We took our Christmas tree down on New Year’s Day. I have a large orange bag that the tree goes in for storage. After I got a section of the tree in the bag, Frankie got inside to supervise the operation.
Sunday afternoon I was bringing a handful of laundry outside to the washing machine in our shed. I had just fed the cats and saw Frankie in the kitchen with his head in the food bowl. I figured it was safe to open the door, which I did quickly, and turned around to walk out backward so I could catch Frankie if he tried to get out. I obviously did it wrong because there was a second between when I cracked the door open and when I was turned around enough to see Frankie’s tail wiz past me.
He immediately went under a vehicle so I couldn’t catch him.
I talked to him nicely and managed to coax him out a bit.
I should have tried to grab him then but I worried if I missed I would never catch him. Instead, I had an idea. I went back into the house and grabbed his harness. When I got close, I pulled it apart. He knows that the sound of the velcro means he is going for a walk so he came out and let me put it on. Unfortunately, I was rushed and put it on upside down. In the process of trying to reverse it, I nearly freaked him out a little. Before he got too nervous I turned it around and soon we were walking.
We did some sitting too.
We made our way to the clubhouse where I think a bingo game just ended. There was an old lady in a car with the window down marveling at a cat on a leash. I talked to her for a minute but Frankie was interested in the door that was propped open. He stuck his head inside to the delight of another two older ladies.
Eventually, we made it back relatively close to home, perhaps half a block. Frankie decided to take a rest in someone’s yard.
I let him stay for a short time but since he was literally against someone’s house I decided to pick him up and bring him home before we got yelled at.
Saturday morning, after the bed was made, my wife put what we call “Frankie’s Blankie” on the bed while Frankie was waiting for it. He somehow managed to get under the blanket during the process. I came into the bedroom sometime later and saw this.
That evening, while we were in the living room watching a movie, Chris and Floki were sleeping next to me. After a while, Chris put a paw on Floki. I thought it was too cute not to get a picture, but there wasn’t a camera in sight, so I quietly got up, retrieved my phone, and snapped this.
The lighting is not the best but I think the cuteness still shines through. What do you think?
I have discovered, or rediscovered, that I have a ton of photos of Chris inserting himself between Abbey and Tigger. Here they are on January 14, 2011.
The next one is a few minutes later.
This is my 1500th post on this blog. I know it is not that many considering I have been doing this for over ten and a half years, but it feels like a lot.
My wife had the can of whipped cream out the other day. As soon as Chris and Frankie heard that beautiful sound, their ears perked up. I gave them a little and Frankie licked it off the lid I put it on. Next time I will have to provide him with a spoon.
Here is Tigger, Chris, and Abbey eleven years ago today. Chris would often insert himself between Tigger and Abbey. If there wasn’t room, he would make room.
Happy New Year everyone. We hope you all enjoyed your holidays and wish you the best for 2023.
I hurt my back the day after Christmas and am still in pain six days later, although, I am getting better. Before I hurt my back, on Christmas Day, we enjoyed a visit from my son, his girlfriend, and the always entertaining grandson. Apparently, a few days earlier, his mother trusted someone to cut his hair that obviously didn’t know what she was doing.
Brayden is an active young man who turned three in October. Floki does not like the disturbance caused by the presence of a child and spent most of the time hiding. Frankie kept his distance and hung out on the bed. He gave Brayden a hiss or two when he got too close. Chris, on the other hand, gracefully put up with him.
I removed the audio but he was being instructed to stop almost the entire time. You can see where he was made to turn over his instrument of torment, only to go find another one.
Later, my wife showed him our slot machine, probably to distract him. I spent time with him while he fed quarters into the machine.
He would put two or three-quarters in before pulling the handle. I tried to explain that he was wasting his money to no avail. He did win the second-highest jackpot twice so I probably should have just shut my mouth. At one point, he had a hand full of quarters that he dropped into the machine, one at a time. While he was feeding them into the machine, he was counting. He made it all the way to fifteen before running out of quarters.
It has been a while since I raised a child but is it normal for a kid that age to be able to count to fifteen? I assume he could have gone higher if he had more quarters.
Here is Frankie and I last week. I took him for a walk as the weather started getting cold. If I waited any longer it would have been too cold for me.
When I took Floki to the vet last month, I discussed with the vet options to help Chris with his perpetual ear infection. He has a problem with ear polyps, which allow bacteria to fester. The problem is they go too deep into the ear canal for the vet to remove them all unless I wanted them to remove the ear canals and make Chris deaf, which I don’t want to do. So we discussed surgery to remove as much as they could, and then pack the ear with a specific treatment of antibiotics that would require just two treatments.
We had to schedule the surgery a month in advance, presumably because they were so busy. A week before the appointment, my wife said she didn’t want to do it because she feared that Chris’s age and health would put him at a higher risk of death from the surgery. I spoke with the vet looking for reassurance but she did say he was at an increased risk. Instead, we decided to try the antibiotic treatment without the surgery.
This morning I brought him to the vet with much crying in the car on the way there. When we arrived we were put in an exam room and the vet tech, remembering his last visit, decided to leave him in his carrier until the vet came in.
While we were waiting, I opened his carrier and, as expected, he had no desire to get out. This is very different that young Chris who loved to explore the vet’s office.
When the vet arrived, she asked a few questions and then took Chris into another room. After a few minutes, I could hear Chris howling. He was not happy but it didn’t take long. Soon he was back and we were ready to check out.
When they opened the door, their office cat came in. I bent down to pet him and the vet said, “You’re aware he is a biter, aren’t you?” “Yes,” I said. “He’s fine,” and proceeded to pet him. He didn’t bite me but he was interested in Chris. He smelled him for a few seconds and then put both paws on top of the carrier. Nobody hissed. That is when he was called off and we left to check out.
On a related note, I purchased a new carrier for Chris because I did not like carrying him around in a crate that was not meant for that. You can see what I bought here. Note that is an affiliate link. My wife put Chris in the new carrier while I was out moving the cars around. She said it was very easy to get him. He fit well, too, for a twenty-pound cat.
Here is Chris on Christmas Eve, 2009. Somehow he got himself wrapped in what looks like a Christmas tablecloth but I have no idea how that happened.
Bad Cat Chris 