Chris and Frankie got what amounts to a lump of coal in their stocking on Christmas day. They got their nails trimmed. Felice, my sister-in-law who happens to be an expert on cats, was here and Rose couldn’t resist asking her to trim our cats’ nails.
Chris, as usual, put up a big fuss. Frankie was better, and Puck was hiding under the bed so he still has long nails.
They did get presants too. We are not total Scrooges.
Recently we won the book Catify to Satisfy (by Jackson Galaxy and Kate Benjamin) from the blog The Cat on my Head. A package from Kitties Blue arrived the other day, sooner than expected.
I have been too busy to read it but I did flip through it and it looks like there are some great ideas for cat furniture and such. I am not the carpenter type so I will have to report on what can be done by dummies.
When are you going to make us something, Dad?
Along with the book was a nice card from the gang.
The best part, for the cats anyway, was the package of catnip that was included as a special gift. They really loved it.
Thank you to Janet and all the kitties, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lizabeth, and Calista Josette.
Two weeks ago we bought two cat toys from Friskies called Pull ‘n Play. The toy is like a Weeble. which they call Wobbert. It is weighted on the bottom and it wobbles. It is shaped like an animal but I’m not sure what it is supposed to be, perhaps a bear. The head twists off so you can put treats inside. It comes with a bag of Friskies Party Mix and it also has a string-like treat that you thread through the ears. There is a small hole at the bottom so treats will fall out when it wobbles just right.
When we introduced it to our cats, Chris dominated the toy. As expected,
Later we brought the second toy to Rose’s sister, Felice. Her cats were different. The were more interested in the string and our cats were after the treats.
I used to buy the Party Mix as a treat for our cats and they loved it. Here is a video from a few years ago related to those treats.
I will say that I stopped buying those treats because I wanted our cats to have a more healthy treat. I now give them a raw, freeze-dried cat food that I use as treats. The brands vary because they love everything I have tried so I buy whatever is a good deal. Currently, I am feeding them Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw. After the Party Mix was gone I put some of the raw treats in the toy. Even though they love it when I give it to them as a treat, they mostly ignored it in the toy. Cats can really be frustrating at times.
Has anybody else tried this toy or another treat toy?
I think every cat is a little quirky in one way or another. This short video shows Frankie’s quirk.
Three years ago today, we adopted Puck. He was rescued and bottle-fed by my sister-in-law, Felice, and was in need of a home when Abbey passed away. Here are some pictures and videos of Puck from oldest to newest.
Puck with Felice’s cat, Toad.
Chris greets kitten as he comes out for food.
Tigger, Chris and Puck
Puck takes over Chris’s spot
Chris and Puck on top of the Cabinets.
Oh, the jealousy that follows when one finds a new place to investigate.
Puck: What’s going on Frankie? Frankie: Chris got the door open to the towel closet and is inside.
You guys go find your own closet.
How much longer are you going to be in there, Chris?
Wait your turn, Puck. I’m next.
Ok, that’s long enough. Get out of the closet, Chris. It’s my turn.
I think maybe this is a good place for a nap.
Chris used to hang out in the bathroom with Rose while she got ready for work but he stopped doing that until recently. Now he is in the bathroom with her every morning taking up the little space she has. There is even less space in this house because there is a fan on the counter to compensate for the lack of an air conditioner vent in the bathroom.
Chris can stay with her as long as he stays on the other side of the sink, but that is too far for Chris so a conflict always arises. Rose either has to push him off the counter or she can ask for help in the form of, “Chuck, Come get you cat!”
This morning, Chris decided he was going to get attention one way or another so he got on the toilet and unwound the toilet paper roll. Maybe next time rose will think twice about sharing her space.
Chris was being very annoying this morning, crying at the door to go outside. Rose asked me to let him out for a few minutes so she could have some peace while she got ready for work. I complied, since I had things to do outside anyway and then brought him back in after a few minutes of him eating grass.
While he was out, Frankie was very upset that Chris was out and he wasn’t, so when I got back inside Rose said I should put Frankie’s harness on and take him for a walk. I didn’t really feel like doing that but I got his harness and my camera (just in case there was something worth sharing) and opened the door to let him out.
Frankie was a little nervous at first, for some unknown reason, but he soon was on his way. Within two minutes of being outside, Frankie managed to slip out of his harness. Fortunately I caught him in time. I brought him back inside, Rose put his harness back on and then I tried again. Chris slipped out the door at the same time and Rose said not to worry, she could see him from the door. It soon became clear that, despite Rose’s assurances, she was not watching Chris. I tried to keep Frankie close so I could also watch Chris but it wasn’t easy. Eventually I had to bring Frankie in, a little earlier than Frankie wanted, so I could go get Chris.
That was more difficult than expected because Chris pulled Frankie’s old trick that Frankie learned from Chris. He hid under Rose’s car. My efforts to get him out resulted in only growling, hissing and biting. It didn’t help that the lady across the street chose that time to take her two dogs for a walk.
Rose needed to leave for work so my only recourse was to turn the hose on and squirt him out. That worked, but then he got under my truck. Eventually, I was able to get him close enough to the edge to pull him out. He was not happy about that.
When we moved, the plan was to get rid of the cat’s old, beat-up cat tree and replace it with a new one for the new place, but the high cost of moving delayed that plan until now. Saturday we found a very large, slightly used, Armarkat Cat Tree Condo for the ridiculously low price of twenty dollars. On Amazon it sells for $124, and even more elsewhere, so I think we got pretty lucky. It was in excellent condition except the second shelf from the top was broken, as if a very heavy cat jumped on it. A more likely scenario is someone attempted to move the cat tree and it tipped over.
We were in Rose’s Mustang and did not expect that we would be bringing home something so big. We didn’t feel like driving home to get the truck so we had to figure out how to make it work. We put the top down and tried standing it on the back seat but it was very tippy and I was worried it would fall out. It also didn’t work leaning to one side. I finally leaned the front seat back on put it there while I got in the back to hold it.
Once we got it home, we cleaned it good and I screwed a piece of wood under the broken piece to hold it together. We then scared Puck under the bed when we brought it inside.
Frankie and Chris weren’t scared. They jumped at the chance to investigate the new tree. They checked out every inch of it, including the top shelf which was very close to the ceiling. They also seemed to like the little built-in house. Frankie even squeezed through the little window, I feat that Chris can only dream about these days.
The ceiling in our Florida room slopes down to its low point near where I put the cat tree so the top shelf is almost useless, but as I said, they are able to get on it but since the first day, I have not seen it get used. The rest of it does get used though so I am very happy with our purchase.
Wow! This thing is awesome.
I call first dibs on the house.
Hey Frankie, lets rub our scent on this thing before Puck sees it.
Chris, do you get the feeling we are being watched?
Hello Dad! Don’t you have somewhere better you can be with that camera?
As king I claim this as my castle.
Hey Frankie. I can see you through this hole.
Do you think this is what they call an outhouse?
If this is an outhouse, I need to figure out how it works.
Hey Chris! I’ll bet you can’t fit up here like I can.
Oh yea? I’ll bet I can.
There, see?
I wouldn’t call that fitting.
Who cares? I like this shelf better.
Too bad Puck isn’t here to see this.
Did somebody say my name? Hey, why didn’t you tell me we had a new cat tree.
Not my job, Puck.
Where are you going? Don’t you want to check out the condo?
Bad Cat Chris 
