever I briefly get off my chair, one cat or another is lying on it when I return. Usually I’m too nice to kick them off so I replace that chair with a less comfortable one. Then I lose that one.
Bad Cat Chris 