Cat Resolutions

So, since we humans make our new year's resolutions each year, it got me thinking about what kind of resolutions our feline friends might make and what kind of resolutions I wish they would make.

Here are my hopes for resolution minded kitties.

I resolve to make sure all my poo makes it into the litter box and I will cover up all traces of said poo.

I resolve to ignore your new sofa that looks so much like a huge scratching post slash kitty bed.

I resolve not to wake you up at 3am because I'm in the mood to be petted.

I resolve to stop jumping onto your back every time you bend over or are trying to clean up the kitchen.

I resolve to stop jumping onto the counter to investigate the food that you are trying to prepare for yourself.

I resolve to stop biting your ankle because I am bored and you are not paying attention to me.

And here are the actual resolutions that our kitties will make.

We resolve to make sure that the litter boxes are always full of poo and pee and litter is scattered all over the house because we know how much you enjoy cleaning cat boxes twice a day and what else do you have to do anyway?

We resolve to sleep on your bed every afternoon for at least four or five hours.

We resolve to sit and/or sleep on your new sofa in the exact spot that you would like to sit, necessitating in our removal from said spot four or five times a day.

We resolve to continue to be picky about our canned cat food, requiring the expensive Fancy Feast brand, but ONLY in certain flavors, any substitutes will result in turned up noses and looks of extreme disgust.

We resolve to become bored with our new toys in about five minutes, and will require you to provide a steady source of new toys and amusement throughout the year.

We resolve to demand to be petted when you are:
a/ trying to sleep
b/ trying to cook dinner
c/ trying to read a book or magazine-we will sit directly upon said book or magazine
d/ trying to go to the bathroom
and e/ every other time you are trying to do anything but pay attention to us

And, finally, we resolve to continue to be a never ending source of amusement and affection for you in this new year to come!

Silly Mimi

Why do cats do the silly things that they do? I was at my workbench the other day and just kind of stopped to watch Mimi squeeze herself under my little bookshelf which only has a few inches of space under it. She got under there, laid there for a little while, and then was done and crawled back out. Good thing she is tiny, I can just picture one of the bigger cats doing this, and then walking around with a bookshelf on their back because they got stuck.

Good Little Kitties

Well, maybe not so good all the time, but our kitties got stockings stuffed with toys instead of lumps of coal. Any lumps this year were the ones they left for us in the litter boxes.

It was like a toy bonanza, a toy-o-rama, a festival of feline fun, so many toys that they didn't know what to do!

Cat Shaped Throw Pillows

This is why I get sleepy in the afternoons. Seeing all these kitties snoozing on the bed makes me want to join them.

Buddy And His Buddy

Every night when Keith lays down on the bed, Buddy's sixth sense goes into action and he comes into the bedroom to lay down with (or on) his favorite human. He just loves Keith so much (either that or he just thinks he is a big nice warm comfortable cat bed that has hands to pet him).






Buddy never does this with me, which kind of hurts my feelings. After all, I'm the one who fed him a bottle and wiped his tiny bottom when he was little, and I'm the one who cleans his cat box twice a day, and I'm the one who buys him new cat toys, and I'm the one who opens those cans of cat food twice a day, but he just likes Keith the best. Must be some male bonding funky boy smells thing.

BFF's Forever

Mimi just loves Bear, and vice versa. All Mimi has to do is flop herself down next to Bear and cuddle up with her and she knows Bear will give her some loving. It's so cute that Bear kind of became the kittens surrogate mama when they were little and all or them still go to her for comfort.

Lazy Saturday

Keith and I went out for lunch today mainly because we hadn't been to the grocery store yet and there was nothing for lunch in the house, not even bread for peanut butter sandwiches, and when we got back home there were no little kitties coming to the door to greet us. Very unusual. So, I looked around the house and found every one of them sound asleep, not having missed us at all, and not really caring that we were back home again.

And, then, since all of the cats were asleep and looking so comfortable and cozy, Keith decided to join them in naptime.



He was very careful not to disturb Lucy with his big feet.

CAT FIGHT!!

Buddy was terrorizing little Mimi again last night and she decided she'd had just about enough of that big bully. He outweighs her by at least 8 or 9 pounds and he just loves to jump on her when she least expects it and bite the heck out of her. Her little ears went back and her fur went up and she swatted right back at him. I keep an eye on them when they do that because I'm afraid Buddy might really hurt her one of these days. I'll go stand in between them and give them 'that look' (just like you do with kids) and they'll usually go to their respective corners.

I thought they had settled down but next thing I know they were on top of the shelf divider in the kitchen batting away at each other.





Mimi emerged the victor!

Candy Continued

On my other blog I posted a picture of the yummy box of candy we got from Keith's brother in Boise. The cats were way more interested in the shipping box that the candy came in and Mimi turned it into her own little kitty bed and sat in that thing for hours that day.

It's Chilly!

The weather has been getting quite wintery and I guess the cats fur coats aren't keeping them warm enough, so they crawl under our comforter for their naps. Mimi was under the comforter the other day and Keith laid down on the bed right on top of her. What a rude awakening from your nap, getting so unexpectantly squished. There were two lumps in the bed yesterday, both Mimi and Buddy had crawled under there.



Now, we check out all lumps before flopping ourselves onto the bed.

Funny Kitties

These silly cats really make me laugh sometimes, especially the three little (well not so little anymore, but the youngest of the six) ones, who still have enough kitten in them to provide entertainment, rather than just laying around like the older ones.

This morning I was transferring some pills into another bottle, mainly because I opened my pill bottle and dropped the lid, which proceeded to roll under the stove. Not wanting to dig around under the stove trying to find it, I just transferred the contents to another bottle that I had. Transferring pills into a plastic pill bottle makes lots of rattling noises, which to the kitties means one of two things. Either treats or toys, treats or toys, rattling means treats or toys. So, all three of the young ones jump up onto the counter and stick their collective faces one inch away from the pill bottles trying to see whether I'm rattling treats or toys. Treats or toys! Yay! Yay! Treats! Toys!

Sorry, kids, just me trying to transfer pills with three curious kitties milling about on the counter top. Not toys, and not treats!

Then, last night, Pepper amazed me by actually chasing Buddy around the living room. I think he was amazed, too, that someone would actually have the audacity to chase him, when he is usually the one terrorizing all the other cats by doing all the chasing. It was hilarious, you could almost see little though bubbles over Buddy's head. 'What the hell is going on here?' 'Wait a minute, nobody chases ME around!' I don't know if Pepper was just being cranky or if she was having fun, but it sure was fun for me to watch!

Harri

Poor Harri. She is the most timid fearful little kitty and all the other kids pick on her. Buddy, Mimi, and Lucy delight in seeing her quietly sitting somewhere and do that little wiggle my butt and get ready to pounce on you thing, and then chase her all over the house. She is constantly checking over her shoulder to see who's next in line to torment her.

All of the other cats have the going through the cat door into the garage thing down pat. The three younguns will bang through that thing at top speed, Pepper and Bear take a little more dainty approach to it, but Harri will sit there and look through the door into the garage, look back at you, look through the door again, hoping it will magically open or you will come and open it for her. Keith has tried pushing her through so that she'll get the idea, but she just won't go through that door. Last night as I was heading for bed she was sitting by the door hoping hoping that I would let her in the garage. Nope, sorry, Harri, I don't want you stuck out in the garage all night since you won't come back through the door by yourself.

So, this morning I don't see her anywhere and check in the garage to see if Keith let her in before he left for work, but don't see her. Then a few hours later, there she is, in the garage looking at me through the cat door, hoping I'll come let her back in. She doesn't meow or anything, just sits there looking at you hoping you will notice her and open the door. Which I did.

She is the original scaredy cat.

More

And yet again, cats will always lay on whatever you leave laying around. More pictures to prove my point.

Lucy on Keith's discarded socks. (Yes, he shouldn't have left his socks in the middle of the living room floor but Lucy didn't mind.)

Mimi on Keith's magazine that he left laying on the bed. How comfy and crinkly.


And Mimi on my paper bag from Office Depot-more crinkly stuff for her to lay on.

Uh-Oh

Yesterday every time Mimi ate something she immediately started gagging and threw it back up. Lots of times yesterday.

So, it means a trip to the vet to see what is wrong with her, and according to the internet searches that I did, it could mean all kinds of problems. I guess there is vomiting, and then there is regurgitation, which is what Mimi is doing, the food doesn't even get as far as her stomach before it comes back up. Some of the answers I found while searching this issue are sort of like when you are searching why your head hurts or something-BRAIN TUMOR!!

The internet is great and all that, but sometimes the information you get is way scarier than what's really going on. Regurgitation in animals apparently could mean poisoning, intestinal infections, or just that they're eating too fast. All do agree on one thing, take the cat to the vet if it continues.

So, just like kids getting sick on holidays and weekends, we'll have to watch her today and then take her to the vet on Friday or Saturday if she doesn't stop hacking her food up. She seems just fine other than that, yesterday she was almost being a pest jumping on my shoulders and flopping down right in front of me as I'm walking through the house. She's such a small kitty that you almost don't see her until you've tripped over her.

Yes, Cats Will Indeed Sleep on Anything

Poor little Mimi. I had shoved Keith's shoes into the corner by his dresser so that I wouldn't trip over them, completely forgetting that Mimi likes to sleep in that corner, so...


This just doesn't look very comfortable to me, but Mimi seems to have had no trouble going to sleep on the shoes.

Looking Out My Back Door

Creedence Clearwater Revival circa 1970 something:

Just got home from illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Got to sit down, take a rest on the porch.
Imagination sets in, pretty soon Im singin,

Doo, doo, doo, lookin out my back door.

Theres a giant doing cartwheels, a statue wearin high heels.
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
A dinosaur victrola listning to buck owens.

Doo, doo, doo, lookin out my back door.

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Wont you take a ride on the flyin spoon?
Doo, doo doo.
Wondrous apparition provided by magician.

Doo, doo, doo, lookin out my back door.

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Wont you take a ride on the flyin spoon?
Doo, doo doo.
Bother me tomorrow, today, Ill buy no sorrows.

Doo, doo, doo, lookin out my back door.

Forward troubles illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
Bother me tomorrow, today, Ill buy no sorrows.

Doo, doo, doo, lookin out my back door.

This song is now going through my head on an endless loop after seeing the kitties doing this today.

Why

Do cats love to lay on your clothes? It never fails, if you fold some clean laundry on the bed, cats immediately lay on top of it. If you put the clothes you were just wearing on the bed, cats immediately lay on top of it. One of these days I'm going to do a little experiment and put random articles of clothing all over the house to see how many cats lay on it. Or will they become confused with too many choices of clothing to lay on and not lay on any? Will it freak them out if they find a pair of pants by their water dish, or a t-shirt by the couch, or some underwear in the bathroom? I'll do a laundry and cats study that I can turn into a documentary. Think I could get some government funding for my study?

The Art of Laziness

Bear is a very round fluffy sweet little ball of fur who has perfected the art of laziness so much that she even lays down to eat.


She daintily puts her little paw into the food dish, scoops out one piece of food onto the floor, and then eats it.


Then, after that exertion it's time for another nap!

Love Me Some LOLcats!

Who me? The dog did it. Yeah, that's what happened, it was that dog.

My Little Helpers

Every time I go to put clean sheets on the bed the kitties radar goes into action and they leap onto the bed to see what I'm doing. It's hard to put sheets on the bed when they want to help.



I usually just end up covering them up instead of having to constantly move them out of the way.


The bed ends up looking a little lumpy, but at least it's made.

Almost as Good as Catnip!

Pepper is such an odd cat. She's cranky and mean but also loving and sweet. Almost every time I come in the door she comes to greet me. The only time the other cats come to greet me is if I have bags of cat food in my arms.

Last night we were putting our dinner on the table and Keith got his seasoned salt that he likes to liberally pour on all his food. Pepper could smell that salt coming and jumped up on the table totally excited by that smell. Now, our table is very small and I really don't like to have to share it with a fat cranky kitty, so Keith put the salt container on the floor.

Oh, heavenly smell of season-all!!

Buddy the Bully

This morning Buddy was his usual rambunctious self and then some. I heard poor old Mimi making some very strange meowing you're hurting me sounds and look over to see Buddy with his jaws around her neck. She is very petite and Buddy is very big and strong. I broke up the brawl but Buddy wasn't done yet. Mimi hid in the laundry basket and when I went over to give Buddy a pat on the head he decided that I looked good enough to bite, too. He wants to play rough, but doesn't realize how rough he really is. When he's in a mood, you don't want to turn your back on him unless you really want him to latch onto your calf and bite you.

I figured he needed a toy rather than another kitty or me to bite on, so I chased him into the living room to find some toys. Maybe catnip would keep him occupied for a little while? I got out the catnip, which of course made all the other cats come running, then rubbed a toy for each cat with the catnip. They're always more intrigued by someone else's toy, though, so I have to keep re-distributing the toys so that everyone can get their fix. They love that stuff! After the catnip fest, he seemed a little calmer and didn't try to rip Mimi's throat out anymore today.

Mimi

Is practicing for her new tightrope act.


Careful now!

Waiter, There's a Mouse in my Soup!

Lucy was getting a drink of water, seemingly oblivious to the big pink fuzzy mouse that had drowned in the water bowl.


drink drink drink...hey, what the ?!?


I can only assume somebody was saving this mouse for later.

They're So Angelic

When they're sleeping! Just like small children, these kitties look so very sweet when they are all curled up snoozing. And just like small children, the three little ones are so very active when they are awake. This morning I am listening to the wham of the kitty door to the garage as they chase each other around the house and run full blast through the kitty door, run around the garage, and then back through the kitty door again. Then, all of a sudden, just like small children, they will become exhausted and drop wherever they are for a little nap.

Hungry Hungry Kitties

I woke up late this morning and opened the bedroom door to find five kitties all right outside the door waiting to be fed. There was no dry food left in their bowls from last night and they were hungry! Buddy always jumps onto the counter where I line up the bowls, so he gets his first. Pepper jumps onto the breakfast bar (she's fat and can't jump onto the counter without the help of the breakfast bar stool) so her bowl goes there, and Mimi and Bear wait not so patiently on the floor for their bowls. Lucy has never eaten canned food, for some reason she doesn't like it, and poor Harri is too timid to eat when all the others are around, so I either take some food into the bedroom for her or just let her come out and eat when she's ready.

Last night Keith left the bathroom door open so of course at about 3:30 am Buddy was jumping around on the bed wanting to play. I shooed him out and shut the door, not realizing that Lucy was still in the bedroom, so about 30 minutes later (right after I had finally gotten back to sleep) Lucy was jumping around on the bed. I made Keith get up and shoo her out, since he's the one that left the door open. And that is why I woke up late this morning.

Walking The Cat

We've been trying to go for a walk each evening after dinner and last night we were talking about how fun it would be to put Buddy on a leash and take him for a walk, but also about how freaked out he would probably be to be put on a leash. Then we got on the subject of pet strollers and maybe that would be fun to have and an incentive to get our butts outside and walking. I did a little online research on pet strollers and was a little taken aback at the prices of said pet strollers. You could spend more on a pet stroller than on your babies stroller!

We found this one that is very reasonably priced even with shipping, but what sold me was the cup holders!

What's really ingenious is that the carrier thing comes off and you can use it separately and the stroller folds up just like a kid stroller. Very clever! I think the little cats would like this since they like to play in the regular cat carriers, but the big cats know that cat carrier=vet, so it would probably make them a little nervous.

Keith said that the cup holders would be great to hold his beer while walking around the neighborhood!

Refrigerator Kitty Says There's Nothing Good To Eat in Here

When Pepper was little she would jump in the refrigerator just about any time you would open it. You always had to double check before shutting the door to make sure you wouldn't end up with a kitty popsicle in there. She finally outgrew that habit, or got too fat to fit in there, or something, but then the kittens started doing it, too. We would have to do a head count of kittens to make sure nobody was stuck in the refrigerator, especially after the time Keith could hear pitiful little meows coming from somewhere and finally realized it was Mimi from inside the fridge. Now that they are grown, kitties in the refrigerator isn't as much of a problem, partly since they are easier to see if they are in there.

Buddy jumped in there the other day and wouldn't get out, so I just shut the door on him for a few minutes. Didn't seem to bother him at all, or at least he was pretending it didn't bother him.

Nah, nothing looks good in here.

Okay, guess I'll get out now.

Hi!

Whatcha doing?


Just chillin here.

Clean Sheets Are Nice Too

We kitties like laundry, clean, dirty, it doesn't matter. We see laundry and we like to rub in it, lay on it, smell it, and shed all over it. Haven't put the pile of clean sheets back on the bed yet? Who cares, they are even more comfortable this way!

Dirty Socks-My Favorite!

Pepper is an odd cat. Her favorite smells, other than catnip of course, are green peppers, celery, black pepper ( you have to hide the pepper shaker or she'll lick the top of it) and the smell of the cream that I put on my heels after my shower. I use bag balm and heel cream, and the bag balm is especially enticing to her. She'll nip my heels and lick my hands in her quest to get to that wonderful smelling bag balm! So, last night I put socks on over my bag balmed feet and then tossed them on the floor when I went to bed. Yes, they do belong in the laundry basket, but it's all the way across the room in the closet, and I was tired.

So, this morning Pepper found my socks still faintly smelling of bag balm and decided that they would make a great pillow for her head. Mmmm, smelly bag balmed socks!!!

Kierstyn

This is Kierstyn. We saw a story about her plans for her Saturday morning on the news last night. Kierstyn loves animals and wanted to do something to help out all the unwanted animals that the local SPCA takes care of. So, she set up a donation center for anyone who also wants to help these animals by coming by and donating supplies, food, toys, or just plain old cash to the SPCA.

After seeing her story we made sure to plan to come by the locally owned bagel shop (great bagels) where she had her table and donation jars set up and do a little to help this lovely young lady reach her goal today.


Isn't she a cutie?


I know it's a little hard to read this sign, but your local SPCA could also probably use some supplies, food, or whatever you can spare to help keep these animals fed and housed. I see laundry detergent and bleach on the list, that's something you don't even think about, the animals bedding and blankets needing to be washed. You don't have to wait for someone like Kierstyn to set up a donation center, just call your local SPCA and ask what you can bring, I'm sure they'll be happy to hear from you!

This was such a great start to our weekend, to be able to help out just a little with a donation!

Thanks, Kierstyn!!