Kevin's Watch

I'm giving it about a 50/50 chance. The vet tech tied the cone to a gauze collar that's too snug to slip off, but it's tied with a simple little bow, and if she manages to snag the end with a claw she might be able to untie it.



Day 12: Still can't lick any of the things that are in desperate need of a good licking.

I had planned on secretly adopting the cat who hangs about our front lawn. but Julie has said I may not leave food out for him.

"I can't feel my hand..."

"Yeah? I had my face stuck in a cone for two freaking weeks!"

Needless to say, she won the argument.

My cats are not lap cats.

--A

All of mine are, some more than others. But it's laundry day, and there's nothing like a fresh pile of warm towels...

This is Harley.



Harley is not my cat. She belongs to people in the next-door building, which backs onto mine.

She however disputes this, and since my door is usually open for the cats which are mine, she seems to spend a majority of her time here, usually attacking my feet.

This is not helped by the GF, who happily feeds and plays with her, since she is obviously adorable.

Next to her, you can see Harley's pompom. It's obviously her favourite toy, and she regularly carries it between her actual home and mine, purely so that she can play with it in my lounge.

Then she carries it back again. Sometimes she leaves it here, then pops in later just to pick it up and take it home again.

I've often woken at 4am to find her happily sleeping on my bed with us.

Harley and my She hate each other. Harley actively chases She away when She tries to come in, attacks her, etc.

For one thing, I can't believe that She runs from this little thing, who's not quite a year old. If you'd asked, I'd have said She would rip her to pieces.

For another, She, already scarce since she doesn't get on with my Ginger that well, is now even scarcer, which I don't like, but don't appear able to do anything about. (Pretty sure She has another family as well though.)

This is Penny.



Penny is Harley's sister. She's a lot more skittish and people-shy. When I mentioned to her owner that Penny didn't like me, he said "Penny doesn't like anyone."

She used to just sneak in and grab some food, or roll around on the carpet, but she's warmed to us now it looks like, and will tolerate being stroked. Which also means Penny is spending more time here.

My Ginger seems mostly resigned to them, but he's also jealous and gets grumpy when Harley sleeps on the bed, or on his chair.

I'm inundated in damn cats.

--A

That description of life with cats cracked me up, Av!

As did "Yeah? I had my face stuck in a cone for two freaking weeks!"
(Guess I got a little behind on this thread!)

They're both adorable.

Avatar wrote: Harley and my She hate each other. Harley actively chases She away when She tries to come in, attacks her, etc.

For one thing, I can't believe that She runs from this little thing, who's not quite a year old. If you'd asked, I'd have said She would rip her to pieces.

I really don't know how they decide those things between each other. I can't tell you how many times I've made incorrect predictions about cat behavior. (I've even taken advanced classes on the subject. Yes, that's a thing, but it normally focuses more on cat/human interaction than cat/cat interaction.) Reminds me a bit of the early interaction between Min and my old cat Mara - Mara was the undisputed leader of the original brood, and while she wasn't a fighter, she would occasionally smack the other cats upside the head for no reason that I could ever see, but I guess it kept them in line. They were mostly related, and had all been together for 10+ years before I adopted Min. Min didn't want Mara's position, but she also refused to be intimidated, and Mara just didn't know what to do. They settled on completely ignoring one another - no tension, no drama, just pretending the other cat simply didn't exist. Cats are weird, but some humans could probably learn something from them.





And there's Floofzilla in her full winter coat.

Linna Heartlistener wrote:That description of life with cats cracked me up, Av!

It's funnier in the telling than the living.

Last night had to dispose of a dead rat, the night before, a bat. Clearly my Ginger is on a bit of a rampage. Might be payback for having forced him to stay in all of New Years, and experience neither he or I enjoyed.

-A

"Floofzilla" - that picture - ahhhh!

This thread has reached the point where I mailed my sister a link to this last page.

I also sent her the "I have a taaaail!" picture from the other thread because ahhhhh, so cute!

Avatar- I'm seein' that.
Much funnier to read about it for 2 minutes, than to experience that all day, every day.
I wouldn't do too well with neighbor cats walking in and out of my house. Especially if they liked to attack my feet...

Also, Sorus - "Mara" is one of my favorite names, partly because of a fictional character.
How didja end up naming her Mara? (if you named her.)

Linna Heartlistener wrote:
Avatar- I'm seein' that.
Much funnier to read about it for 2 minutes, than to experience that all day, every day.
I wouldn't do too well with neighbor cats walking in and out of my house. Especially if they liked to attack my feet...

I tend to have a lot of patience for cats, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about that one. My cats don't go out, and in this neighborhood I'd be more likely to have raccoons and skunks invite themselves in. Back at my old place one day, I heard a voice saying "ME-OW" right outside my back door. It didn't sound like a cat; it sounded like a person who had maybe read about cats but never actually heard one. I finally went and had a look, and there was a cat sitting on the porch. He looked me in the eye and said "ME-OW", then shouldered his way past me into the kitchen where he proceeded to help himself to the nearest bowl of cat food while my own brood gawked at him from across the room. I wasn't really okay with that, so I shooed him out and gave him a handful of kibble to-go. Never figured out who he actually belonged to, but he didn't come around my door very often - probably unimpressed with my hospitality.

Linna Heartlistener wrote: Also, Sorus - "Mara" is one of my favorite names, partly because of a fictional character.
How didja end up naming her Mara? (if you named her.)

Her namesake was Mara of the Acoma from the Empire Trilogy. (Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts.)

I love that series. One of my all time favourites.

On topic, yesterday Harley brought in a dead bird. As a toy, rather than a teaching tool, but still...getting bloody ridiculous.

--A

We have a mouse issue at work, and the last time the pest control dude was in checking traps (which failed to catch even a single mouse), I asked him if we could rent a cat instead. He said it would only work if we didn't feed the cat. I didn't contradict him because he's an expert at killing squeaky things, but cats are also experts at killing squeaky things, and they don't just do it out of hunger.

Again, glad mine don't go outside. The most excitement they get is an occasional spider, and while they will sometimes eat a spider, usually they just poke the spider until it retreats under the couch, then they lose interest. There are probably several annoyed spiders under my couch.

BRB, need to vacuum under the couch.




"I love when we get a new fort from Amazon, but why does it always come full of useless stuff? All we wanted was the box."

Yeah, if I ever actually got myself a cat deliberately, I would make it an indoor one. Unfortunately I didn't get much choice in the matter.

--A

Eh, my cats all picked me. And I didn't even leave my door open.

Mine picked me by simply turning up at my house and being adorable. (And then refusing to leave.)

--A

I will admit that my current brood were all intentional adoptions, in that I had gone to the shelter intending to adopt a cat. None of them are the cats I had originally gone to meet; those have never worked out for one reason or another. The feral brood was more of a 'they followed me home and I'm going to keep them,' though in the interest of accuracy it was more of a 'I took them to the vet to get them fixed and then decided to keep them.'

No more pets after these I tell ya...

--A

You can tell me all you want, but the cats might have a different idea.




Caught a mouse!

I will be strong...

--A