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Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. Jeff Valdez
Now that cooler weather has arrived the tigers get their chance to be lap lumps in the dad’s favourite chair. It’s not unusual for me to get up in the morning and find two of them in the recliner. Most mornings it’s either Shiimsa and Skoshi or Shiimsa and his brother Gabby curled up together. For some reason Shiimsa really likes that chair. I just have to look like I’m headed for the chair and he’s in it, waiting for me to sit so he can plop down and go to sleep in my lap. Once the weather gets cool enough to have to put a blanket on the waterbed it’ll be a struggle to get into bed and a struggle to get out of bed.
Friday night Feurae had positioned himself as monorail kitteh on the back of the chair and I sat down gently so as not to propel him onto my back. I hadn’t any sooner gotten settled and here comes Shiimsa. He gets settled, his little motor running on medium loud. I started to read and the next thing I know Nagi, Prince of Darkness, potential slayer of stereo speakers, is in my lap as well. Nothing unusual about this, except all three are black. I have three black tigers and every one was in the chair at the same time, Feurae on the back, Shiimsa with his head on the right arm of the chair, Nagi with his on the left and me in the middle. I sure wanted somebody with a camera to show up. As naughty as Nagi can be he’s just the biggest lover. He’ll first position himself so that his head is on my chest and his butt on my thigh. When he’s been stroked for a couple minutes that little tongue sticking out routine takes over and his eyes assume that contented half open position. Then he slides down and positions himself on my leg and the chair arm. Too cute, they are.
Maste appears to be less incontinent of feces lately. It seems to occur more when he’s asleep now. I’m not finding little Hershey kisses on the floor like I was. I still have to check various surfaces and clean up after him but that’s nothing more than a small task. I’m hoping that time will heal this condition but if not, oh well. Cleaning up little poops is a small price to pay for this little love sponge. I’ve never had a tiger who wants this much attention. I keep an old towel handy to put in my lap when he wants to play lap lump. He’ll sit on the arm of the chair all evening if I keep stroking his head. His injury appears to have made his back quite sensitive and it takes a few strokes for him to settle down. I’m really glad I scooped him up when I did.
That’s all I’ve got. Share your tiger stories with us.
From the dawn of creation the cat has known his place, and he has kept it, practically untamed and unspoiled by man. He has retinue. Of all animals he alone attains to the Contemplative Life. He regards the wheel of existence from without, like the Buddha. There is no pretense of sympathy about the cat. He lives alone, aloft, sublime, in a wise passiveness…. Andrew Lang
64 Comments
Caturday!
I laffed so hard at ur catnip pic.
Yeah, me too. I have to admit there are some great pix at lolcats.
The kitties have forgiven me for being gone last week, so maybe it’s safe to unpack now. Of course, the wisest course may be to offer a sacrificial retired suitcase first…
Don’t do something you’ll regret in future. Once you give them permission to do something you can’t ever take it back. Retired and active are not something understood by da kittehs. *g*
Fortunately for future behavior problems, I have an outdoor storage room off the carport, where the sacrificial suitcase has lived since the last time Fluffy decided I was absolutely going to stop using it to leave them. It’s been washed up and left out there to air ever since.
Poor Maste and SD. It must be humiliating to lose control of your kitteh bowel like that. Hope the others are treating him well.
We’ve started putting up decorations and so far not a single garland has been climbed. No glass ball has been shattered. No wire has been chewed. Yay! But then, the tree hasn’t gone up yet.
Gracie likes to climb the tree from the inside along the trunk. When she finishes with that fun, she will relieve herself on the tree skirt among the packages. Brat. I’m hoping this year will be better since she has free access to the outdoors and her choice of trees to climb and soil.
The other tigers don’t bother him. He is a little scaredy cat, though. He’s small and at times can be intimidated by the likes of Feurae and Ptah, who are much larger but then they both can be thugs at times with everybody. Maste and Nagi play together quite a bit. Having his tail amputated affected his balance in some ways though. He’s got strong legs but won’t/can’t jump onto the dining table. He uses a chair as a step.
I don’t even want to think what Nagi and Feurae would do with Xmas decorations.
Have you seen the lolcat picture with a cat in a suitcase converted into a cat/dog bed? I can’t find it.
Anyway, it’s an old style hard shell suitcase opened, with legs screwed onto the bottom and the inside made up with kitteh blankets. Really cute piece of furniture.
having a chuckle – having long suspected you treat yours like Muezza
p.s. lore among muslims is the three strokes enables balance and jumping
it prolly looked something like one of these.
Busted. *g*
Thanks for the link. Very interesting. The trolls’ll be calling me a terrist afore long.
Sounds about right, and Elliott’s pics look like just the thing. Fluffy, too, liked the hard sides on that old suitcase he ‘used’ – and that suggests to me it ought to make a comeback, as a proper place for an old cat like him to snuggle down.
Oh, that was soooo interesting.
Gotta say, though, the Muslims who I lived among in Istanbul did not care for cats in the least, and they certainly did not treat them reverently. I have some really, really bad memories of cats living on the streets there.
Yes! Very clever repurposing IMO. And that cat bed made from an old computer monitor was precious too. And that kitteh crevice made from an old computer monitor was precious too.
cbl, thanks for the Muezza link. I feel somewhat more holy now. My hubby laughs at me all the time because I won’t get up, to pee for example, if I have catlap. Catlap is a perfectly valid excuse in our household for asking others to do things for you.
Lucky (20# gray and white lump of love) came to me week before last drooling heavily with stinky breath and a swollen tongue. The vet gave him anti-biotics and said she couldn’t figure out what was wrong. She mentioned potential kidney problems but all the lab tests were negative (whew!). The drugs cleared it up but good, in fact he looks better now coatwise than he has in months.
Apparently there is a virus that momma kitties pass on to their kitlets that usually remains dormant but sometimes flares up. I wasn’t paying close enough attention at the time – it was right after she mentioned kidneys – but she thinks that might have been it. (Did I mention that my vet employs only women vets?) Does anyone know what it’s called?
Yellowsnap, I love my Gracie kitty, too. Now that the weather is cool at night, she and the little black pug come curl up with me at night. The only drawback is that they both like to burrow under the covers and spoon against whichever part of me is available. But then Gracie will wake up and see that irresistible, curly pug tail and they’ll start attacking each other down there. Not a lovely way to wake up in the middle of the night, but awwww so cute in the telling.
So, we’re planning a move in the spring, to be closer to Sprout’s school. It’s K-12, and he’s in 4th grade so we plan to be there a while. Also, too, I truly grok now why women have kids in their 20′s instead of their 40′s. I’ve always been a rebel, heh. I welcome any and all advice about moving the kittehs. Grace and Bitchy Belle have never lived anywhere else, and we last moved only a few months after adopting the older cats, so them, too, for all practical purposes.
ROFLMAO
Don’t know what the virus is but uploaded the data into me brain. Thanks.
On movin’ da kittehs. That can be tricky. I wait until I’m ready to spend my first night in the new place then transfer them one or two at a time, leaving them in the carrier until all are relocated. While moving stuff I make every effort to prevent them from getting out while I’ve got my hands full, like herding them into one room. Since most of mine are frightened of strangers getting anybody to come over makes that a lot easier. They all run into the bedroom.
I put their dishes out, get the water fountain going, put food in all the dishes then let them out.
Moving has a tendency to freak tigers out. They’re not big lovers of change for starters and a move can be traumatic. They’re not all that way but you should notice a change in behaviour if they see stuff being taken out.
Catlap. I’m gonna hafta try that. I can see it now.
“Hey, will one of you guys refill my water glass? I don’t want to disturb Maste.”
Not only *crickets* not a head turns. Allrighty, then.
What’d I expect, I can’t even get ‘em to answer the damn phone.
p.s. to Tiger Man – not knowing much background about your Maste – but my beloved Shep had his tail amputated at about 4 years old – took about 18 months for him to regain balance and jumping mastery but regained nonetheless
Oooh, Caturday – almost live!
No fab stories this week – well, maybe that the cool weather has caused clinginess accompanied by kneading (my black kitty, Pushy, also likes to cuddle vertically, front paws on chest, butt on lap), which reminds me I need to start clipping toenails! Ouch, ouch, ouch.
When I felt safe letting them out into the patio/yard, they wore their claws down enough on the tile and concrete, I guess. Now that they go out much more rarely, all of them are growing sharp little clawsies. And they’re mature kittehs with no experience of having their claws clipped.
Sigh. Don’t I have enough to do? (dramatically holdng back of wrist across forehead, eyes closed)
Re moving – follow up on what SD said: especially if you have movers, be SURE all the kittehs are not only in a room with closed door – big SIGN plus oral instructions to movers DO NOT ENTER or MOVE LAST, but kittehs also in carriers with doors fastened.
Sometimes moving can freak cats out so much that if they’re loose, or loose in a room and someone opens the door, they will flee at high speed and get lost. You want to avoid this at all costs. A freaked-out kitteh may stay away seveal days, which is really a problem when you’re leaving the location.
.
All I know is that he was about a year old when I scooped him up, which was just a few months ago. My vet said that the injury is commonly seen when a cat is running across the street and the tip of the tail is caught by a tire, separating the vertebrae and severing nerves. After the surgery the vet said tail amputations usually bleed a lot but Maste‘s didn’t, possibly indicating that the injury occurred quite some time before I found him. One thing for sure is any improvement will be noticeable. Thanks for the info.
Hey, I’m old, not dead. *g*
Okay, a moving story: When my ex and I split, I moved out, taking 2 cats, and leaving 4. Two of the 4 were yard-born ferals who had never tried to get out once since moving inside. (they were fond of the waterbed, too)
A couple days after I left, both (littermates) suddenly slipped out the door, and stayed out and hidden for about 5 days. It took some wiles, leaving food out, and watching for the motion lights to trigger, for my ex to lure one back. I got the other in; came over to search for him, and found him hiding in the dark beside the house.
Some coaxing, food, gentle calling, and leaving back door open finally brought him in.
A very bad time was had by all. Neither boy ever tried to leave again.
One has since died, and I have the other (I think he behaved badly for ex in order to get sent to me, heh). He spent a couple of weeks under the bed, before venturing out bit by bit. For a very long time he NEVER went into the kitchen–at the far end of the house. But he had to cope with new cats in place as well as a new house. It took awhile, but the younger cats seem fond of him – all wash his head regularly, curl up against him, etc., and he at least tolerates them. Seems content here now.
Thanks for the addition.
Duh – took me a second to figure out what I said….
Head washing is a great indicator of how well they’re tolerating everybody. Skoshi is a head washer. She loves every tiger she comes across.
I had to look up the date I put Maste’s pic on the machine. It was early May that I scooped him up.
It sounds like you may have moved even more often than I have – although most of my moves were pre-kittehs. So far, I have not had to move long-distance with them, coping with driving, opening doors in strange places and risking their getting out. That would be a nightmare. Think I’d have them all on leashes, ends in hand before opening door, etc., etc.
Oh, wait, I did help a friend bring a new kitty back from Colorado to Oklahoma one Thanksgiving. The friend of hers we visited was about to move and needed a home for her cat; so my friend, (the 1st real cat person I knew, who also taught me that 4 cats need not mean the house must smell like cat) agreed to take her.
The drive was about 8 or 10 hrs. We put a litter box in the back, and started out with Chewbacca (it was the early 80′s) on my lap for comfort. Hah.
Suffice to say, we hadn’t made it out of Colo. Springs before having to pull over so I could get another pair of jeans out of my suitcase and change in a parking lot.
We let little Chewy ride alone in the back the rest of the way home.
Can you post his pic? I don’t remember a tailless one in the pictures you posted before.
Um, some technical probs here – Having to hold a cat’s paw (literally) and type w/ one hand. She’s washing herself on my lap, sticking back leg out and over keyboard. Laptop has been pushed to right, onto sofa, human now twisted to type to one side, so as to allow cat access to lap, but not keyboard. (Sigh). What we cat staff put up with for the honor of sharing our homes with furry people.
This human may have to give up trying to use the ‘puter for a little while. Later, all.
Now that’s an area I’ve been quite lucky. Both my previous companion (who moved with me from MA to upstate NY to CT to AL back to NY to CT to IL) and my current (who moved with me from upstate NY to CO to FL to TX back to FL) have been good travelers.
LS (the previous) would fight when picked up and put in carrier and then cry until we got to highway. I’d open the top, she’d climb up, peer around, then curl up and sleep (although it was sometimes a challenge to corral here in the motel room the next morning).
Dan’l, the current companion, rode openly in the cab of the rental truck from CO to FL and FL to TX. The trips from NY to CO and TX back to FL it was just the two of us, so he stayed in the carrier. He even tolerates wearing a harness and lets himself walk me with the leash.
No getting sick o needing any drugs or anything. And yes, I do know how lucky I am.
LOL
I once cancelled a game download and put “cat pushed wrong button on laptop” when they asked why. It just happened to be true.
Thanks, all, for the cat stories.
My Buster Kitten has a new trick lately (that’s his name, not age, btw). He’s now decided to make a dash for my lap before I can reach for the laptop computer. So nice to be loved. This is in addition to his other routine, which is to get behind me on the sofa back, and then ooze down into my lap between me and the ‘puter, slowly stretching down oooone paw at a time…slooowly.
Dunno what I’d do without him.
FunnyWheelieDiva
Whew. That’s a lot of movin’!
I did have one cat – my very first, who actually began as my then-boyfriend’s rescue. She was about 8 weeks old when found, and got used to travelling back and forth between his apt and mine, as he would leave her with me to go out of town. Didn’t have a carrier then, so she rode on the front seat; never tried to climb under the gas pedal or anything.
I’d be stopped at a light, and she would prop herself up against teh passenger window, front paws on the glass, causing hilarious double-takes among the cars stopped alongside us. Don’t often see a cat looking out the window of a car.
LOL – I’m familiar with that sort of performance, too.
Anc charlie, my formerly feral old boy, has developed a glare for me when I bring out the laptop.
I’m having to wait a bit before I get it out on coming home (from anywhere), to allow some Focus-on-Charlie-time. Then I can spend time on the computer without offending him.
Ufff. REally have to give this up until later. But y’all’s stories are so funnny!
I’d be stopped at a light, and she would prop herself up against teh passenger window, front paws on the glass, causing hilarious double-takes among the cars stopped alongside us. Don’t often see a cat looking out the window of a car.
curmudgeon cat does this too, except that he usually does so for the entire ride, not just at stoplights. gets lots of double takes, just like yours.
one of our family cats back when i was a kid rode monorail-cat-style on the back of the front seat just behind the driver’s head, looking out the driver’s side window.
Pix of Maste? Shurrrrrre… *g*
Maste
Maste
Maste
Maste
Maste
Looking at those pix he’s put on weight, his fur is fuller and brighter. Much healthier tiger now. The pix were taken a few days after I brought him home. I’ve gotta get a camera.
I borrowed Jody’s the other day during lunch but the card was corrupted and the lens wasn’t fully extending. Three people use it all the time and it takes a beating.
Awwwww, poor little guy. When you say his tail was amputated, you really meant all the way, didn’t you? No wonder his balance is poor.
Hey, re camera == I grabbed one on sale at Target for $20 — but didn’t have the right batteries for it, so don’t know if it’ll take decent pix. Then, of course, I have to learn how to get a flickr or picas a acct and upload === then, just wait.. *g*
Once I figure out how to scan the old non0-digital pix of my passed-on beauties, I’ll assault y’all with loads of them, too. Every single one of my puddy tats has been all out gore-gee-us.
Yeah, when I first saw him his tail, which was bushy and a gorgeous colour pattern was just hanging limp. I never saw any life in his tail. I fed him for about a month before I thought I saw him trying to pee numerous times one morning. I thought perhaps he had some sort of urinary problem. Came home for lunch, called the vet to tell ‘em what I had, took the carrier back to work, snapped him up. He peed a bucketfull in the carrier. Dr said, Boy, I can tell that’s a male, alright. It was strong. Fun in the truck in May in FL. *g*
what a cutie pie!
Gorgeous guy. He looks like the kind of cat who keeps secrets…like how he’s smarter than a hooman.
Heh. Had to call tech support when Abner sauntered across my keyboard one time and changed the print size to large. The guy asked how I did it, and was ready to tell me to just undo what I had done. Meekly explained that the cat did it. There’s probably a note in my file at the tech company noting that I am a “crazy cat lady”.
or smart enough to find a good, big-hearted hooman like SD to maintain him in an appropriate lifestyle!
And when they’re cared for and loved, and know it, aren’t ‘most all kittehs gore-gee-us?
FWDiva
new meaning to “kitten on the keys”, eh?
FWDiva
Angela very much likes helping me move the mouse…inher biology,I guess.
Mine are totally uninterested in anything compooter. Nagi will walk on the keyboard to lay down in front of the screen. That can do weird things on one of these keyboards that makes it do everything but sing.
This was Missy’s room. Her choice. She didn’t like anybody so they all stayed out. Plus she made her journey to the Bridge in here. She’s been gone 2 years and only the new tigers spend any time in here.
My youngest works very hard now avoiding stepping on the keyboard – but seems to like it as a pillow, and types numbers that way *s*
He is one of the many cats tho, that love mozilla help.
Abner must have been playing cat Twister to push all the buttens he got.
So I guess Angela is a nerd. She will sit in my lap, do the mouse (usually her hand on top of mine), and make attempts at the keyboard. She has done alittle typing, but I am pretty fast to interfere….of course, she often gets her way.
I’ll have to tell you more, but yesterday she had her first housecall Vet visit. She’s doing well here and managing her wt; nails clipped a big advantage. My clipping is not nearly so good!!
My news- I went to my first “cat show”. I did it because it was a 20 min drive. It turned out to be much better than I expected- the cats were not stressed, as I had imagined… etc. Cat shows I think are for breeders, but I just wanted to get a look at what a cat show was.
Naturally, there were all kinds of vendors with enticing kitty stuff.
I was seduced (with my consent) into buying a new-fangled type of cloth cat carrier. The site is here: http://www.cat-in-the-bag.com/
tho I have to say it didn’t open very promptly, and apparently I need some kind of fancy plug-ins to view the whole site.
So, this is a kinda cat carrier with a hole at the top- that’s where the cat’s head goes, and size of hole adjusted by pleating up fabric and securing with velco (provided). The “cat bag” has hole at top, and at the bottom of the “bag” a zipper. You open the zipper to open the bag, get the cat to step in and poke head out hole at front, adjust size with velcro, then zip up bag. Cat in bag, head free, rest constrained.
That’s the theory, anyway. So, I tried this bag thingie on Tootsie. Yeah, I got the front hole opening over her head, and her into the “bag”. And, I tried to adjust the velcro thingie. Problem was, Tootsie had head and front paw already out the hole. And, then, with not too much trouble, she got her whole self out through the hole. I measured- hole is 4 1/2″ diameter. So now I know that my Tootsie cat can easily get through a hole of this size. She’s 8# and I had thought at least 10″ in diameter. Wrong.
I have a cloth cat-in-the-bag carrier free for first who asks. *g*
SD- re:
Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. Jeff Valdez
I got a cartoon for uz that shows this purrfectly:
http://teh-kitteh-antidote-anecdote.pictures-of-cats.org/2008/03/all-things-considered.html
poor Zippy…………Baz is progressing fingers crossed
none of my 5 would go for that methinks………..g
Yeah, well I was really doubtful, but I got seduced. The man and his wife who designed the “cat in a bag” carrier really were really great, and apparently this “concept” as developed has worked for many owners and kitties.
I mean, they didn’t seduce me, or pressure me. I just thought it was a great idea, and, like, maybe it would work for Tootsie. Like, obviously it didn’t. *g*.
Okay, carrier is still available free to a good home. *g*
LOL LOL
I’ve seen ads for those things and my only thought was, “Yeah, right.” *g*
Too funny. Sorry you had to go through that but nothing like an actual user review.
That’s a keeper!! Thanks. Image in a viewer is larger, too. Far out.
We’re talking about tigers who don’t have a problem doing things like cat shows. They get brushed, fed primo chow, what’s not to like? Well behaved, they do that carrier with the greatest of ease. *g* Any one of my tigers would rip my face off if I tried to put ‘em in that. *g*
Past my bedtime. Catch y’all on the flip side. It is nice that Caturday stays open until sometime Tuesday. It’s always fun to come back. Thanks.
Be good to yourselves, and all other living things.
Namaste
Whoa, I missed that. Who’s Zippy? Girl, you’re just a wealth of information this evening. I’m happy for Baz and I know he’s in good hands.
Ms Doralee has done it twice (in IE and FF)
s’okay, I paid her back by playing youtubes of yowling kittehs (the talking cats one drive her cwazy :D)
It was so embarassing to call tech support and confess that the cat sabotaged my computer…but I may have mistaken the tech’s sniggering at another cat call for derision aimed at stupid crazy cat lady. Sounds like the kittehs like to tap dance accross the keys.
probably not news to this group – but I didn’t know there was a humane alternative to de-clawing: Soft Claws
I have never and would never consider de clawing, but now I have an easy and inexpensive alternative to suggest next time I hear someone say they are considering it
i’m rabidly opposed to declawing so i’m all for alternatives, but i have to tell you, gluing those soft claws on an unwilling tiger is a challenge.
this weekend i got to meet the a addition to the neighborhood, her name is jester and she’s the cutest little tortie born the first week in oct and now lives with an loving and a bit hyper golden retriever (and of course the golden’s family).
thanks for all the tiger news! guess i better get up now, but that will mean making kismet move. *g*
Oh, I’m glad I came back – that Mozilla help thing was hee-larious. Plus the comments. No question, the kittehs in general love keyboards.
I myself am missing a key on my laptop – within the 1st week after I got it, my biggest guy jumped on the keyboard – and took they key cover with him. It works still, but I couldn’t get the key back on.
I keep alert now to grab them before they step on it. But it can be hard to keep whoever’s on my lap from laying a head or paw on a corner…then slipping over onto a key, or the touchpad, etc.
Valley Girl – having read the FAQ on your new cat carrier, I wonder if you should give it another try. The directions say to fasten velcro around cat’s neck as soon as you slip it over his head, before it can get a paw out. Of course, the cat may still be faster than you are, but you might try it, since you already have it.
Instructions say zip after head is secrued with velcro.
I’m tempted, probably not for vet trips, but for claw clipping and meds giving. Giving meds by myself is tought – even when I was with my ex and we did it together, it was tough. Kittehs, mild and docile, suddenly become wild maniacs with the strenght of ten (humans!)