My cats smile. Yes… they do. No… I’m not touched. If you look at a content cat… it will be smiling. But you have to look at the side of of their face and the mouth will be curled up at the ends. And it’s not always like that. Look at the side of the kitties face whan the aren’t happy. The mouth will be a straight line.
But don’t look for a frown. Kitties don’t frown. They just give you “the stare” to let you know they are not happy.
OK let’s be blunt. Changing your cat’s diet can give them the stinkiest farts. My one cat Sam has this problem. He’s 3 years old and he still has problems when we change his food. When he was a kitten – if you changed his food it would give him diarrhea. Fortunately he grew out of that. But he still kicks out the silent stinkers! Or if he eats something when he’s outside – like a mouse. Oh boy… so if you have a cat or a kitten that has bad farts and you’ve recently changed his food that could be a problem. Give them a day or two to see if it gets better. If it doesn’t try switching to a premium food.
Also the better foods are better for the cat. Go figure. Iams … it’s ok. My favorite is Science Diet. The kitties tend to eat less of it – it’s got more nutrition and fills them up faster. I believe it’s called nutrient dense. There’s good news on that … less in, less out. They use the litter box less. And that is a great thing.
There is a down side. Premium food has a premium price. But if the cats are eating less they they bag of food will last longer. But it still costs more.
I love cats. I better – I have 8. Ish… An 11 year old, 4 3 year olds, and 3 2 year olds. All of them have grown out of their kittenhood. Here`s the thing about our guy`s – they aren`t bored. A bored cat is a destructive cat.
Cats grow up so fast. Kittens are adorable. They have to be, otherwise we`d kill them. They pack all the fun and the rambunctiousness of childhood into 1 year. Everything is a toy. Everything. And they are as clumsy as an elephant on roller skates. If there is something to knock over … just like a kid … they will knock it over. And then give you a look of … “I didn`t do that. You didn`t see anything. Can`t prove nothing.” The best way to deal with knocking over phase … move your stuff. Or get ready to pick up your stuff on a regular basis. But watch out for glass. It can cut paws or nosy noses that are curious about what they just did.
If you have 1 kitten you will need to make sure the little guy has lots of kitty approved toys. And be ready to play with them. Yes… you as a “parent” need to supply interaction with the “kid.” It really does help keep them from getting bored and destructive. And destructive is bad – very bad. Also if you have an older cat, don`t expect the older cat to pay attention or even like the kitten. Don`t expect them to get along. Detante may be the best you`ll ever get. Don`t forget to give both cats attention. They will get jealous of one another.
If you have a pair (or more) of babies they will entertain themselves to a certain extent – increasing the chase factor and the knock over potential (but it`s so much fun to watch). Toys and interaction are still very much needed for multiple cats. It also creates a bond between you and the kitten.
One more essential “toy” is a scratching post. They are essential for climbing, sharpening, playing, and napping. I have 4. 1 small, 2 medium, and 1 floor to ceiling. I also have several scratching pads – flat things for the cats to pick at to help keep the claws under control.
The good news is that kittenhood only lasts for about a year. Its also the bad news. There is nothing cuter than a kitten. It may seem like the kitten will never grow out of being a maniac… but take my word for it… they will. And a happy kitty is a good kitty.
Chapter 36 – Bats, Cats, Possums and Skunks
The fun part about living on the edge of rural, just beyond suburban, is the variety of wildlife we have here that comes by the house. We have bats, cats, vultures, deer, skunks, foxes and possums. Just to name the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
The vultures congregate in the yard 2 doors over. There is a small stream, trees around the edges and a lot open space to land in. Plus there is a compost pile that they seem to be fascinated with. We have fox around the corner. I haven’t seen any directly in our backyard, but they are in the neighborhood. And the deer migrate through the backyard, especially in the fall and winter. There is only one fence to block thier progress.
Bats. One night on of the kitties came in squeeking. Well, it turns out it wasn’t the cat that was squeeking, it was the bat that it had caught. He has a small hole in his wings but other wise was unharmed – as far as we could tell. Since it was alive we took it away from the kids and put it in a box with a small saucer of water. Do bats drink water? Who know. But Binky got water. Yes, the bat got a name when he went into the box. David put Binky’s box on the top self in a wardrobe to keep him away from the kitties. The next day we went to get Binky from his box and put him outside in a tree. Well, he wasn’t in his box. He had climbed out of the box and was hanging on one of the coats in the wardrobe. So David put Binky out in a tree. We kept an eye on him until he flew away.
We know all about Edna the possum. Who spent a night in the bathroom. But Florence the Skunk came for a visit night before last. We put food out for the cats that live on the porch. Earlier in the evening I had smelt her go by… but when David put food out for the cats she jointed in. The weird thing is, the cats didn’t seem to mind and they all ate together. She was pretty docile, but then again, we didn’t give her a reason to get her tail up. And that’s a little update on our wild life.
This reminds me of my cat Archimedes.
Kitten Time
Isabelle had her kittens on our porch sometimes between 10 pm last night and 10 am this morning. We haven’t gotten close to her yet to see how many kittens there are. I’m going to go give her some milk and see if I can get close to the them without upsetting Isabelle. If she’ll let me I want to check out the babies. If she won’t… I won’t. It’s up to her.
Our cats are chasing each other all over the house. Shadow and Houdini are up the stairs and down the stairs. And over the furniture and through the living room and into the kitchen, and up the stairs and down the stairs.
They have a crazies.
Let’s start with… I trim my cats claws. I always have. It’s not hard to do. Just grab a pair of nail clippers – the kind you would use on yourself and just nip off the ends. If the claws are light you can see the quick and go a little higher for a lasting trim. If the claws are dark… just take of the really pointy part.
Needless to say I don’t do it frequently enough. Our guys & girls really don’t claw at the furniture. We have many scratching posts (3 in the bathroom (they’re small) , 3 in the living room (they’re big) , 1 in the craft room (off the top of my head)) that they can use and get “goooooood kitty” rather than a sharp clap and a “HEY!”
David and I have surmised that cats have biorhythms just like us humans. We’ve been trying to figure out the duration of the Emotional (lovey dovey must sit on your lap), the Physical (psycho running insanely aroung the house wrestling with the others) and the Intellictual (figures out how to open the treat jar without opposible thumbs) lengths. We have a spreadsheet that we’ve been keeping … somewhat sporadically. We really have to get serious if we want to figure it out. Which leads to Archimedes – Psycho Kitty.
I would say I haven’t cut the Mede Man’s claws in a month or so. He doesn’t like it. And so I either have to catch him asleep and cut or have a kitty struggle complete with pathetic “Your killing me” meows. So day before yesterday I should have known something was up with Archimedes (http://www.taciej.com/kitties/supremes/archimedes4.jpg). I couldn’t walk without tripping over his little black butt. Although he’s about 15 lbs. right now and not fat so his butt is anything but little. Anyway, he was all over me like a cheap fur suit. I sat down on the edge of the bed to get ready for work. Up hops Mede-Man. He lays on my knee hi’s. Which I then must extract out from under him without a) getting runners or b) getting clawed. The game has begun! I managed a and a little b. Then I put my clothes on the bed. There was a string in the pants. Fun! Fun! I managed to extract my clothes and put them on. But this is now a full fledged game. Archimedes the grabs my arm… full out teeth and claws to play. Talk about OW! Once claw actually dug in and left a bruise! So I grabbed hime by the scruff of the neck, swung him around to face me, said “Ow! No!” in my most stern “you hurt me” voice, and plopped him uncermiounously on the floor. Well I guess because I did the Mom thing of grabbing him by the scruff of the neck, he “apologized” by looking contrite and rubbing on my leg. This lasted for all of 10 seconds. I gave him a little pet and he grabbed my leg for some more play time.
Needless to say… his nails have been cut. Let the games continue!
Dogs have owners.
Cats have staff.
Wander Muffin – Proper noun – what I call my cat Houdini
Wander Muffin – verb – What Houdini does in the middle of the night on the bed, he wander muffin’s around tromping on human and bed alike.
Wander Muffin.
