Cat Lick

Eww!

Guess The Toes Thursday

Is a cat sleeping under there?

Someone's got their feets sticking out!

Mystery toes...?

Farewell, William of Mass Destruction

With heavy heart, I report that William of Mass Destruction is leaving us. Please visit his blog and say kind words to his mom.

William

William's blog was the first one that I discovered, and was my inspiration. William's mom and I corresponded a little bit, and she was very generous when I began blogging.  Plus the fact that William and Chuck are exact duplicates.

Farewell, my sweet William!  May St. Francis hold you in his arms as you move to your new world.  I will miss you terribly.

What the Woolie?

Three woolies, with Chuck the culprit
sitting in the background

One woolie, found in the morning

Multiple woolies that didn't make
it through the cat flap!

The Hubby now refers to my oversized thick socks as "Woolies", and recently Chucky has been having a field day moving them around the house.  In the last photo, Chuck would not come back through the cat flap, because the woolies were bunched up in front!  Sometimes, Chuck uses silent stealth, and the woolie just appears.  Other times, he meows loudly, with his mouth full of sock, and we know what's coming!  The Hubby will not pick up the dropped woolies; he leaves them in situ for me to discover when home again.  And every day, I gather my socks from whence Chuck has left them, and place them back in the bedroom...in effect, resetting the game! We actually use this woolie game to monitor Chuck's health, because when he's feeling poorly, he leaves the socks alone.

The Office Collection Grows...

$4.77 at resale shop!

The cat collection grows...

Someone...stop me!

Boyfriend v. Husband?

Saturday and Sunday were so pretty here in Michigan, with warm temperatures and lots of sunshine.  The Hubby and I were outside at 9 am, raking and picking up the yard.  Then, The Hubby went inside to watch NBA playoffs, while I washed and refilled the litter boxes using a bucket and hose.

And no matter what I was doing, Patty O'Malley was at my side.  He followed me from the front yard to the back, sat under the car while I raked out the gardens, rolled on his back when I stopped for a break and a drink of water.  Let's face it, folks...Patty is my boyfriend!  As I sat on the front porch later in the afternoon, and Patty lay in the driveway, waiting for me to come back around to be with him.  He gave plaintive little mews, calling me to him.  The Hubby heard and saw, and there is nothing he can do about this. Yep, Patty and I have a thing going!

P.S. When I first trapped the tabby cat that showed up in our yard in the Winter of 2012, is was a unusually warm day in March.  At All About Animals Rescue that morning, I wrote the cat's name on the paperwork as "Patrick O'Malley".  Some folks think I should really be calling him 'Paddy' and not 'Patty'...but he's a Patrick, not a 'Padraig', like some Irish folks.  Yes, yes...I know that "Patty" seems a bit girly, but it's been years now and it's what he responds to!  

Puff Kitty

I met the sweetest kitty while on my evening walk.  His tag says, Puff Kitty, and he was right at home in front of this pretty white house.  The next day, I walked by again, and Puff sat on the porch.  As I spoke soft words to him, the lady of the house came out, and said, "Puff is not my cat!"  I was amazed, since he was so at home.  She and I started to chat, and I was informed that Puff lives one street over, but spends a great deal of time away from home.  I am glad the neighbors keep an eye out for him.

The lady and I talked about other neighborhood cats, and she thinks she knows our Sweetie!  Said she called her MamaMama, then she's been gone for awhile.  I said that she showed up in my yard in 2009, heavily pregnant...her last litter, since I had TNR'd her a few months later. This woman and I are on the same wavelength; trap-neuter-return, and do everything one can for the kitties!  Nice to find a compatriot, and living on the same street.  And I probably would not have met her, if Puff Kitty hadn't introduced himself.  Good kitty!

Farewell, Spooky

Please visit 15 and Meowing and console Spooky's family.  His departure for the Rainbow Bridge was too soon, and not so long ago Lucy left us too, so the human's are very sad today.

Unplugged

Patty O'Malley on top of the feeding station

Sweetie napping on the deck, photo taken
through the back door

I unplugged The Cat Hotel warming pad yesterday.  The daytime temps are well up into the 70's for a few days, and the overnight lows are warm enough that I can say Winter is officially over.  In a month or so, I'll remove the old straw from both The Cat Hotel and Mama's House, and add new.  The guides say to change the straw once a year...I do it twice; guess my OCD is showing!  After finding mold in The Cat Hotel once, due to water leakage, I want to make sure Patty and Sweetie have the optimal sleeping arrangements. Which means I have to mess with their shelters!  Fortunately, both cats are used to it.  At first, they ran off when I opened their shelter, and I worried that they would not return.  They did, after a few hours.  Nowadays, they both sit and watch me, safe in the knowledge that I will return to them the freshest, neatest sleeping quarters in town!

Uh oh...

A trunkful of kitty litter!

Uh oh...this can only mean one thing...it's Litter Box Clean-Up Weekend!

Run for the hills, Angel and Chuck!  Mama's gonna be dumping, and scrubbing, and sweeping, and worrying you...until everything is neat as a pin and sparkling clean again!  

(Plans were to do this project last weekend, but Mother Nature SNOWED on us instead!  I wash the litter boxes while outside; they are too big to handle in our smallish utility area.  AND...I had a coupon...score!)

Chuck The Nut

Chucky, in a moment of repose

A game piece, aka my woolly sock, found in the downstairs hallway

Chucky woke us up early this morning; he was meowing and running around.  He nipped at The Hubby's arm, and I got up to use the bathroom. Chuck jumped into my pajama bottoms as I sat on the pot!  He's never done that before!

He's been stealing my socks, and leaving them all over the house.  I've now placed four of my big, woolly socks for him to relocate each day; it's quite the game!  The Hubby witnesses the play; all I do is count my missing 'game pieces' when I get home, then retrieve them to reset the playing field.

Perhaps the new herbs and vitamins from Dr. Sheppard are helping out, or the warmish spring weather is making Chuck feel like a kitten again, but he's definitely acting like a nut.  We are delighted!

The Great Coconut Oil Goop Event Update

I posted recently here, that Patty O'Malley's back was itchy and covered in sores.  I applied coconut oil to his skin as often as I could in the following days, and I think he's better.  There is a small patch that still needs attention, but the rest is scab-free.  I am pleased!

Patty O'Malley, with less goop

Sweetie wanted to get in on yesterday's photo session, but she isn't an easy subject:

"Hey, what's this?  "sniff sniff"

And then, the neighbor's cat Aries showed up, trying to steal some of Patty and Sweetie's dinner:

"Don't come any closer, Patty!"

From Sunday to Monday, the weather changed drastically.  From snow, ice and rain, to warm and sunny!

Periwinkles, after the snow melted

Patty decided to show his love by curling up to me on the deck, but he snagged my knit cap...and pulled it off!  That Patty...

Lovin'...then...

de-capped...

Snow Tracks

We had snow today, and now it's pouring rain.  This afternoon, I expected to see lots of kitty paw prints in the snow, because Patty O'Malley never saw a snowstorm that he didn't like.

Instead of his prints, I found these:

Some little birdy mades tracks all over our front porch!  Wished I'd witnessed it happening in person, but it's kinda nifty that we found the evidence in the snow.

Patty and Sweetie came out for a early dinner, in the span of time between snow and rain, and that's when I snapped a few shots of the bank of periwinkles covered in snow, and some daffodils too.

The periwinkles come up on their own; I did not plant them, and they spread farther into the yard every year.  I like the natural feel of their presence.  The small daffodils were a gift from my family, planted after I helped Sammy over the Rainbow Bridge a couple of years ago.

KatCabin Win!

I won!  Cat Chat with Caren and Cody hosted a giveaway for a KatKabin, and I was the lucky winner!  I set it up in a most advantageous place for Angel and Chuck to snoop it out; on top of the pool table that serves as CatTV perch.  The flap is taped open, as an invitation to 'step in!'  The KatKabin comes with a covered pad too.  I have wanted to get one of these ever since I discovered them online, and I am totally jazzed that we now have one.

Angel and Chuck have given it lukewarm attention, but...here's the best part; I've got a second cat family outside who may jump at the chance for a new abode!  And that's the really cool aspect of the KatKabin; it's indoor/outdoor!  I will fill it with straw, if it goes outside.

Thanks again, Caren...I love it!  We will move it around the house this weekend, and use catnip or treat bribery, to see if we get stir up more cat interest in snoozing inside.

Two for One!

Both Angel and Chuck were rudely scooped from their noon naps, for a trip to Dr. Sheppard at Sheppard Alternative Animal Care on Saturday.  I managed to pull Angel out of her crate, but she hid in the bookshelves.  In the end, we had to unbuckle Chuck's crate into two halves, for his examination!  This was Angel's third visit; Chuck's first.  Angel is doing well, yet we've got some vitamin and herb work to do with her.  The doc got Chuck's full vet file, including his asymmetric cardiopathy, kidney issues and digestive problems too.  We have five bottles of remedy pills for Chuck now, because in spite of everything, Dr. Sheppard noticed that Chuck's liver needs some real help.  Heavy metals may be good to listen to, but not in a kitty's liver!  The idea is to crush up the vitamin pills, and mix them in to each meal.  Angel and Chuck share three vitamins, so that part is easy. The extra amounts will be sprinkled on their respective bowls.  In Chuck's case, we may simply add the pills to his twice-a-day routine.

However, Chucky hasn't taken to his new stuff well, with another accident late last night.  Today's blog post at The Whiskeratti conveys just how hard it is to know if we are doing to right things for our kitties.  We certainly don't want to make our feline's lives more difficult, and yet there is a need to keep a certain quality of life for the household.  Quite the balancing act, and The Hubby, unfortunately, bears the brunt of much of this because he's home more than I am.  Both Angel and Chuck tend to run to him when they are nervous or worried (or, having digestive issues).  And what can I do from 45 minutes away?

This morning...

Chucky in his cup beddy

 

Angel, soaking up some sunshine

...how I left Chuck and Angel as I headed off to work.

Don't let the sunshine fool you; it was only 19 degrees F!

The ice on the 'O' Cats water bucket was an inch thick!

Daisy and Lily

Pretty girl Daisy

Lily with beautiful eyes

Spent time on Sunday with Paws For The Cause Feral Cat Rescue at their adoption event.  Daisy and Lily are two-year-old sisters, whose human lost her apartment.  Lucky for them, the lady called the rescue, and the cats are being fostered until a real furrever home can be found!  Lily is all white, with all of her eyesight and hearing (many white cats are deaf), and she is very friendly and relaxed.  Daisy is not a typical tortoiseshell kitty; she is loving and sedate!  If you've ever heard the word 'toritude', that's because tortoiseshell and calico (three-colored) kitties often have big personalities, and want to dominate the world!  Lily and Daisy are just as sweet as can be.

https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/34806189

https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/34806166