Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Fluffy and Bugs

Fluffy and Bugs have changed.

Fluffy has achieved "Fur Person" status and Bugs is working on it.

What is a Fur Person? Read the book and find out. The book is amazing. It helped me to refine my articulation of my attitude about cats. Basically, it's the story of an adopted stray male cat who gets neutered & loved by little-old-ladies. Told from the cat's point of view, no less! The book is available here:

The Fur Person



Anyway, the book is amazing & I hope you read it whether you buy it or not.

Fluffy achieved the "Fur Person" status by her continued expressiveness, her hugging my legs or belly, and basically just being herself. She's a total mess, you know! Her fur just won't stay unmatted, no matter what I do. I comb and brush all the time. I have to cut mats about once a week. She loves to lay by my knees and will come up to check what I'm doing about twice an evening. She comes over to my chair while I'm on the computer, and she herds me into the kitchen.

She asks for food all the time! I think she may be diabetic, so I feed her on a schedule, and I'm trying to reduce her weight. When she came out of that cage, she weighed about 14 pounds. She's down to 11, so that part is working.

When it's bedtime, she will walk into the bedroom and sit on the headboard, looking cute, rubbing her cheeks on the top of the headboard with her hind end up in the air. She's begging for snuggles... She gets them, of course.

So, that's miss Fluffy.


Now for Missy Bugsy Bear.
Bugs really changed after she got spayed. She turned into this loving kitty who just won't quit. She'd been in heat for over 4 months by the time I could get her in. The shortage of vets and the cost of having a cat spayed while in heat conspired to keep her (and the rest of us!) in misery. That all changed in one afternoon.

She became this loving kitty who is passionate about whatever she is doing. She is all play or all loving. She prefers play, but loving is right up there. Put a feather wand in her vicinity and she won't quit until you finally put it away - 2 or 3 hours later! She is a demon!

For loving, she is about the same. She tires of loves after about an hour, but she'll come right back in a few minutes. It's like she needs to patrol and see what the others are up to and then decides it's time to come back to you. She jumps on the top of my chair and washes my hair. She still has trouble with her claws, but she IS learning.

When she came, she was the first to get shots. I didn't have a good hold on her and she attacked out of fear. She got my face pretty bad. Yep, my face! She almost got my left eye, and I had to take antibiotics to clear the infection. I think she knew that it was bad, because she always steered clear and ducked whenever I stretched out a hand to her. I still see that reaction, but most of the time it's putting ears back for a scratch on the head!

Anyway, she reached out a few days ago and raked my hand. She doesn't understand that she can grab without using her claws. I tell her and tell her when it hurts. I gently squeeze her paw and tell her no. She seems to get it. She is much better now (after 16 months) than when she came. It's just that she gets excited and all the training goes out the window.

Bugs' favorite game it to help make the bed. I put the pillows up and fluff them. She comes running. I pull up the sheet and blanket on one side, she's meowing. I pull up the coverlet, and she comes up on the bed. I then go around to the other side of the bed and do the same thing. She is now waiting for the "cover" which is a sheet to keep the cat hair from obliterating my breathing during the night. It's just a sheet I use over the rest of the bedding. Anyway, that comes up and OVER Miss Bugs. She's started to purr, now. I go to the other side and pull it up - then I lift it and she comes running, purring all the while. She hops out and onto the sheet, and I finish up. She's so cute! She does this every morning. After I've got the sheet up, I have a half-quilt I use for the foot of the bed. It's for the cats to sleep on and it collects cat hair. I pull this up, sometimes over her, sometimes she jumps onto it. She likes that, too. I tell her how cute she is, give her a scratch and a cuddle & I'm off to the shower.

She loves this morning game.

So, how did she become an almost fur-person? I was sitting on my chair watching TV with my legs crossed on the chair (not hanging down, more like lotus position, but I'm not that limber). She jumped up and stood on that narrow strip between my feet and the edge of the seat. She didn't come up to me or climb onto the back of the chair like normal. Instead, she leaned into me and rubbed her chin on my toe. She watched the other cats playing all this time, and just stood there for about 20 minutes. I reached and scratched a bit, and rubbed her back, and she responded, but didn't move. Finally, she jumped down, checked the others out and then got up on the back of my chair. She was just being my baby, I guess.

I could understand her wish to be involved in the other cat's games, but at the same time she was seeking my approval. Like I said, her first love is play, and the second love is cuddles.

Poor little Bugs is still at the bottom of the pecking order. She gets it from all sides. I ignore her quite a bit, the other cats pick on her a bit and she just wants love. She really needs a home full of love where she can be only cat, but for now, she's our Bugsy. We love her and would miss her terribly if she ever left us.

Well, that's my post for today. I've been remiss in posting. I guess I got involved in other things.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving means food for most of us. Turkey, ham or tofurkey. There are places in the world that fish would be appropriate. All these are favorite foods for cats.

Well, maybe not the tofurkey ;).

Anyway, our cats love this stuff! The smells and company tell our pets that we are loved and give us all a warm feeling. How many of us have had our cat in the sink or interested in the sink, while we defrost that turkey??? Put a plate over it. If you have to run water then put a towel over it.

Ham is very salty & not good for cats. Mr. Beasley loves ham above all other foods. He can smell it a mile away! Seriously tho, he really does like it. I'll give him a tiny bit just to make him happy.

I had a cat who could smell poultry frozen! Now that's some good sniffing! Other cats love fish most of all & all the commotion of the holidays just sends them into hiding.

Take a cue from your cat. Take a nap when you feel sleepy - throw a blanket over your feet & snooze in front of the TV if you need to. There's no shame in that on Thanksgiving. Blame the turkey, it's OK.

Hope your holiday is filled with love, laughter, and gratitude.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Time to Vote!

The voting form is up! There are 2 kitties in the first showdown. Get your cat photos in for the next round.

YES! Photoshopped photos are acceptable! Just don't paint your cat ;>)

When I have at least 2 photos, I'll start getting them up for the next round.

Remember! This contest goes into January 2008, so keep the pictures coming....

Sunday, November 04, 2007

New Contest!

Bring 'Em On!

Holiday Kitties, Too Much Catnip, Christmas Tree Follies, Ornament Bowling, Turkey Theif - Whatever!!!!

Bring the photos on! Click on the title of this article to get to the page. Upload a photo by email with a 30-word or less comment & I'll get the voting form online by the 6th. (Tuesday).

Voting for the first batch ends 11/15, prize to be determined.

This contest will roll on until January 10th or so.

Final entries accepted until January 4th.

Prizes will be discount coupons for suppliers on the site. At minimum, winners will get $20 in discounts.