Tag Archives: funny

Our Newest Cat Toy

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Here is an interesting cat toy I found on Amazon for only $10.

The toy moves randomly, which simulates real prey. I found that it really attracted our cats’ interest, but I was hoping it would be a good tool for getting our cats moving. They both can use some exercise, especially Floki, who doesn’t go outside for walks like Frankie does. I suppose the fact that Floki is over nine years old and Frankie is pushing fifteen has something to do with it.

One problem I noticed is that the toy’s tail got stuck on the floor a few times. The floor on our patio is not tile; it’s more like garden stones, which have a rough texture. I don’t know what the toy’s tail is made of, but it tended to stick to the floor like Velcro. I’m sure it would be fine inside the house.

If you are interested, here is a link to what I bought. It is an affiliate link, so if you make a purchase, I will finally be able to buy that yacht I’ve been looking at.

One Year Without Chris

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We lost Chris exactly a year ago on September 7, 2024. Our home has not been the same without him. He was like a feline patriarch. He was the reason our cats slept together.

We don’t see this anymore. Occasionally, Frankie and Floki might be on the bed together, but rarely close.

When I think of Chris, I think of two different eras. There was the skinny era, where Chris caused trouble wherever he went, and he went everywhere. He was able to get on top of things that seemed impossible for any normal cat. He was also able to open almost any door. He even shocked me one day when he came through our locked bedroom door.

Then there was fat Chris. That was when he slowed down and didn’t do the crazy things he used to do. He napped more during those times, which resulted in more photo opportunities like the one above. He was also jealous of Frankie, which I found humorous. I was never sure if he was jealous that Frankie was paying attention to me or that I was paying attention to Frankie.

Chris was the most affectionate cat ever. Unfortunately, that affection involved kneading, which had to be on bare skin. Even though it was painful at times, I miss it.

I even miss the biting.

Chris was one of a kind and will always be missed.

Revised Bad Cat Chris Book is Free

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After Chris died, I read the book I wrote about him for the first time since I published it over eleven years ago. I’m embarrassed to say I found a lot of errors, most of which were commas. I feel I am a much better writer today, but commas are still my kryptonite. Either I don’t put them where they belong, or I put them where they don’t belong.

I went through the book and corrected the mistakes I found without changing the story. I also updated the backmatter with information about my current books. In addition, I changed the cover. I was never entirely happy with the cover. I don’t know why I didn’t change it years ago.

I decided to offer the corrected version for free today through Saturday. Unfortunately, it is only available on Kindle, so you can’t get it as a physical book. Maybe someday I’ll look into doing that. To get your free Kindle book, click here.

As always, writing a review of any of my books would be very helpful and I would appreciate it.

As The Bowl Turns

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These are the days of our cats.

Chris has taken to lying down at the water bowl to drink.

For some reason, while he drinks, he also turns the mat that the bowl is on counterclockwise. It starts out looking like this.

The photo above was taken at 12:04 p.m. on January 7. The one below was taken at 1:59 p.m. on January 8.

The next photo was taken at 10:25 a.m. on January 9.

It did not quite make a full rotation but if I had come back at 12:04, I probably would have seen that Chris is rotating his bowl in precise 48 hour cycles. Now I don’t need a clock. I can just look at the position of his water bowl.

I Forgot Chris’s Fourteenth Gotcha Day

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Yes, I did it again. Chris’s fourteenth gotcha day was Tuesday and I missed it. I remembered the previous Friday, but I was busy at the time and didn’t think about it again until late last night.

We adopted Chris on November 14, 2009. He was about six months old at the time. I first met Chris over a month before while cleaning cages at PetSmart. He jumped from the floor to my back and climbed me like Mount Everest. When he reached my shoulders, he started biting my ear and then my nose.

Can you imagine a kitten like that not getting adopted? Actually, he did get adopted but he was far too annoying and was returned the next day. A week or two after I first met Chris, I brought my wife to the Sav-R-Cats adoption center in Surfside Beach South Carolina to see him. That was on the third of October.

Chris meets Rose
Bad Cat Chris at adoption center with Rose.
Chris at adoption center with Rose.

Alas, we didn’t adopt him that day. We already had too many cats. We also had a cruise coming up as well as a business trip for my wife.

On the twelfth of November Rose was away on her business trip and I was at the shelter. I was a volunteer, and my job was to photograph cats and post them on Petfinder, but I never photographed Chris for some unknown reason. Chris got on my shoulders again and another volunteer photographed me with my phone. In 2009, I did not have a good camera on my phone.


I texted Rose with the photo and said, “Can we keep him?”

When she returned from her trip we went to the shelter and brought him home. He took over from the moment we let him out of the carrier. We didn’t do what you are supposed to do. We just unleashed the kraken on the rest of our cats.

Chris’s Fourteenth Birthday

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Today we celebrate Chris turning fourteen. As I mentioned before, we don’t know his actual birthday but we celebrate today because Chris was about six months old when we adopted him on November 14, 2009.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to look back at his life in pictures.

Bad Cat Chris at adoption center with Rose.
October 3, 2009. Chris at adoption center with Rose. Almost six weeks before adoption.
Bad Cat Chris first day home
November 14, 2009. First photo of Chris at home.
Cats Abbey, Alex, Chris and Tigger
November 25, 2009. Alex, Abbey, and Tigger surround Chris.
February 13, 2010. Chris sees first snow.
April 4, 2010. Chris takes over baby seat.
April 28, 2010. Abbey scolds Chris in front of Tigger.
Mocking bird finds Bad Cat Chris
June 8, 2011. Mocking bird does not like Chris
Mocking Bird Tormentor comes back
June 9, 2011. Mocking Bird still does not like Chris.
Chris with lizzard
June 16, 2012. Chris catches one of many lizards.
Bad Cat Chris on railing
July 1, 2012. Chris does not understand danger.
December 28, 2012. Chris the acrobat.
Bad Cat Chris outside
November 15, 2013. Chris working on his tan.
February 1, 2014. Chris likes his grass.
Bad Cat Chris and Puck fighting
February 4, 2014. Chris is a lover and a fighter. Here he is with Puck.
Our cats Chris and Frankie in the closet
April 27, 2014. It’s no fun being bad alone. Here he teaches Frankie his skills.
Bad Cat Chris with lizard
March 21, 2015. Here is Chris showing Frankie how to catch a lizard.
Cats Floki and Chris kissing in sun.
July 18, 2016. Chris becomes a father figure to Floki.
cat Chris in cabinet
November 27, 2016. Chris still knows how to get into things.
cats on fridge
February 10, 2017. Still a climber.
February 8, 2018. Chris is a lover and a biter.
July 12, 2018. There’s no hiding the catnip from Chris.
February 7, 2019. Chris is now fully grown.
August 11, 2020. Chris’s obsession with kibble.
March 17, 2021. Chris loves Floki.
November 14, 2022. . . . and this bed was too small.
April 9, 2023. Chris loves Frankie and Floki.

I hope you enjoyed our little trip down memory lane.

Chris Wins Again

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You may remember me writing about how Chris started tipping his food bowl over so he could eat the food off the floor because he was too lazy to stand and eat. I ended up purchasing a wooden bowl stand that prevented Chris from tipping the bowls over. To celebrate my victory I wrote a post called “Checkmate.” I was happy that I could finally outsmart my cat. Or could I?

I saw this the other day.

He always has to win. I don’t know how he does it.

Chris’s Thirteenth Gotcha Day

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Read to the end for a free copy of Chris’s book.

It has been thirteen years since Chris came to live with us and I don’t think it is a stretch to say that he changed our lives. I imagine things would be very different if I didn’t need to fill in for someone that day at the Petsmart adoption center where I first saw Chris. For one thing, I probably would not be blogging today and would have missed out on knowing so many great people . . . and pets.

I think this is a good time to walk down memory lane.

I believe this is the first photo I have of Chris. It was taken with the low-quality camera that was on my non-smartphone at the time. I had met Chris a few times before while volunteering at the shelter and thought he would make a good candidate for adoption. I even spoke to my wife about him. Another volunteer snapped this photo with my phone and I texted it to my wife, who was out of town on a business trip. I wrote, “Can we keep him?”

When Rose first came to see him he did not disappoint.

Bad Cat Chris at adoption center with Rose.

After we got him home he continued his affection.

Early picture of Bad Cat Chris and Rose

But first, there was a home to explore. Here he is moments after we arrived home and I opened his carrier.

He basically took over the house and our other cats just let him. In return, Chris was very affectionate to the other cats, weather they liked it or not.

Bad Cat Chris on Curio Cabinet

He even influenced others to misbehave.

But he has always been the glue that holds the group together.

I will leave you with a “Best of Bad Cat Chris” video that I put together about seven years ago.

Many of you know I wrote an ebook about Chris over nine years ago. Much of it was taken from this blog and tells the story of our early struggles with raising a bad cat. I have made the book free until the end of the day Wednesday. To get your free kindle ebook, click here.