Our cats are finally starting to enjoy our catio after the interruption of our dog visitors. It took Floki until Wednesday but once out, he loved it.
Frankie greets Floki
Frankie goes out more often than Chris or Floki, not because he likes it more but because he is the one most likely to be hanging out near the back door when somebody goes outside.
The weather is starting to cool down here and I expect we will be outside more often which means the cats will be outside more often too. Its a win win.
As a side note, we had people over for dinner yesterday and later that evening we were sitting on the catio and a very cut grey kitten came up on the step and peeked in through the screen door. I believe I saw another cat walk by before I saw that kitten but it was dark. I put my hand against the screen and he smelled me and then walked over to the edge of the catio. I wanted to go get treats for him but considering our limited time here it is not wise to get them dependent on us. Fortunately, our cats were not on the catio at the time.
I mentioned yesterday that Floki has been napping with Frankie lately. I noticed him back with Chris yesterday afternoon so I think things are starting to get back to normal.
Later, while we were all downstairs watching TV, I noticed this:
I guess hanging out with both Chris and Frankie might become the new normal for Floki. There is nothing wrong with that.
As long as we have had Floki the rule of thumb has been Chris for napping and Frankie for playing but the rules have changed. Lately I have been seeing Floki napping with Frankie.
Perhaps moving to a new home turned everything upside down. I guess we will see if this continues.
I got out of the shower yesterday and saw Chris on the floor waiting for me. As I dried myself Chris jumped on the toilet and then on the sink. He looked like he wanted to jump on my shoulders, just like the old days, so I put my towel over my shoulders and let him.
There is something else Chris did in the old days. He would use me as a springboard to get to a higher place. That thought didn’t occur to me until two seconds after he jumped on my shoulders and then jumped up to the top of the linen closet.
By then Floki was in the bathroom. Upon seeing where Chris was he jumped on the sink and started crying at me.
I let him up on my shoulders too.
I thought he would jump up there with Chris but I think he was afraid to try. He stood on his hind legs and had a short conversation with Chris but decided not to join him.
That left me with the problem of getting Chris down. When he was young he could jump down but now he is old and heavy so I didn’t want to risk him getting hurt.
I finished getting dressed and went downstairs and got the stepladder. I then pulled Chris off the shelf, which he was not happy about.
I am glad Chris still has some of that adventurous spirit in him, despite his age and weight. It gives me hope for my future.
Yesterday morning, Saturday, my wife and I brought Floki to the vet. It was nothing serious but we wanted his nails trimmed and his ears checked. The last time they cleaned his ears because they were dirty and Rose thought they needed cleaning again.
Rose also wanted them to apply his flea medication that we had but couldn’t put it on him for the same reason we can’t clip his nails or clean his ears. He is a tornado in a cat’s body.
Our vet still makes the humans wait in the car which is something I do not like because I think it is important for the pet’s human to be there for psychological comfort and because it is easier to know what is going on if you are in the exam room.
When the vet tech brought out Floki, she mentioned that his ears were dirty again when he came in and he might have to shake some remaining fluid out of his ears from the cleaning.
When we got him home, he immediately ran under the bed. I figured he would hide for a little while even though there was no logical reason we would bring him home just to catch him again.
Later that day Rose mentioned she saw Floki briefly and watched him lose his balance and fell down. He then went behind the sofa to hide. Later he was back under the bed again. When he didn’t come out for their late afternoon meal, we started to get concerned.
I put his food next to the bed but by late evening he still hadn’t eaten anything so I picked it up. I then sat in the bedroom for a while with Rose. We usually sit on the bed and wind down before going to bed. The cats often come in during that time and hang out with us. Since we have to close our bedroom door at night because of Chris, we want to give them that time.
We still had not seen Floki and were worried so I looked under the bed and he was not there. I checked behind the sofa and in the Florida room but no Floki. I eventually found him hiding in the dining room and started petting him. He put up with me for thirty seconds and walked quickly away, falling over once as he went. He ended up back under the bed.
Earlier, Rose thought the dizziness was due to the ear cleaning but I suggested that maybe it was a side effect of the flea medication. At first she discounted my idea, but the fact that he was dizzy so many hours later made her look up the side effects of flea medication and found that one of them was dizziness that could last up to 72 hours.
I have always hated putting flea medication on our cats because it is a poison but Rose hates fleas, which is understandable. I try to push out the treatment as long as possible but sometimes, like recently, one of the cats is affected by fleas and we have no choice but to apply it.
We left our door open last night hoping Floki would come in our bedroom but as soon as we tried to go to sleep, Chris was on the bed digging his nails in my face so we had to kick them all out.
It is now 1:30 on Sunday afternoon and Floki is not only still under the bed, he has worked his way up inside the box spring. It is concerning and we will have to call the vet on Monday if he doesn’t come out.
Has anyone else had these issues with flea medication? The brand we use is called Cheristin.
Our house is relatively free of bugs partly because we have cats. Chris used to be a great bug catcher but now the duty is performed quite well by Floki. Here he is waiting patiently for a moth to make a mistake.
I don’t think he got the moth that time but I didn’t see it after that so he probably got it after we went to bed. Does anyone else have good bug hunters living with you?
Since adopting Chris, no cat has gone to him for attention until we adopted Floki. I have always seen Chris seeking attention from others but not the other way around. Puck may have occasionally gone to Chris but not enough to be memorable.
It makes me feel good now to see Floki seeking attention from Chris. I probably shouldn’t be thinking of this in human terms but I imagine sending a child to school but that child has a hard time making friends. Then a new student shows up with a funny Viking name that wants to be your child’s friend. I think any parent would be happy about that, assuming the new child is not a psycho. Floki may be a little weird sometimes but he certainly is not a psycho.
We usually sit on the bed for a little while before bedtime just relaxing and reading or we catch up on Facebook or play a game or whatever. The cats usually join us at that time. Lately Chris has often been trying to get under the sheets on our bed. The other day he had gotten under the sheet and blanket and fell asleep. I was worried he would suffocate so I tried to hold up one end a little so he would have some air.
Yesterday he started digging at the edge of the blanket so I pick it up for him and he crawled inside. I then pushed the blanket back so he was just under the sheet. This is what happened next.
Floki just can’t resist attacking anything that moves under the cover.
I am not sure how Floki’s bed ended up next to Chris’s, it was probably moved while cleaning, but I thought it was cute seeing the two of them close together but still in their own space.
Chris has always been good at annoying people and cats alike but this past year his annoyance level seems well above what it has been in the past. Knowing that, I couldn’t help but laugh at seeing Chris on the receiving end for a change. I think I spent a good two or three minutes laughing before I thought to record what was happening. I managed to capture the last thirty seconds of Floki annoying Chris. Enjoy.
