Bringing groceries in the house, turned around and there she was......

Must be his day off?

 

All cats cheat at all thing to get everything- part of their charm that many dog- orientated people do not appreciate. I too am more of a dog- guy but cats have their own charms if it can be appreciated for what it is.

Nice looking cat- the typical 'all- black' with white patches; my son has the other bookend to that one in a female. She was all- black as a kitten but ended up with a little white patch around her spaying scar and about 100 pure white hairs in her neck. Funny thing but my D-I-L got Chloe when she was a small kitten and my son was in Iraq. She was full grown when my son met her and w/in some weeks, the 'cat adopted him' and turned a pretty cold shoulder on his wife. The cat loves him but is indifferent with everyone else and will not acquiesce in the least (like many cats, and very unlike most dogs) and so just will not tolerate anyone else picking her up, petting her, etc. Buy my son can do no wrong with the cat and that annoys his wife to no end....

Funny thing but that cat loves running water, will not drink standing water, and insists on being anywhere where there is running water; at their house, you cannot brush your teeth alone (cat), take a shower alone (cat in the shower, biting and swatting at the water stream) or even get a glass of water from the kitchen sink (cat appears, wants drink from faucet). Pretty funny, especially because whenever anyone takes a shower, the cat turns up soaking wet.

Brian

 

Yeah, my wife and I have taken to sliding our feet along the floor in the dark 'cause otherwise sometimes there is a kitten under it when taking a step. Because that foot is moving, it is 'in play' according to international kitten rules and fairly often, while taking a step, she wraps her 47 paws around said foot, kinda' like those 'face- huggers' in Alien. So you pick up a normal foot but put it down with a kitten wrapped around it.

Brian

 

Cinnamon Vet visit update. Everything went well. Clean bill of health and vaccinations done.

Loved the story.
When I adopted #2 (Tippy), I had to wait until she was spayed to take her home. Anxious to show my wife the new kitty we went to the shelter. My wife loved #3 (Smokey) in he cage next to Tippy and wanted to adopt her. Oh wow. I can get 2 more.
Now Tippy is always on my wife's lap and Smokey is on mine.
Amazing how they choose their humane. I guess you don't choose a cat. They choose you.

 

Two quick updates: Had some contractors here today and so had the hatch to upstairs open for a while. And of course Phoebe sneaked up there without any of us noticing. Sometime later, after closing the hatch and looking for her all over downstairs, went upstairs and found her racing around like an insane thing with sawdust all over her whiskers and face. Knew I had zero chance of catching her so I just sat down on the floor and w/in about 20 seconds, she came to me. Picked her up, tried to calm her down (not successful) and brought her downstairs. Took her maybe a half- hour to calm down but then she went to sleep on a chair.... which leads us to the other update:

Phoebe now apparently also sleeps on her back, exactly like Zack (dog) used to do.



What is up with this? Is my house in a twisted gravity field? Is it me, am I so wildly exciting that my pets are making lewd advances toward me? Is there a black hole in my furniture that causes them to twist into an odd shape? Are they trying to suck up as much comfort as possible before the inevitable trip to the pound?

Phoebe has developed the amusing habit of going into 'Krazy kitten mode' at 5:00 AM and climbing on top of my wife and biting her hands <chuckle>. After Andrea hides her hands under the covers, Phoebe bites her hair and tries to pull it out of Andrea's head, making Andrea entirely hide under the comforter. Which kicks Phoebe into playing a robust game of 'get the lump', with Andrea playing the part of the 'lump' of course. We took a survey and two out of the three mammals that live here find this behavior hysterical.... the third one not quite so much.

I honestly forgot how great pets are.... until they have to go to the pound, of course.

Brian

 

Been a strange night in the Cathouse.
All the cats seem to be very territorial tonight. A lot of hissing at each other from all parties and have had to redirect them. Settling down a little now.

Onyx and Cinnamon on the cat tree.


Cinnamon staking her claim for the night beside the stove.

Worked on the bus today. Engine running great, but heater is not working. We will have to wait for warmer weather before we can make a shelter run.

 

I have to say, and please do not take this the wrong way but that Siamese mix sorta' looks like a Picasso painting of a Siamese cat. She starts off as clearly a Siamese but then has all those asymmetrical cuts and blotches all over her face- odd enough to actually be kinda' cute in her own unique way.

The kitten my neighbor ended up with after the 'Great Kitten Gathering of 2017' is all black, except for a Calico slash straight down her nose. But the slash is not centered, it is 1/2 on her nose, and 1/2 on her face. Really odd looking kitten but at the same time, kinda' cute and interesting in her own odd way.

Cats and dogs can get really odd when the cross- breed all over the place for generations. I had a black dog (Peppa- fantastic dog, lost him 20 years ago) with a medium gray underside (sorta' how the US Navy paints its planes, dark on top, light on the bottom), and his feet had the same gray, starting off as solid and them turning into 'spatters' that eventually disappeared at the middle of all four legs. Looked exactly like a black dog ran through a wading pool full of gray paint.

And just a thought but in the future, you might want to put an 'Easy Boys' after saying 'Been a strange night in the Cathouse.'.

Brian

 

Quick update on Phoebe: we have a date for the pound, and it is 2 Jan 2018. We figure she could still be someone's 'Christmas kitten' and so that would be a better time than later.

Well, maybe not on the second, she has to go to the vet for blood work on that day. But no later than the 3rd! Oh wait, she is scheduled to be spayed on the third and will need a few days to heal up, at least a bit. OK, maybe by the end of this coming week she should be healthy enough to take to the pound, 5 Jan. Yep, that is the date! Well, maybe that is not quite enough time to heal so we might keep her over the weekend but the following week, for sure!

On a different note, I sell a couple of accessories for a particular motorcycle, and we have packing materials for... well, packing and shipping them. Phoebe has decided that a really, really fun thing to play with is a shipping peanut, and so she goes into the box of peanuts, takes one out in her mouth, and plays with it for a little while. So we put a smaller box inside the big box of peanuts. And now Phoebe climbs between the two boxes, rummages around UNDER the smaller box (which is still pretty big, maybe 18" square) and wiggles out.... with a packing peanut in her mouth. Too funny. So now we get up and there are 3,4 or maybe 12 Styrofoam peanuts all over the house. Very amusing. Too bad she has to go to the pound.....

Brian

 

I'll bet those peanuts stick to her fur too if your house is dry - should be good for a few laughs just watching her be undignified. Maybe you could keep her around until spring (when humidity squashes that clingy effect) just for that entertainment value.

 

Yeah, I see what you are trying to do there..... suck us in to keeping her around long enough to get attached! Well, it ain't gonna' happen! Sorry, but off to the pound with Phoebe (or whatever name her REAL owners decide on) ASAP!

But on a serious note, she really is a wonderful cat. Not timid or retiring, and yet not aggressive in the least. As I have said 100 times, more dog than cat IMO and IME. I do not believe in any of the magical, mystical things that some do and so do not attribute this kitten showing up at my house as any kind of larger plan' or anything but I have to say, it was the perfect timing for us to take on a pet and she has been the perfect pet for us, at this time. Not to complain or whine at all because I have nothing to whine about really, but this house project has rather overwhelmed us and has gotten to the point where it is a constant, and quite negative, emotional load to carry around. I cannot imagine anything / anyone that could have been better than Phoebe to be inserted into our lives right at this moment; she provides a certain comfort and distraction from our daily drudgery which is amazingly effective. I think this 6 (maybe now 7) lbs. of kitten has done more for us, and I think especially me, than all the drugs that Pfizer or anyone produces could have done. Simply amazing actually, at least to me.... I would not have thunk a kitten could have such a large and positive impact on our lives.

I still prefer dogs, and large dogs at that. And I have had pets (cats and dogs) most of my life, and all have been part of my 'family'. But this particular kitten, at this particular moment, is EXACTLY what the proverbial doctor ordered IMO; the perfect addition to our household. I would have never, ever picked her out and would instead have gone for a large breed dog or 'likely to become large' mutt but this kitten is really the perfect pet; she does not have to go in / out, really makes no time- critical demands of us and yet provides all the interest / amusement and affection that could be expected of any pet, and more.

None of the above should be interpreted to imply in any way, shape or form that Phoebe is NOT going to the pound at the next opportunity though!

BTW: just got my first hygrometers today, one main 'reading' unit and four remote units. Not sure what winter humidity inside the house should be but two large pots on the woodstove, going through multiple gallons of water per day, seem to be keeping it down to a dull roar. My only indication is Phoebe: if we pet her and draw sparks, I assume it is 'too dry' in the house. Now we have the proverbial yardstick and will make proper measurements and changes as needed.

Brian

 

I get those static sparks and clings from the cats when it is lower than 36% or so. YMMV.

I hear you on the house project. Never imagined how much work and I would be putting into this place when I bought it. Sure, I knew it would need work, but every time I turn around I find something "fun" about it (no insulation, holes in the walls behind the sheetrock that go clean to the outside etc). Ah well, it is mine and it's warm and I can feed and clothe myself, so I have so much more than a lot of people out there!

 

I would watch out that Phoebe doesn't ingest any of them peanuts.
Boxes. Never seen one that my cats don't like. If I buy a large cat toy, I might as well throw the toy away and give them the box.
Can't wait for the Vet office to open tomorrow. Cinnamon came into heat just after Christmas and the Vet is closed until tomorrow. Boy what consent squalling. I will have spaying appointment scheduled tomorrow.

 

Aww, go ahead and give into your animal urges and save yourself being spayed. Just don't discuss it on internet public forums...kinda like the old don't ask don't tell policy that was in place for so many years.


Wait....what...? Never mind.

 

You or the cat?..............................................

 

Too funny. I have six cats, 5 all one family. One a rescue. all Himalayan. two seal points and 4 blue points. All indoor cats. I keep cat scratch poles handy and cat trees to climb on. The are all over three now. Never offered to bother the Christmas Tree or the Victorian village set. My cats won't touch people food. I have offered it to them several times, but they always decline it. We also have two labs. They all get along well. These cats don't scratch or bite. The vet says 5 of them are rag doll. It is costly to have all these animals, and a lot of work. Esp. keeping the litter boxes clean. But we are old fools who don't know any better and won't listen when others tell us we have lost our minds having this many animals. When I go to bed, I might have at least one dog and 3 or 4 cats by me. Lots of fun with them.

 

Actually eating them does not seem to be a problem although she sheds them into tiny pieces now and then. Kinda' funny too because the small pieces stick to her

I have only ever lived through one cat going through heat and you have my sympathies- it really is pure hell. They yowl almost like a human baby, follow everyone all around and 'assume the position' constantly. I do not think they sleep or eat at all, just do their utmost to let all the males w/in 58 counties know they are..... er, 'available'. They are annoying and relentless to a nuclear degree. What a Christmas present for you! Phoebe goes in today for blood work and tomorrow, first thing in the morning to be spayed. She has NOT gone into heat and I am perfectly happy about that.

Cats love boxes and bags, or anything that has an inside. They just have to look, or even better, get inside every single one of them. Just how they are.

Best of luck with Cinnamon and that horrible trick nature plays on her and US regarding going into heat!

Brian

 

Yeah, pets give more than they take but only for some people I think. So yes, they do generate costs but give far more back..... at least to those of us who form tight attachments to our pets and animals in general.

The box: Phoebe is about 7 lbs., eats less than one cup of food per day (she leaves some behind so always consumes all she wants) and yet seems to produce about 27 lbs. of 'presents' in the cat box per day. Honestly, sometimes it is unbelievable. And this is all normal, healthy cat 'stuff', nothing as the result of an upset digestive system or anything.

For the first time in my life, I am NOT actively trying to feed this pet human food. I have always done it will all pets in the past and thought it was a treat for the pet as well as 'cute' for us but really, it is a PITA for the humans, especially when we have company over and the animals beg, and not of any real benefit to the pet. Phoebe could not care less about human food and I am leaving well enough alone this time- I am pretty old but I guess I can still learn, at least a little. Phoebe gets her Blue Buffalo kitten food, which she seems to like a lot, and a very occasional treat of tuna fish, which makes her lose her mind But that is always hand- fed to her, when we are not eating, so again she has zero interest in our food.

Brian

 

Cinnamon has a Jan. 16th appointment for spaying.
Like I said, I am not going through her hormone raging again.

 

Box cat... fishingpol 's cat does the same thing I remember.

 

She sure does. Seems she bites stuff when she does not get her way or if the "staff" does not feed her in time.