Our cats are still young and they don’t throw up. I think that as cats age their digestion changes — just like us humans — and they might not be able to handle the fur as well (not that we humans lick ourselves and get fur bellies). I think when they get older is when they start yacking up hairballs. Also, some cats just do it all their lives. I thought all cats did it all their lives, but as I said, our cats don’t. So, that is when I began to think it was an age thing. But, of course, the minute we have an inexperienced cat sitter, the cats throw up. Cat/cats we are not sure. Poor sitter didn’t know what it was. We think it was a hairball, but those of you that know hair”balls” they don’t resemble a “ball” at all. They look more like hairLOGS and then you start to wonder what end it came out of. Ok, gross, I know. TMI maybe, but c’mon . . . us cat owners know what I am talking about. So anyway . . . we have this dear friend of ours do us the ultimate favor and watch our girls and one of them throws up. Figures.
He does his best to try to clean it up. I will tell you it took me years to figure out how to do it on our carpet. So, I am totally fine with there being a spot in the middle of our walkway because he did his best and the most important thing was that we had someone watch our girls. I didn’t even care about the spot. When we get home, I don’t even bother trying to clean it up “better” for a couple of days. Then, I think, “Geez, I really should see if there is something I can do.” So I spray some carpet cleaner on the spot. I think I’ll just leave it and let it soak in.
This is what I find. Nessa sits there and watches it the entire time. She sees the foam and doesn’t move as it disappears. Hilarious. I don’t know if I sprayed it again to just have her be entertained for another hour or so (I really have no idea how long it took, I didn’t pay attention), but I sprayed it again. And she sat there the entire time watching it.
And, much to my HUGE surprise, it totally worked to get up the spot. YAY! So, not only did the spot come totally up . . . the process was entertainment for my cat. Maybe cat owners understand my excitement. Anything that does not harm my cats but can serve as a source of entertainment . . . . I am all for it! Anything that helps get those little brains and bodies occupied—WHOOPEE! So this was a double win! Well, actually it made me crack up . . . so I count it as a triple win!
Nessa, she is a thinker . . . she is fascinated by things. The foam disappearing completely fascinated her. Ha!
You might think this is one of the stupidest things you have ever seen. In fact, you might not even know what you are seeing. (Sigh). Well, I was planning on posting it on the anniversary of my cat’s death, but I was pre-occupied as I often am at this time. I am pre-occupied with death, but that of my father’s and trying to handle that stuff. Our cat died June 25, 2014. It has been three years, but just like with love ones that you are close to you still miss them not matter how long it has been. This picture here is a picture of her paw print. The last one she made in the litter.
Dumb. I know. You can’t even really tell what it is. But I know. I know that I didn’t swish it away right away. She was such a great girl. Here is a picture of her paw print.
If you have read any of my blog posts you probably know that we have two cats. We had a cat . . .she was an angel . . . unlike any cat, but she died. We had her for 14 years. It took me a long time (about a year) to even thinking about getting another cat. Then I heard about a cat cafe (actually an adoption lounge) and decided to volunteer there. Then we started thinking about getting a cat. I had been stuck with the idea that I had to get a kitten, but that just seemed so daunting. Then I realized we could get a young cat. CAT. Not two, just one. But the one I wanted came as a pair. She was bonded with her sister. That stalled our acquisition, but then once the sister came out of where she was hiding we knew we wanted her too. They are both GREAT cats. I don’t know about you, but I love it when animals play by themselves. It is so cute. I can be in another part of the house and hear a toy. It makes me laugh. But the odd thing is, once they see you watching them they stop. So anytime I am able to get a video it is from far away. Here is just a quick video of Nessa playing with a toy.
This was shot when they first were let out of quarantine. You will see a beer box at the end of the couch. When they are in quarantine we used boxes as places they could go to get away from each other and us. And since we were trying to keep the possibility of infection down, we would just throw the boxes away and get new ones. When they first were let out after being locked up for 30 days we thought they might like to have some familiar to use. It was a new box because — again, didn’t want to spread anything. I think they did hang out in them for a little while. But it is tiring having garbage around so I doubt they were around long. Now they have tunnels and things they can hide in.
This is just 38 seconds of Nessa being spazzy.
Do you like it when animals play by themselves? Do you have an animal that plays by itself? Does your pet stop when it sees you watching?
There are some people (I happen to be one of them) who think there is no such thing as too many cat pictures. If you are one of those people then perhaps you might also think there is no such thing as too many pictures of cats in boxes. What is it with cats and boxes? So funny. And many of you know that the smaller the box . . . I mean, the more that it is less likely the cat will fit, the more they like the box. Well, our little cat has no problem fitting in boxes because, well, she is little. But it is odd to me that she just recently started sitting in this box. It has been on the bedroom floor for a long time. We (the cats and I) play with the shredded paper. But lately I will find Nessa in the box. Silly cat.
Oh, I know it is not Friday and I am just going to pop a picture up at the last minute. But you would not believe the day I had. Wow! Basically I spent it dealing with my dad’s estate. I did work on my website to adjust the SJCITY Fit stuff, that was the extent of work on my work today. I spend an hour (at least) trying to get a HUGE hornet out of the house. Oh, perhaps that can be my post. It actually was a funny story. I was upstairs working and I kept hearing some rough-housing downstairs. I would hear what I thought was a cat running up their tower. Then I would hear some scampering. Then quiet. Then noise. And this went on for a bit. Finally, I thought, I had better check because if they have been playing this long it is probably getting to be at the rough point. Just like with kids it goes ok for a bit then after a while it seems like someone gets a bit rough and someone ends up getting hurt. Before I went downstairs I thought I would check to see if one of the cats was up here (she has found a new spot). Sure enough, Teagan was on the throne. That meant Nessa was downstairs playing all by herself.
When I got downstairs, she ran, looking guilty, and one of our speakers was crooked. So I thought she had went up the tower, onto the speaker, across the curtain rod, to the entertainment center. So I straightened the speaker and said, “No, Kitty.” And she looked guilty. So I went into the kitchen. Then I heard her rough-housing again. So I came out to see what she was doing, and she gave me that I’m-not-doing-anything look. Parents in all forms have to be familiar with that look. So I went back into the kitchen. Then she was at it again, so I came out again. This went on at least four times. Then as I was walking out I heard the tiniest “Bzzzz.”
I pull back the curtain and I see this HUGE WASP. It was HUGE. I have never seen one so big. Yeah, in the house. By then Teagan had come downstairs and realized that there was prey to be had and wanted to get in on it. So I scooped them both up and locked them in my office. And I spent the next hour trying to get the thing out of the house.
I was afraid to disturb it so much that it flew INTO the house. It was pretty much staying in the window area. So I opened the sliding glass door which is right next to the window it was in (which doesn’t open because it is a picture window). Then I got a handful of clothespins and I clipped the curtains together. There is a set of two over the picture window and then the one that is over the slider. I was hoping that I could fan the wasp with the curtain and encourage it to go outside. Well, it wasn’t budging with the curtain fanning.
I got my blow dryer thinking I could blow it towards the open door. No. It just hung on tighter. All the while I am going outside to look at it from the outside because I don’t want to open the curtains enough to look and possibly let it out into the room. Then I got the cobweb duster. It extends really far and I thought I could use that. Again, I didn’t want to open the curtain too much but I had to get the duster in there. So I just poked in there. And the wasp moved but it slipped out of the place where it is too high and I hadn’t clipped the curtains (of course) and landed on the wall. But it was the wall almost right above the open door. So I swooshed it out. Well, I had hoped I got. I looked and couldn’t find it.
But I didn’t take down my curtain contraption or let the cats out of the office until my hubby got home to check for me. Geez. So I had sat down to try to think of something to write and was on my computer when I heard all the commotion. Nessa wasn’t playing with her sister or playing by herself, she was attacking a wasp.
Here is Teagan and Nessa on the tower. This was in January 2017 . . . I was just going to post this but then realized I could share a portion of my crazy day.
What do you do when a bee/wasp gets in your house?
Because it is Monday, and sometimes we all just need to start the work week (for those of us that start our work week on Monday) off with something silly. This is silly and it is quick. It will only take you about 30 seconds to watch. There is nothing exciting about it. There isn’t even sound! No “wait-for-it” moment. It is just our cat being silly. It makes me laugh when she gets her tail. I don’t understand the situation when animals try to get their tail. Do they not control it? Do they not know it is connected to their body? What is up with that? That is part of what makes it so funny to me. And then, once they get it, what do they do with it? Bite it, then realize, “Oh! That’s my tail!”? I don’t get it.
Sometimes I will not even understand what she is doing. I will see her staring at something, but I don’t see what because it doesn’t cross my mind that she is staring at her tail. What, is she waiting for it to move? Does it move by itself? I think that is what happened here – I didn’t realize she was staring at her tail until she grabbed at it. So THEN I picked up my camera and only caught 28 seconds of the vicious attack. Ok, not vicious, I am trying to add excitement and drama to a silly little clip.
Wow! I thought I had written about this a long time ago. A long time ago as in almost two years ago when we got the cats. You may or may not know that we adopted two cats back in July of 2015. After bringing them home I discovered they had ringworm. So, going off of what the internet said on how to handle it – aside from just lighting the house on fire – I put a strict protocol in place for these new cats. They were restricted to a room until they had the course of medication and their cultures came back clear. It was 30 days. I vacuumed and wiped the room down twice a week. It was a long 30 days. The poor kitties new to us and their new home were locked in a room. And it was HOT. It was super hot that summer. Since it was so hot I wanted to leave the windows open at night for them. But my husband was afraid to. It would be really easy for an excited cat to jump through the screen at the animal in the yard. So I bought temporary screens.
I want to remind people that in July of 2015 California was still in the drought and things were very dry. Our area was very hot. When there is not enough water things get out of balance. So, the earth doesn’t have enough water to quench the thirst of the vegetation. The vegetation doesn’t grow so the insects and animals don’t get the proper nutrition. Things get out of whack. When the body isn’t in balance the things that are encountered every day sometimes get the best of a body. I am saying all of this – not that it is EXACTLY why, but – because that year there was a huge outbreak of ringworm in the shelters. A week after we got our cats I discovered they had ringworm. Shortly after I discovered that and let the place know where we got them, an article came out in the paper saying it was the worse they had seen in a long time. Kittens and cats were being brought in with ringworm in record number. This was AFTER I told my vet I thought my cats had ringworm and he scoffed at me. He said in all his years as a vet he had only seen one or two cases. Well, that year there were many cases. The shelters were having to treat all the kitties. I say all this so that people know it was just an unusual thing. Most of the time cats and people don’t get it even when they are exposed because we are healthy enough to fight it off. But I think the drought had a lot to do with it. It was unusual for there to be such an outbreak of ringworm.
Anyway . . . I read a lot of reviews on the internet regarding temporary screens. A lot of the reviewers were upset because they were using screens to try to keep dogs and large cats from getting outside. Well, I guess I am familiar with screens enough to know that if a large animal wants out bad enough it is doing to get through a screen. And I wasn’t planning on using these permanently. Also, I wasn’t planning on using them as the only screen. They were really just to reinforce the screens that were already there. I hate the heat. But I am thankful that it was so hot that summer because I think that it helped keep the cats’ energy low. So it was really unlikely that they would jump though the window screen so having this as an extra reinforcement was perfect.
I think they really appreciated being able to have the windows open. Even though the screen over screen allowed less air in than just the one screen would have it was still more than a shut window. Both my hubby and I felt better having that extra reinforcement. I thought they worked great. They weren’t a perfect fit, but they were perfect enough considering they were a standard order.
The one large screen fit in the large window great. It was able to be held in both ways . . . as in it didn’t fall into the room and the way it fit in the window frame it would not be able to be pushed out. The screen for the smaller window would only fit when we took the window out. It was something we had to do every night and every morning, but I think it was way worth it to allow the cats to have some air AND to give us peace of mind.
I know there are others out there that might want to have that extra reinforcement for their windows so I would suggest getting a temporary screen. The ones I got from Quality Screen Co, LLC (LP) were adjustable so they worked great. I went looking for my post regarding these screens when I saw this post – Stay safe and secure open windows! – on Katzenworld. That is when I discovered I had not written a post. I thought this would be a good time. The weather is getting warm and open windows provide relief from the heat. A temporary adjustable screen could help reinforce the screen already in your window and save you and your pet from an unfortunate situation.
This is kinda old, but also kinda cute. Purrfect Match: Love in the Cat Cafe. I tweeted it when I first saw it, but I am doing some computer clean up and I ran across it again. Have you seen it? It is a little video series about people adopting a cat from a cat cafe. They are kind of likening the series to one of those reality dating shows. The videos are about two minutes long so it is a quick thing to watch. It is cute.
The first episode is called “The Cat-Chelors” and it is 1 minute and 59 seconds long. Ha, ha, ha. Already they are being clever. The “cat-chelors” are Love, Tommy, Stevie, and Misty. At the time of the filming they were residence at Meow Parlour in New York. The video documents Erica Williams and John Stevens’ quest for a cat.
Purrfect Match: Love in the Cat Cafe, Part 2 is 2 minutes and 35 seconds and it is called “One-on-One Dates.” In this one you can see Erica, the self-proclaimed cat whisperer, get closer to her pick. We got to see a little bit of Love. Then Tommy was doing his cute thing. He seemed very interested.
In Purrfect Match: Love in the Cat Cafe, Part 3 ”Playing the Field,” which is 1 minute and 43 second long, we get to see a bit of Stevie. He is white and part Siamese. Not sure, but he looks like he might be a trouble-maker. We also see the fun couple meet Misty. But we don’t see much from Misty. She seems really tired. But according to Erica, she is like touching a cloud.
Purrfect Match: Love in the Cat Cafe, Part 4 “Kitty + Us” we get to see which cat makes the two newly engaged couple a threesome. Erica likes girls cats and that Misty was super cute and soft. But they had a good visit with Tommy. You’ll have to watch a see. You’ll find out before the 2 minute video is done.
I think this is a super cute way to highlight cat cafes. So many people have not heard about them and this is a fun way to get the word out. I think they could do it in two five minute videos or even one seven to ten minute video. I would prefer that over the four separate videos. But it is still cute. And I did watch them all.
What do you think? Don’t you think this is really cute?
You may have read somewhere on my blog that we have two cats. You may have read somewhere on my blog that we had ONE cat. It took me over a year to even think about getting another cat. Notice I said CAT. So when I finally got to a point where I was entertaining the idea of getting A CAT . . . it was really hard to be faced with the idea of getting TWO. The one I wanted came as a pair. Now, I still would opt for ONE cat as opposed to two, but that will not happen because there is no way we would get rid of either one. Although, I am still learning about two cats. It is not easy having two cats. I had always heard that cats did not like change, that cats liked to have the same thing to eat – all the time. But lately I hear they get bored and want something else. So when our “big” cat doesn’t bother me for dinner, then when I put it out she barely touches it, I think she is bored.
So then I spend hours on the internet trying to find a food. Because I am picky. I prefer grain free and limited ingredients and you may have read somewhere on my blog that our last cat did not like fish. So, I have never researched any cat food with fish until these two. They like fish. Once I find something I will feed them on the internet, I used to buy it, but now I have to go find it at a store because I would rather buy a CAN as opposed to a case (and only cases can be purchased on the internet). Because apparently only ONE kind of food with fish will do, so I don’t want to buy a whole case and be stuck with it. The little one will eat different kinds, but it seems the “big” one likes ONE kind. Even though she may seem bored she won’t eat anything else. Sigh.
Today I was trying to put together a Valentine’s Day routine for my Nia class tomorrow after spending a bit of time looking for new food for the cats. Then I give it to them and the picky one does not like it and spends the next two hours telling me about her dissatisfaction. Poor girl. It is sad because if it were the little one, I probably would have opened another cat food. But since it was the one who could stand to lose a pound, I just look at her and say, “You have dry food if you don’t want to eat your wet food. Sorry, Girl.” Man, why did I bother? Didn’t get as far as I’d have like on the routine and I felt as if I wasted my time.
Cats are crazy. But really, it is probably humans that are crazy to try to live with such amazing creatures. 🙂 So will you tell me about feeding two cats? What do you feed your cats? And how do you get one to slim down but not the other? What are your feeding practices? Do your cats tell you when it is time to feed them? I know this is a lot of questions, but, I want to know these things.
So here we are rounding into the middle of January 2017 already.
We had a cat before the two we currently have. This was her “throne”. My husband and I call it that to distinguish between the tower, the little scratching post, and this scratching post. This scratching post has a spot where they can sit. Nessa and Teagan LOVE it. They have scratched the carpet off of the post. I need to re-carpet it.
Here is Nessa hanging out on the throne looking down on her subject.
He does his best to try to clean it up. I will tell you it took me years to figure out how to do it on our carpet. So, I am totally fine with there being a spot in the middle of our walkway because he did his best and the most important thing was that we had someone watch our girls. I didn’t even care about the spot. When we get home, I don’t even bother trying to clean it up “better” for a couple of days. Then, I think, “Geez, I really should see if there is something I can do.” So I spray some carpet cleaner on the spot. I think I’ll just leave it and let it soak in.
This is what I find. Nessa sits there and watches it the entire time. She sees the foam and doesn’t move as it disappears. Hilarious. I don’t know if I sprayed it again to just have her be entertained for another hour or so (I really have no idea how long it took, I didn’t pay attention), but I sprayed it again. And she sat there the entire time watching it.
