A “Clowder” of Purrr-sonalities

Posted on January 14, 2014January 14, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Definition: Clowder : a group of cats

I’ve been around cats all my life. I haven’t always understood how to be gentle and kind. There are many family stories of me dressing the family cat in baby clothes and pushing her in a baby carriage.. or the best/ worse story is when I was holding the cat while she desperately tried to escape me, the toddling baby terror. As the cat scratched me mercilessly I hung on and screamed for my mother to “help me”!

(Selfish little brat wasn’t I?) My mother’s response was to tell me to put the cat down and she wouldn’t scratch me. But I was stubborn and refused, crying all the time. I don’t remember this , of course, but it’s one of those standard holiday stories that always gets pulled out when the clan gets together to reminisce.

Over the years I always seemed to have a cat, usually just one. I never thought about cats being social animals. I always thought they were quite independent. As my life evolved and my knowledge and empathy matured I decided that maybe cats left alone all day should have a companion.

I worked long hours and didn’t pay a lot of attention to my pets. I fed them and kept the kitty litter clean but playtime was short. My favorite times were the end of the night when we had “cuddle time”.

I’d had a series of solo kitties over the years but when I first thought about adding an extra cat it really wasn’t my choice.

At the time I had a Persian named “Little Joe”. Little Joe had “issues”. He was the original “grumpy cat”.

Introducing him to other cats was futile. He wanted nothing to do with a companion. As he was getting older I rescued a tiny kitten from an abusive neighbor kid.

My plan was to take the kitten to the vet, get a clean bill of health and then surrender it to a shelter. Things didn’t quite turn out that way. To my surprise my grumpy, old Persian liked the kitten and the kitten liked Little Joe. So began my experiences with a multi cat household. That kitten was Rocky.

As grumpy as Little Joe was, Rocky was irrepressible. He was so full of life and joie de vivre he literally bounced off walls.

At the time Rocky joined the household he only weighed in at 1.2 lbs. Little Joe, on the other hand was a whopping 12 lbs. A real David and Goliath match up.

When Little Joe had had enough of Rocky’s antics he’d try to carry Rocky around like a mother cat, by his ruff, except he seemed to always miss the ruff and get Rocky’s whole head in his mouth. I’d hear muffled mews and go check and there was Little Joe dragging poor Rocky along the floor with the head completely in his mouth.

It never deterred Rocky. He’s be right back after Little Joe or racing around the apartment.

Photo of the Week~ Week 2

Posted on January 13, 2014January 13, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Well folks, I made it through another week! Yes I managed to take a picture everyday this week and now I will try to do it all again.

I was surprised again. Tallying up the likes, shares, and hits; the photo with the most points is Buddy 2014.

The runner up was not the one I expected. It was Foggy Woods.

I wonder if being the first picture posted for the week had anything to do with that?

Life with Cats

Posted on January 3, 2014January 3, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Always interesting.

You never know what you will find

or where you will find it.

Climb a tree

Hide in a plant

You will be endlessly entertained!

The Cat’s Meow, A review

Posted on December 30, 2013December 30, 2013 by Dusty Roads

We did get to try out the Cat’s Meow on Christmas. CVS was open so I did make a battery run.

It’s easy to put together so it was ready to go in no time. I set it on the floor and pushed the button on the center post. The ball started moving under the nylon cover making a scratchy-squeaky sound.

It caught Rocky’s attention first. He circled it with caution then backed up and watched. About that time Buddy arrived from the bedroom to see what all the noise was about. He was a bit more bold than Rocky. He tried to tap the center post with his paw and then settled down with his nose to the edge of the nylon but so far neither kitty tried to catch the moving ball.

About 5 minutes into the staring match it was as if Smokey couldn’t take it any more. He hopped down off the couch, walked over to the nylon circle and sat on the moving ball effectively trapping it under his butt. Game Over!

I could hear the motor straining to move so rather than take a chance on burning it out I stepped in and moved Smokey off the nylon freeing the ball to move again. The minute I set Smokey down he was back after that ball again. This time he got it between his front paws and once more, wouldn’t release it. I guess he forgot that cats play with their prey.

Once more I intervened and had him release the ball. I guess 2 tries was enough for him. He headed back to the couch. Rocky had watched the whole thing and now decided to get into the act too. He and Buddy lined up on opposite sides and each batted and played for a few more minutes.

I got up to get the camera and that seemed to break the mood. Rocky left for his sun lamp.

Only Buddy was still interested. He just watched for quite awhile. I was about ready to turn it off and save the battery when I saw the tell-tale butt wiggle and Buddy attacked.

I guess all that concentration worked up an appetite. Buddy played alone a bit longer then headed to the food bowls. I turned the Cat’s Meow off for now. If they show some more interest, I’ll turn it back on but they have all gone their separate ways for now.

My cat testers give it 2 Paws up (Smokey & Buddy) and one Paw down (Rocky) or as they say on the show “Does it Work?”. Yes it does but the amount of interest varies from cat to cat.

All is Calm

Posted on December 29, 2013December 29, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Christmas is behind us for another year. Calm has returned to the condo. I don’t even have children and it can get hectic as kitties tear into catnip mousies and wrapping paper.

But not this year!?

Christmas morning around my house was pretty quiet. My cats and I all slept in. Yup, one of their gifts to me I guess. It was 9:30 am before I woke up and not a creature was stirring unless it was a mouse. The 3 cats were still down for the count. I couldn’t believe I’d slept so late!

I really wanted to give the cats their stockings. Yes I stuff a stocking each year. They each got a cat toy, a couple cans of specialty cat food like Fancy Feast or Blue Buffalo, some cat nip and cat treats but no one was interested.

I opened the Cat’s Meow toy only to find the dreaded words “Batteries Not Included”. Now why couldn’t they have printed that on the side of the box somewhere? I even checked last week! Maybe the CVS store is open on Christmas? I know Walmart is closed.

I tossed out a toy mouse but only got “The Look” then the 3 cats pealed off to go find more naps. Hmmm. No interest in boxes, or wrapping or toys. That’s quite the switch for my silly boys.

Midway through the Disney Christmas parade Rocky threw up breakfast. The other 2 cats ignored the interruption. Rocky isn’t the cat that usually throws up. Both Smokey and Buddy are more prone to tummy issues. Smokey gets hair balls and Buddy eats too fast sometimes. He tends to “projectile vomit”. Both send out a volume of sick up that is amazing for their size ( and pretty yucky for me) but Rocky not so much, so I wondered what he might have gotten into.

I didn’t find any plastic or chewed up tape so maybe he just didn’t feel good. A couple hours later after another nap he seemed back to normal.

I got a book from the cats. Shadow Woman by Linda Howard and settled in for a day of reading. I have 2 problems when I read. 1. I read too fast and the book is done too soon and 2. Once I get “into” a book it’s hard to put it down.. The two problems mean that the book was finished by early evening. Bummer. Over too soon.