Update on the Furpeople

My furpeople are like humans in some ways.  They live with me all the time, and I forget that not everyone has cats that they can relate to like I do mine.

Beasley is my baby, but he's also a very demanding, spoiled child.  I take full responsibility for it, too!  He's extremely communicative, and he misbehaves just because he can.  He has the cutest look on his face when I'm covered up with the girls and he wants to be on my lap...  It's not quite a pout, but a "wanting" that's so plain it almost hurts to see it.  He waits for the girls to clear a space (usually by mistake) and then he comes up.  One day, he was on my lap, Queenie jumped to the arm of the chair, and Fluffy took the other arm.  They were sitting on top of him!  He took it as long as he could, and then left.


Princess has been very ill.  She lost about 1/4 of her bodyweight to some worms, and not being able to get to the food bowls without the pack barring her way and challenging her.  So, I made some concessions in her feeding location, and treated her for worms.  She's doing better,  but she hasn't regained the weight.  She feels like a feather.  Imagine a cat that's bigger than a chihuahua dog, and weighing less than 11 pounds...  On the positive, she's very snuggly, and she demands attention now, which she hasn't since we moved into the house, almost 18 months ago.  She regressed from sitting on my lap when she got sick, but she's back.  It's nice to see.

Fluffy, my little (?) sweet bear-kitty, is as snuggly as ever.  She's finally stopped grieving the roommate we had who was her favorite person in the whole world.  At least I think she has.  She's snuggly again, but if he ever comes back to see us, we'll see how she acts.  If she's aloof, I'll know she still cares too much, but if she's OK, then all is well.  Cats are shy when they've been hurt- they love to see you, but they are also afraid they'll be hurt again.  I know she'll remember him!  Anyway, her mats are bad again, but I haven't had the time to groom her like she needs it.  Otherwise, she's doing very well.

Queenie - my wanna-be-owner pest, is very possessive of me.  She doesn't want anyone to get near me.  If I sit on the chair, she has to come be next to me.  I've told her to stop, and she's better, but she still wants to be on me or next to me all the time.  However, she hasn't slept with me for quite a while.  I greet her when she comes to bed, but she's been fairly distant there.

Finally, Missy Bugs.  She's still snuggling anyone, anytime, anywhere.  But she's taken to wrapping herself around my arm when she gets the chance.  She sits on me, instead of next to me.  She will wrap herself into as small a ball as she can manage, and sit just barely on my lap.  When the others leave, she stretches out.  In some ways, she's almost human.  The poor girl really needs a home of her own where she can get all the cuddles in the house.  I don't know how she'd do without the others, but since she still gets a lot of harassment from them, I think she would do well.  She loves to play, snuggle, and sleep.  Just like any cat, but she's using 100% of her attention doing whatever it is she's doing.  She's very smart, focused, and imitates well.  She's a fast study, for sure.  I still think she will be good for training purposes.  I haven't had the time....

That's the second time I've used that phrase.  I went back to school, so my time is not my own as much.  Things got tough about a year ago, when I lost my job, so to make things better, I went back to school.  I figured improving my skills wouldn't hurt.  But it takes time away from the house, cats and website.  Scheduling becomes an important part of my day, and if I get off schedule, things go downhill quickly.  Everything suffers.

I'm writing an article this month on "toxoplasmosis" for the e-zine, so I hope you are all subscribed.  It looks to be quite informative.

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.