Herd your cats here

[statsgeek]

Our boys are terrified of the attic steps (no idea why).  Yesterday, when the steps came down, they were in the bedroom across the hall from their preferred hiding place under our bed.  As the steps started down, Yin skittered across the hall and under the bed (you know the cartoons where the legs move faster than the bodies...) but Yang was still "trapped".  He eventually decided to make a run for it under the steps but either lost control of his skitter or miscalculated and hit the door jamb on his way into the bedroom.  So there I am in the hall, with StatSpouse trying to hand me the boxes we were retrieving, laughing so hard I couldn't breathe...

There are days with these guys I wish I had cameras always running. 

[OneMoreYear]

We visited my MIL at her assisted living center over Easter weekend. She has two senior cats. Within a half-hour of us being there, they were swirling at our feet, and the first evening we were there, they explored our laps. By the 2nd day, one of them plopped down on my lap for several hours while we were watching TV and chatting.
In contrast, when we arrived home after 2 days away, Ricochet bolted under the bed and it took her an hour to decide we were safe enough for petting.  She did engage in a brief period of lap-standing practice and has disappeared again. Silly cat.

[the_geneticist]

I visited my grandfather and he has a very round, friendly tabby cat.  She was clearly torn between wanting to lounge in front of the fire, wanting pettings, and being VERY CONCERNED that I move much faster than my 95 year old grandfather.  I accidentally gave her too much food one evening and we are now the best of friends.

[AmLitHist]

Waffles, the barn cat at Kid #1's farmhouse, had kitties this morning--two little stripey gray kitties!  SO exciting, and Waffles is such a GOOD mama cat. Kid said she came to get her and Norman the Huge GSD when they were playing frisbee in the yard around 6 this morning; Waffles took them to her crate to show off the babies.

(Kid said she thought the cat was pregnant, but I don't see her close enough or often enough; I didn't think she was. Glad to be wrong, and I hope they all do OK. Waffles is a fierce hunter, and she adores the Kid and Norman. They'll all look out for each other.)

[OneMoreYear]

Ricochet has been trying out new safe spaces. This week's contenders: on the back of the couch, on the mat in front of the front door, and in a laundry basket of dirty clothes.  So far, the mat is winning. The mat is the only place that she will roll over and appear that she wants a tummy rub.  Sometimes, you can pet her tummy gently and be rewarded with a purr before she bolts. Sometimes, she goes Venus flytrap on your hand with her claws and teeth, though she does not typically draw blood. She is a master of variable ratio reinforcement.

[Larimar]

Good for Ricochet. Like the Venus flytrap comparison. Twerp does something similar sometimes.

[AmLitHist]

Little Cat and Fela were lying together in the sun, both snoozing, when LC reached over and bit the heck out of Fela's butt!  No idea where that came from, though LC is decidedly a shit-disturber.

(Fela is about 3 times LC's size--I think that's what's called "gutsy" on LC's behalf.)

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Youngest evil cat (well, younger, since we only have two now), is contemplating the power strip. I suppose it looks tasty to her- she has a tendency to chew on wires. :(

[Larimar]

Earlier today our friend the feral kitty left a gift on our doorstep of a partially eaten baby rabbit. Um, thanks, kitty, but EEWWWWW! and please don't do that again! Mr. Larimar spared me the cleanup (I washed the dishes instead), but it was a nasty mess. We had to throw our welcome mat in the garbage.


For the record, OneMoreYear, I meant good for Ricochet for trying new things and purring, not for biting and clawing you!


Larimar

[mamselle]

Youngest evil cat (well, younger, since we only have two now), is contemplating the power strip. I suppose it looks tasty to her- she has a tendency to chew on wires. :(

Yikes, if she decides to try it you may only have one kitty left--not a desirable case at all!!

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Youngest evil cat (well, younger, since we only have two now), is contemplating the power strip. I suppose it looks tasty to her- she has a tendency to chew on wires. :(

Yikes, if she decides to try it you may only have one kitty left--not a desirable case at all!!

M.

I know. She only seems to like the dangly ones. We monitor her when she's out and have tried hot sauce which seemed to work. I think we need to reapply it.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Earlier today our friend the feral kitty left a gift on our doorstep of a partially eaten baby rabbit. Um, thanks, kitty, but EEWWWWW! and please don't do that again! Mr. Larimar spared me the cleanup (I washed the dishes instead), but it was a nasty mess. We had to throw our welcome mat in the garbage.


For the record, OneMoreYear, I meant good for Ricochet for trying new things and purring, not for biting and clawing you!


Larimar

Thank goodness for spouses and SOs.

[the_geneticist]

Our cats are Super Excited that we now have a large rabbit in the yard.  They zoom at top speed from one window to the next to observe.  They haven't paired a noise with the rabbit yet - it must not fit in the same category as a bug or a bird and doesn't cause the puffy-tail upset of seeing another cat.

[mamselle]

Is it known if all Cat is articulated in the range of sound that is audible to Humans?

M.

[AmLitHist]

ALHS is on the s%t list with Fela.  It's been off-and-on stormy and rainy here for a week. Yesterday evening around 5:30, Fela went outside when he was bringing in groceries; I didn't even notice she was out, and since she usually hides and hibernates in the evening, nobody missed her. We got a huge windy downpour for almost 40 minutes around 7.

When ALHS took out a trash bag at 10:30, in shot Fela--damp and NOT happy.  Poor old thing!  She doesn't like wind to begin with, and she'd never been outside alone that long, and never after dark.  She must have hunkered down under the wide eaves during the storm.

Someone is getting extra pampering today, while she's shooting the stink-eye at ALHS. I bet it's the last time he does that!