Category Archives: animals
Spoiled Rotten Kitties Live Here
You think children are bad at Christmas? They are in the stores and they want, want want. They get excited and over tired and pout. I don’t care what the song says about not pouting or crying it happens. They are just overstimulated.
Well my 3 cats would put any child to shame. Hard to believe it when they look so innocent.
You heard about Rocky’s attack on the Christmas tree
and Buddy’s destruction of my winter wonderland but wait till I tell you the rest of the story.
I have been thinking about getting one of those toys they advertise on the late night infomercials called Cat’s Meow.
Its supposed to entertain all cats. I was hesitating because they already have a similar toy and they have no interest in it. But I was wandering through the “As Seen on TV” section at CVS and low and behold…there was the Cat’s Meow and they were 2 for $19.00. Same price as TV but no shipping this way. So in a moment of weakness I bought them.
Cat’s can’t read so I brought them in the house and set them on the table. I figured I’d open them up on Christmas. What I want to know is how do those 3 cats know that it was something for them in the boxes? They zeroed in on them immediately. It didn’t take long before the plop, plop of the boxes landing on the floor came to my ears. Sure enough, the boxes weren’t just on the floor, one was being pushed around while the other one had a cat perched on top of it. (I didn’t give in. They still have to wait.)
Rocky has had a heat lamp for about a year now. He is the only one of the 3 cats that ever paid much attention to it. He lounges the day away basking like a sun lover at the beach. There’s a story behind the heat lamp but I won’t bore you with it now. Suffice it to say that I got the result I was looking for so it was a good investment.
The problem now is that Smokey has started trying it out. The first time, about a month ago , was only for a couple of minutes and then he moved on. But about a week later he was under it again and Rocky wasn’t happy about it. Now as soon as Rocky gets down, whether to get a drink of water, or something to eat or use the litter box, Smokey is right there to take over and he isn’t giving it up when Rocky comes back. This is causing Rocky to become very distressed but he shares his annoyance with me instead of Smokey. Rocky follows me around meowing and getting underfoot until Smokey gets down and relinquishes the sunlamp lit perch. Tonight the only way Smokey got down was for a handful of kitty treats.
Does this mean I need to get another sunlamp now for Smokey? And what a coincidence that he’s doing this right before Christmas. (I want, I want, I want)
Who says cats aren’t smart?!
Reindeer Games
Race you!
I’ll count , you go hide.
Kitty Destruction Continues
Snow, Snow, Snow! We’re heading into the home stretch for the shopping rush. Yup. Only one more weekend to get out and spend, spend , spend and that snow storm the Northeast just had surely put a damper on things.
Down in southeastern Mass. we missed the bullet. Temps climbed overnight and the snow turned to rain. By Sunday morning it was mostly slush but now it’s going to freeze… ice skates anyone?
As I was poking through my boxes of Christmas (yes I said the terrible word, not the PC Holiday) ornaments I thought it was a shame not to use some more. For years I just had my little table top tree (when the cats would allow it) but now I have all these other ornaments from the years we decorated at the office.
So I thought why not set up the side board. I packed up all my everyday things and spread the fake snow blanket. Oh I had everything from Santa on a boat to snowmen to Christmas Trees. No rhyme or reason to it, just using “stuff”. When it was done it wasn’t too bad. Maybe next year I’ll organize a village. But the best part… the cats were paying no attention! No helping paws!
For about a week the only thing I had to protect was the tree and we all know now how that went.
I’m not quite sure when the Kitty tornado blew through my tranquil holiday collage. I didn’t turn the lights on every night but I did look at it fairly regularly. But today I noticed it looked like a major storm blew in. Trees down, Santa knocked over, even the snowmen and Christmas mouse were flattened.
I just finished setting things back up and heard a “Bump”. I think I know the culprit now.
Rocky you’re off the hook on this one. Looks like Buddy gets to take the blame.
Rocky the Flying Cat
From 1959 – 1964 the airwaves were filled with the Adventures of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and his side kick Bullwinkle the Moose. Their adventures included matching wits with the villains, Natasha and Boris, archenemies of the “Moose and Squirrel”.
I loved that show and wish I could say that Rocky the Squirrel was the inspiration for my cat’s name but it wouldn’t be true. He was actually named after the boxer in the “Rocky” movies. In the movies no matter how battered and beaten Rocky ended up, he never gave up, shook it off and came back to win the boxing match. Well, when I rescued my Rocky he was a tiny kitten and a young boy was abusing him. When I came racing to the rescue the kid tossed the kitten into a shopping cart and ran. That little bit of orange fluff was so tiny he fell through the wire floor of the cart to the ground. As I approached, the kitten stood up, shook himself and headed for me with his wobbly little kitten walk.
When I took him to the vet they said I had to name him or they wouldn’t treat him. Rocky was the only name that came to mind. From that first day he embraced the name, even coming when I call “Rocky”.
Now 12 years later Rocky the Cat continues to be unique compared to any other cat I have ever shared a home with, and there have been many. He likes affection but barely slows down long enough to get any. He will cuddle but not in your lap…that’s another story for another time.
Today is a classic Christmas Disaster Story.
I’ve been working from home now since July. When I do go out ( for meetings, photo shoots, shopping, life) the cats, Rocky, Smokey and Buddy all get very hyper when I return. It’s usually pretty funny to watch them all racing around. What a happy welcome!
This time it wasn’t so funny. My little 48 inch table top Christmas Tree was all set up in the living room. Rocky had shown some interest but that had begun to slow down as he got used to it. The other two cats paid it no attention at all.
I was at a meeting in Dedham from 11am- returning home around 3pm and the cats were doing their run around crazy greeting. Buddy ran past the tree at ground level with Rocky in hot pursuit except Rocky decided to try for the “High Road”. He launched himself in a great leap that brought him down right in the middle of the tree. A little to the left and he would have flattened Buddy . Instead down crashed the tree to the floor where it landed on top of the shocked kitty. Still tangled in the string of lights, Rocky took off like a shot , dragging the tree across the living room floor, ornaments scattering everywhere. Then Rocky broke free and made a bee line to the bedroom.
RIP Christmas Tree 🙁
I didn’t take pictures of the carnage. My first reaction was to unplug the tree to avoid a fire or electrocuting the cat. My 2nd reaction was to check Rocky for broken bones or cuts and scrapes. He seemed to be unscathed.
Then I returned to the living room to pick up the mess. The silence was strange. No curious cats poked in the wreckage or teasing for treats. No one was running around anymore. It was almost like they had all put themselves in “time out”.
Epilogue
The tree is back together. It’s artificial. Only one light bulb was broken. The ornaments are plastic or Styrofoam so no damage there. It lights up and I’ve re-trimmed it. Rocky the Flying Cat has checked it out…from a distance. The other 2 cats ignore it. Maybe I’ll get Rocky a cape to wear for Christmas.
