I have a German class on Zoom every Tuesday evening. Sometimes, Floki decides to be needy during my class like he did last night,
The funny thing is, the other people are used to it and said nothing.
My Zoom Companion
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Tag Archives: funny
Our Newest Cat Toy
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
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.
Our Dog Visitor Having Fun
My stepson showed us how he and his French Bulldog have fun with water. This is a video worth watching.
Throwback Thursday: More Kitten Antics
Here is another video of Floki from July 2016. This time he is attacking a pillow.
Revised Bad Cat Chris Book is Free
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
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
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.
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
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.
I hope you enjoyed our little trip down memory lane.
Chris Wins Again
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.
