Cats Happen

I've had many sweet cats over the years but I have never gone out of my way to get one. They just happen.

Late last fall, a woman who lived in an apartment building down the block posted flyers all over the neighborhood for her escaped cats. She was desperate since she was soon moving to Norway and wanted them to stay with her mother.

I contacted Laura and told her they might be in the wooded lot next door. We spoke and I promised her I'd watch for them. Sure enough, there was a black shorthair cat like her Onyx hanging around. (I never saw her other cat.) She brought over a cat carrier, food and a blanket to set on my freezing-cold patio to lure her.

The cat was wary so I put the food over by the retaining wall next to the wooded lot. She would never come to eat until after dark. Slowly, I moved the dish around the corner of the building and onto my patio. The kitty would always appear just after dark so I could time putting out the food before it froze.

This worked well except the cat was so easily spooked that if she caught sight of me watching her she would run away. This went on all through the winter months and into spring. I marveled how hardy she seemed even during the coldest months.

Spring arrived and we started keeping the patio door open so my two cats could lie out in the sun. Slowly, the black cat started coming during daylight and lying a short ways from the patio flirting with my cats. I started talking to her and calling her Pinky (it was obvious by then that she was going to wind up being my cat.) She responded so well that within a few weeks she was eating her food next to my chair on the patio. She was soon coming inside and snoozing on the cat tower and reveling in being loved up.

We took her to the vet for a checkup and shots. That's when we found out we had a male cat and it most definitely was not Laura's Onyx. The name Pinky no longer seemed suitable so we changed it to Tinky--and he's one cool dude!

                                                        (Borrowed image)

Happy Mother's Day to all species!

                           I hope these give you a smile

  You have to look closely to see the baby snuggled between the parents.

Of cats and dogs

Yesterday, before Thanksgiving dinner, my son arrived with a dog that he's pet sitting for a friend. When the big dog came into the house, Sunny (my cat with the cocked head) was sitting in the living room. Sunny hunkered down with hackles raised, his eyes glowing in fear. The elderly dog sauntered right past Sunny completely uninterested and sat down. Sunny looked stunned for a moment then took off running and dived under a bed.

My granddaughter and her family were also here. Her husband, Ty is a policeman and along with his black lab pal Kino, they are the town's K-9 unit. He and the dog went through all the strict training for the K-9 service. Kino lives with the family but they didn't bring him along.

              See Kino sneaking into the picture on the right side.

When we got on the topic of dogs chasing cats, Ty said that part of Kino's police training was aversion to cats. He said the first time Kino went after a cat, he got a big jolt from his shock collar and never did it again. (It sounds cruel but I suppose they need to rigidly reinforce it in the dog's mind.)

That reminded me of the picture that's been floating around online for years that shows the cat marching past a row of German Shepherds.


                              I love the tension in the shot.

A few follow-ups

I just spotted the mama turkey over by some trees and all 9 of her chicks are still with her. They look to be half-grown and they're fully feathered now.

                                   (Borrowed image)
Sunny's vestibular disease has not cleared up. He walks around with his head cocked way over to one side. He get disoriented easily but seems to be dealing with it. I'm still worried about him because that's the kinda gal I am!

                      (It seems to have affected his eyes too)
The tomato dumpling soup was not up to expectations. I had previously blogged about how messy and steamy it was to can peaches. As it turns out, making soup from fresh tomatoes is almost as bad! The soup was good but I need a better recipe for the dumplings. I think I'll try it with spaetzle next time!

When I went on Google to find a picture, I found this one that had a recipe attached. Now, who would have thought to go into Google Images to find a recipe!

The family reunion picnic on Saturday. My two cousins on the left and me between my two brothers on the right. We look like a bunch of old people!

Sunny has a good day

I am really touched by all the kind wishes from everyone! We took Sunny back in for a follow-up visit and the vet says he should continue to improve, but he may never completely recover from the head tilt. We'll keep on with the ear drops for now, but that's all we can do. We just have to wait an see. On the plus side, he's mostly back to being his old self, he's just not as agile.

Big thanks to Joanne at Cup on the Bus for telling me about her cat's experience with this condition. It was really helpful to know that it was going to be OK. There is so much to be said for the camaraderie of the bloggie network! I feel so lucky to be part of it!

                              (Borrowed image of cute kitty)

My cat, Sunny

One morning several weeks ago, I woke to find my cat Sunny crying pitifully. His head was cocked over to one side, he fell over when he tried to walk and he couldn't focus. We rushed him in to the vet afraid he was dying. He's only 8 years old and a real sweetheart.

After checking him out, the vet could only tell us it was idiopathic vestibular disease. She explained that idiopathic just means they can't tell what the cause is. Because the the condition made Sunny so dizzy, the vet said he wouldn't be able to lower his head to eat or drink. She gave him an antibiotic injection and sent us home with an IV bag of saline solution to inject into his scruff to keep him hydrated.

I was able to help him walk by straddling him and supporting his ample belly. I eventually got him to eat by holding the dish up to his face and found it was easier for him to eat if I added water. Thankfully, I could get him to take enough water this way that we could discontinue the saline solution which I really hated doing.

He began having discharge from the ear on the "down-side" so the vet prescribed some expensive ear drops. Happily, he's improved to the point where his head is only slightly cocked and he can walk around pretty good. But if he moves suddenly, he easily becomes disoriented and falls over. After eighteen days of treatment, he's still not back to normal. We will take him back to the vet on Wednesday for a follow-up. 

I blame it all on the upcoming property tax refund that comes in August. Once again proving Sparrow's Law: Your expenses will always increase to equal your income.

What would a wood duck do?

Every morning, I take my newspaper and a big mug of coffee out onto the patio to read in the peaceful quiet. My three kitties come outside with me and do a "grounds check" to see what intruders may have passed through during the night. They check out the shrubs and trees but don't go farther than the wooded lot next door. (I admit, disabuse them of wandering with a squirt bottle.) 

They often sprawl under the huge pine trees across the yard. I looked up from my paper to see Sunny chasing something over there. I assumed it was his usual prey--a dragonfly or moth. After a few minutes, I saw him pick up something in his mouth that was much larger. He then dashed toward the patio and I saw  he had a baby duck hanging headfirst out of his mouth. I was shocked and alarmed. I jumped up to take it from him and he ran away (of course!).

I was able to chase him into the house with the other two cats close behind. Once cornered, Sunny released his prey--first one tiny wood duck--and then a second one! The two terrified little ducks took off running in different directions with the cats in close pursuit. One was weaving among the legs of the dining room chairs while the other ran behind the couch. Since the biggest threat was the cats, I set about rounding them up and locking them in the bedroom.

                                    (Sunny relaxing)

Next, I had to catch the little ducks who were amazingly fast and energetic, especially since they don't appear to be more than a few days old. I finally captured each of them by dropping a towel over them. I found a deep box and put them inside. They seemed unhurt despite Sunny's attempts to keep them in his jaws. I laid the towel over them to calm them and they became still. 

I walked over to the pine trees where Sunny found the ducklings but there was no trace of other ducks and no sign of a nest. I decided they probably got lost and wandered there--maybe after the bad storm of a few days ago.

After the excitement, I was too restless to finish reading the paper, so I decided to go over to Curves and do my workout. To make sure the cats couldn't get at the baby ducks, I set the box on top of the refrigerator and set stuff on the counter to keep the cats from jumping up there. I then let the cats out of the bedroom. Everything seemed secure, so I left.

When I came back an hour later, I walked in the door to see a duckling running across the living room cheeping loudly. The other duckling was running down the hall to the bedroom. Sunny, Gracie and Tweedy were all lying nonchalantly on the floor watching this mayhem with mild interest

I was stunned! How had they jumped out of the box and off the refrigerator with their tiny little legs? And how were they running around unmolested by the cats?

I proceeded to round up the ducklings with a towel again, and this time, I deposited them in the bathtub and closed the door. I went on Google to find out how to take care of baby wood ducks. If the wealth of information available online is any indication, it's not that uncommon to find little ones. I learned that if they're cheeping, that means they're cold--so I put a heating pad set on low in the tub. They crawled on top and snuggled together. I gave them a straight-sided shallow pan for water and finely chopped some lettuce, a strawberry and walnuts for food.

I'm pondering what to do next. I'm thinking of keeping them until they're a little bigger and taking them to a pond. At the moment, one of them is running around in the bathtub cheeping loudly while the other is quietly resting on the heating pad. I'm concerned it may have been injured. I would welcome any advice from any of you duckling lovers

                   RIP Little Darlings

Squirrel's Nest

I guess that what I have here is a "variety" blog. I didn't start out that way and it used to bother me that I couldn't produce a consistent product (so to speak). I've since accepted it and decided to just go-with-it. That being said, I now feel obligated to maintain an ongoing variety of subjects.

Toward that end, today I will post about my next-door neighbors, the Gray Squirrels. (I googled "grey vs gray" and learned that "gray" is the American preference and "grey" is the British.)

I'm blessed with a small wooded lot next door to my building. My bedroom window is only 15 feet from the retaining wall that separates the properties. This is wonderful for my three cats and me, especially because the lot is four feet lower so the branches of the trees are more at eye level. We have a great view of the birds and squirrels that live there.

Several weeks ago, I saw a squirrel in the lot pulling with all her might on a plastic bag half-buried under snow. She tugged from one side for a while and then moved around to the other side to work on it some more. After ten minutes, she finally gave up. I watched as she came running back and up into the nest (also called a drey) outside my window. She dived into the side of the nest where her babies were.

                                                               (Borrowed photo)
There is already a plastic bag over the top of the nest placed there several years ago by another protective mother. I had watched as she struggled up the tree with the bag flapping around impeding her progress. She straddled the bag and spent a lot of time and effort getting it in place. I'm sure it still serves to keep the interior of the drey nice and dry for the babies.

This leads me to wonder, is it typical behavior for squirrels to put a "roof" on a nest? Is this something that's being passed on from mother to daughter or is it an evolutionary leap? Which begs the question--if squirrels are capable of evolving, how many years will it take for them to develop the sense to stop running across the street in front of cars!?

What's up, Pussycat?

Last night, the temperature fell below freezing for the first time in my neighborhood. I could tell that right away when I got up because I haven't turned the heat on yet this fall. (I'm cheaping out.) I fed the cats--always the first priority of the day--and put on the coffee pot and went to get dressed.

After I finished my mug of coffee and the newspaper, I got up to let out the cats who were quietly waiting at the patio door. I was shocked to see a pretty Siamese cat sitting outside the door looking in. It moved on after a while and the cats went out to do a little exploring in the wooded lot next door.

Later in the morning, after the cats had come back in, a big gray cat showed up outside the patio door. This is highly unusual. What do they want? Why are they coming just when the temperature drops? What is the word on the street about our particular patio?

Up until three years ago, we had made a habit of feeding birds, squirrels, possums and sundry night-noshers that we never even saw.  Our patio was beehive of activity. This is how we came to acquire the lovely puffball, Gracie whom we so adore. (Seen in the window above.)

We paid a heavy fine to the condo association for these sins and haven't fed animals on our patio ever since. (We still put out lots of water.) However, the wooded lot is a different story. It's about 15 feet from the side of our unit and below a 3-foot retaining wall. It's wild (a doe had her fawn there this spring) and full of birds and squirrels. The cats can sit in my bedroom window in their heated bed and watch them during the winter.

Which brings me back to the visiting cats, what brings them to our patio? Do we give off some kind of vibe that lures them to us?

I certainly hope so.

So, anyway...

I dropped out of the blogging scene for a month solely out of frustration with my computer. It took hours to read other blogs and I lost heart for continuing the battle.

But then, I made a surprising discovery. Last year, the neighbor guy in the unit above us was unemployed. He was concerned because his son needed the internet to keep up with his schoolwork but he couldn't afford it.

Since my roomie and I shared an internet connection via a router, we told him he could sign onto our signal and use it for free. Were naively oblivious as our internet service became worse and worse.

Then several weeks ago, it suddenly improved tremendously--we could sign on in minutes. The neighbor kid was away at camp that week but when he returned, the service was back to terrible. It was obvious that the problem was with the neighbors. I told my granddaughter's boyfriend about it and he told me that computer games and downloads "suck up a lot of bandwidth".  Thankfully, the guy has a good job now and he's going to get his own internet service.

My sister was visiting all last week and we had a really good time. We did all the thrift stores and favorite area restaurants, like Keys Cafe, Snuffy's Malt Shop, The Good Earth and Mai Village. I think the highlight was when we went to the Pavilion over at Como Park for a community production of the musical, "Oliver". This is her all-time favorite musical (mine is "Fiddler on the Roof"). What was the most fun for her was that there were four songs in the stage version that weren't in the movie version.

During the busy week, we found that our oldest cat, Snuffy was failing. He was holing up under a bed and had messed himself--neither of which he had ever done before. We realized that this was the end of the road for him and took him to a vet to be put down. We brought him home again so the other three cats could see he was dead. I'm not sure how much they understand about the loss, but it just seemed that they needed to know what happened to their companion.

Rest in Peace, little fella.

My Household Ants are back

At the risk of coming across as some kind of weirdo, I'm going to explain the agreement that I have with my household ants.

First of all I must tell you, they're the nice kind of ants. They aren't the nasty big black ones that crawl all over the walls and into the waste basket. And, they're not the icky little grease ants that get up on the cupboards and into the dishwasher. These are the regular brown ants that forage for food and stick to business.

After I moved into my ground level condo, the ants showed up one day and took over one dish of canned cat food. But, only one. I thought this was very polite of them. So in a Zen moment, I struck an agreement with them. Whenever they showed up hungry, I would feed them if they kept to their little area.

Their "ant hill" is under the concrete floor of my kitchen. The ants come up by way of a small crack under the carpet in the doorway between the dining room and the kitchen floor. They create a little highway as they cross in a line past the metal strip that holds the carpet down. At the other side, I leave them to the designated dish of cat food so they can finish it off. This takes several days depending on the degree of interest they have generated back at the Hill. Sometimes they get hordes of helpers, this time, not so much. Ants leave a scent trail for others to follow. Apparently, the degree of scent tells the others how much help is needed.

The cats will not touch food the ants have been eating because of the odor of formica. So, I can safely put down bits of food for the ants in that corner. That way the ants can replenish their food stores quickly and go away. This arrangement has been working splendidly for many years now.

I don't really believe there's anything special about my household ants. I doubt that they hold me in high regard, but nevertheless, I take pleasure in coexisting amicably with them.

Today is Gracie Day!

One year ago today, we took in a scrawny, freezing little stray cat.

We had first seen it one November night in the vacant lot next door where we threw stale bread seasoned with lard and peanut butter for the birds and squirrels. The starving kitty was eating the bread voraciously. We didn't get a good look at it but assumed it was a feral tomcat.

Since we will feed any animal that comes past our door, we started putting food out every evening. The cat would slink onto the patio hugging the wall to stay out of our sight. If it caught a glimpse of us, it fled in terror. It took several months before it became accustomed to us handing the warm bowl of food out on the bitter cold nights.

By the end of January, it had tamed down enough that we could reach out to pet it. It was then that we could see how bad it looked. It's fur was matted all over with cockleburs. The tail was almost hairless from all the burrs it had pulled out. It slowly became more trusting and would touch even noses with our three very curious resident cats standing inside the patio door.

Then, on February 18th, the little cat showed up during the day for the first time. It was extremely cold and windy. I put out the warm food and the kitty gobbled it up. But then, it just stood there on the other side of the door looking up at us. Waiting. The moment had arrived--it clearly had decided it wanted a warm home. My housemate slid open the patio door and scooped the kitty up with a big gust of wind behind it and brought it inside. The patio door slid closed behind them and then we had four cats.

The poor thing was quite stressed and hid under a bed overnight. We left it alone to adapt to the smells and sounds of our house. Surprisingly, the other cats kept their distance as well. I kept sweet-talking the kitty as I had always done when putting out food to reassure it. By the next evening it came out into the living room where we were watching TV and the little darling went back and forth between us purring it's head off and loving us up! It was so heartwarming and rewarding!

We cut out most of the cockleburs and took it to the vet for a checkup. We were surprised to learn she was a spayed female of about two years and in good health. After treatment for fleas and worms (and a shave of additional cockleburs) she was officially Gracie, our new cat.

In the year since we she came to live with us, she has gone from 8 to 11 pounds. The scraggly coat she once had is now a beautiful puffball of luxurious fur.

I now own four of the loveliest fur coats around!

Cat Lover's Christmas

This kitty has such an intelligent expression on its face, it makes me wonder if the artist used a child's face as a model.

Most of the wonderful graphics that I use are from Olde Dame Penniwig's blog. She provides oodles of nostalgic seasonal images for free. She's a dear and generous old soul and worth checking out.

Gifting your kitty, NOT!

I found this on a site called Top 10 Dumbest Pet Products. It's marketed as being a massager that "relaxes pets and strengthens bonds with them".

I can just picture the innocent kitty lying on your lap purring with contentment. You turn on the vibrating mitt that sounds like a vacuum cleaner. As you try to stroke the terrified pet, it's already down the hall and diving under the bed.

Merry Christmas, Fluffy. (Hope you forgive me by New Year's Eve!)

Sharing my favorites

I give calendars to everybody at Christmas. I simply love calendar art and have a great time picking out special ones for all those on my list. They're also easy to wrap. Since I've been doing this for 15 to 20 years, all my family and friends have come to expect a calendar.

Some of my personal favorites are the Lang Graphics line which includes the Herrero cat calendars. They also have folk art and nostalgia calendars that seem to resonate with my daughters (and me). I have stacks of old ones on the closet shelf.

Sorry if I sound like a commercial today, but I really do love calendars!

Thank goodness for kitties!

These are my four kitties whom I feed every morning and get to pet every day. On top is Snuffy, the oldest (laying down) and Gracie, longhair Tortie and the youngest (sitting up). They are in the heated cat bed the sits on a table in front of the window overlooking the wooded lot next door. That bed gets a lot of traffic!

The next picture down is Sunny, our big boy, in a position he often rests in. He also lays on his back with all four paws in the air. When Sunny gets in the cat bed, he takes up all the room. We sometimes find poor Snuffy with just his head sticking out from under Sunny but never the worse for wear. I guess he stays nice and warm that way.

Next one down is Tweedy, a shorthair Tortie. She's always the last to get a turn in the cat bed,but she isn't as keen about bird and squirrel-watching.

They all have their distinctive personalties and just a joy to have around. And best of all, they make me laugh every day.

Good things come in trees

I blew it yesterday and didn't post, so now I have to give two things I'm thankful for today. Well, I'm equal to the task. My motto is:

"When you feed the birds and squirrels, you have friends in high places."

I just love the variety of birds and wildlife surrounding me. It not only enriches my life but greatly enhances the lives of my four house-bound kitties.

Awwww!

I don't know the story behind this picture, but I find it just too adorable.

Haying season

Back in 1948, I spent some time with my cousin on the farm in western Minnesota. It was haying time and her dad and older brother were busy in the field (although they had a tractor instead of oxen).

Obert and Virgil were working in a field not very far away from the house so my Aunt Gusta had us two girls take lunch out to them. My cousin had a darling new puppy that she had named Bitsy. Bitsy followed us out into the field, but apparently didn't follow us back.

Later, when the guys came in from the field, Virgil told us that Bitsy was run over by the haywagon and badly hurt so he had to kill the puppy with a pitchfork. My nine-year-old cousin shed a few tears at the time. But, it seems that I was more bothered about it than she was.

At our family reunion in August, I mentioned the incident to her. She didn't remember Bitsy. Even though I was only eight, the memory has stayed with me all these years.

I wonder if that's because kids raised on a farm see animals from a different perspective. The cousins had cats, but they were "barn cats" and not allowed in the house. They had batches of kittens up in the hay mow and never cared if they survived. The cats that showed up at milking time were given milk in a big dirty pan but otherwise had to fend for themselves.

I remember every pet we've had since childhood. I guess animals played a bigger part in my life than they did in my cousin's. She now lives in a condo and has no pets, while I live in a condo and have my four kitties. I feel kinda sorry for her.

Posting on a rainy day

It has been cold and rainy for days. But, for the third day in a row, 14 wild turkeys have been patroling the grassy area behind my building looking for snacks.

The first day, the cats were afraid, the next day they were curious, and now they're downright bored.

Likewise, on the first day, we were all excited and called the neighbors and snapped pictures of the turkeys (none of which turned out). The second day, we watched them until they wandered off. The third day, I remarked in passing, "The turkeys are back again."

How quickly we become jaded by repetition!