Sue's World

Chair Warmer

One of Zorro's favorite habits is to jump up on my chair as soon as I vacate it.  Usually he does this after we're done with dinner while he's waiting for me to feed them.  In this case it was in the morning.  It's a good way for him to keep tabs on what's going on the kitchen without being underfoot and shooed away.  When something interesting happens he's close at hand to take advantage and beat the other cats to the goody....

Caught in the Act

 I went back through photos and came across this one.  I just love it.  I didn't have anything to do with this.  I heard some rustling around and knew Jet got in the trash.  Minutes later I came by and saw this.  I just had to laugh. 

Someone who saw this thought it was a cast, but no....  Our cats have a LOT of cat toys.  And some of those get heavy use.  The found objects may only get a moment of action but sometimes it's priceless.

Not the Best Way to Unwind

I decided to relax a bit this afternoon by taking a bath.  I am usually accompanied by Jet.  He likes to paw and lap the water when the tub gets full and then he settles down for a nap on the floor mat next to the tub.  Today I had all three cats on the rim of the tub.  They were all pawing and lapping and then checking each other out.  It was a recipe for disaster.

A year or so ago, Zorro was walking around the tub and got spooked and nearly fell in but he managed to grab traction with his claws on my back and averted a disaster (though each has fallen/slipped in at one time or other without much trauma).  I was rewarded with bloody ribbons on my back and didn't want a repeat today.  Eventually everyone left without a problem but it sure wasn't the relaxing afternoon I'd hoped for.  Ah...at least there will be other times.  I am sure Jet didn't like the extra visitors either....

 

An Unusual Endorsement

I was done updating for the day, or so I thought.  I came across Christmas decoration pictures from December.  <sigh>

Nothing says "cuckoo" like a cat who loves to lick the artificial Christmas tree.  And I don't mean a little lick or two.  I mean an obsessed fascination with it.  Every day.  EVERY day!  The red balls got knocked about but not as much as the tree got licked.  I grabbed my camera and this says it all.  Maybe the little workers had fish on their hands when they were making the stuff but Ink cannot stay away.  I've already vowed to thwart him next year by wrapping empty boxes and putting them under the tree to keep him away.

He also likes to walk under the branches.  Maybe it feels nice on his back.  And then he cruches the branches, much like his fascination with cellophane.  Did I mention he might be crazy?  I remember our rabbit, Blackjack, liked to eat the branches of our live trees.  That at least makes sense.  But this?  It's just too much!  He almost brought the tree down one night and that made me none too happy.

On the bright side, I played around with my felt birds this year.  Last year I used them as an advent calendar, of sorts.  I had them move from a vase full of bare tree branches to a little Christmas tree day by day.  This year I decorated a wreath with them and then also put greenery in this light and put birds up in it.  It's fun to mix things up a bit each year.  We had the snowflakes up in the windows and out in the side yard, but the best pictures of those were taken when we had snow.  I posted those pictures, right?  Yes, I am sure I did.

Just when you think the tree is safe, you are reminded that it isn't.  He looks all nice and sleepy and cozy right now, but he's a foot away from his latest temptation.  Convenient... <sigh>

Candid Kitty Camera

Summer means endless days of snoozing for the kitties.  When we have really hot weather the windows don't get opened for days on end.  Kitties seek out warm spots in the sun in the mornings and then head for cooler spots later.  (Right now Ink is snoozing on the daybed next to my desk with his belly exposed.) We now have a family of ground squirrels that spends quite a bit of time in the yard.  They come out every year.  What they do the other months is a mystery, but they can be seen in the drainage pipes on the hill next to us.  There are 5 of them and they're busy stuffing their cheeks full of sunflower seeds that the birds knock out of their feeders.  One kept running around by the back door.  I managed a shot of him staring at Zorro.  He wasn't the least bit afraid.  He stood upright on his hind legs just looking at Zorro and Zorro didn't know what to do with himself.  The squirrel darted away but kept coming back. 

Now Zorro is the terror of the house.  He guards the food dish and is quite calculated in his movement.  He hovers near the dish and if someone else comes close he's suddenly interested in eating.  He plops himself in doorways so he can pounce on the others (mostly Jet) when they want to go in and out.  His version of snuggling is to plop himself on top of another cat (mostly Ink).  I mean literally on top.  So it was no surprise when I found him like this in the guest room recently.  I felt the slightest twinge of sadness that he's forced to snuggle with a stuffed cat, but it's his own bad behavior that makes him unpopular. 

What's funny is that most of the true skirmishes in the house are really between Ink and Jet and it usually ends up with Ink crying as Jet sinks his teeth into Ink's neck.  As always, peace returns to the kitty kingdom and soon all is calm again.

And....

...that darned cat will not stop meowing.  I am NOT feeding it.  It's big and fluffy and lives somewhere.

Here's the Scoop

A very quick post....orange cat is outside meowing.  He/she should be; it must smell different out there.  For the first time this year we let our kitties outside.  They were out nearly 2 hours and had a ball.  The catnip is decimated and the surrounding plants didn't fare so well. 

I did a bunch of garden cleanup after having furiously planted the weekend before.  Finally planted some seeds last week: sunflowers (dwarf, autumn mix, lemon) and other stuff.  Also planted a 24 pony packs' worth of flowers and 10 1-gallon shrubs.  So much to do this time of year!

Watched myself on Private Chefs of Beverly Hills Friday night.  A friend who didn't know I was going to be on watched it and recognized me and called to ask if it was me.  :)

Have to report for Jury Duty tomorrow, only the 2nd time in my life (and the last one was in the mid-80's).  I admit I'm kind of excited!  I am bringing some work stuff with me on my little laptop in case there's lots of waiting around.  It's amazing how the uncertainty of next week's schedule puts me into major contingency planning mode. 

Dishwasher is only being used as a drying rack.  There's a horrible noise and it hasn't been washing properly.  Note to self:  get on with it and call for appliance repair.

I think the cats got a rat in the garage last week.  The victim is certain; just don't know the details of its demise....

There; that's the update.  More at some point... I know, I still have pictures to post from a month ago!

What is it with Orange Cats?

It's now been many weeks since Killer Kitty left us.  Yesterday I put away the bowl that I had fed him with.  But now again we have another cat that visits.  And when I mean visits, I am eating catnip and peeing on things and provoking Ink's killer instincts.  Ink can be seen flinging himself at the window with amazing force.

This cat is orange. In our years in this home, we have had more orange cats as visitors than any other colored cat.  And yes, these are different cats.  Orange ones!  Maybe I need to make a recording of a dog barking and have that on a sensor so when a cat enters the yard, they'll get a dose of barking. 

A Visit to the Kittyatrician

(Kittyatrician is what we call the vet.  I think one of my parents came up with that years ago but I no longer quite remember its origin.)

A few months ago we had to take Zorro to the vet for what I thought was a bee sting.  It turned out he has EGC (Feline eosinophilic granuloma complex), a skin disease which is gross and you can Google it if you really want info.  He had a little sore on his lip and Dr. G. gave him a shot and we were on our way.

Earlier this week I was petting Zorro and found little bumps under his chin.  Knowing EGC has a high rate of recurrence, I scheduled a follow-up for this afternoon.  Knowing how much trauma is involved in taking a cat to the vet (especially for me....), I set the cat carrier in the living room this morning.  I left the door open so the cats could explore.  I didn't go near it; it was just part of the scenery.  All of the cats reacted skittishly but I left it at that.  At the appointed time, I woke Zorro from a snooze and plopped him in without resistance.  The ride to the vet was silent except for my voice.  No protests, no pacing, nothing but plopping down.

The verdict?  Acne.  Seriously!  Acne.  It's treated with the same stuff as treats EGC since they're both skin disorders.  Zorro didn't make a peep or resist being handled.  No reaction to the shot and not a peep on the ride home.  As soon as we were back in the house I let him out and immediately put the carrier back in the garage.  His reaction when I came back into the house?  Rubbing against my legs as if nothing ever happened.  Whew! 

Recovery

I just checked on the cats.  Zorro is camped out and relaxing outside of my office.  Ink and Jet are in the bedroom snoozing.  Ink is lazily eyeing the camera; Jet is the lump in the foreground.