Herd your cats here

[Morden]

Local bobcats seem to really enjoy squirrel head--given the headless corpses we occasionally find.

[AmLitHist]

Kid #1 is renting a farm house surrounded by corn and bean (now winter wheat) fields.The guy she rents from farms the ground and uses the sheds and bins, so he keeps cats around to keep the mice down.  One of the kittens, a girl she named Waffles, had adopted her and her GSD (who picks Waffles up with a bird dog's soft mouth and carries her around like a toy.  Alternatively, the puff ball will stare or hiss at the 110 pound puppy and cause him to fall all over himself, backing away with his tail tucked.)

Waffles keeps pretty full on field mice, occasionally playing with them when the other two or watching.  She also likes to bite off the mouse's head and swallow that, and the rest of the mouse, pretty much whole.  Farm cats are a tough lot, though.

[smallcleanrat]

Thanksgiving day, SO and I brought out a new ribbon chaser toy for the Maestro. After he had chased and pounced to his heart's content, he settled down to nap between us on the couch (head on my knee, paws pressed against SO's leg, body wedged between us).

SO looked down at this kitty cat we've raised and loved together and said, "Well, I think I know what we're both thankful for this year."

[Larimar]

Awww, that's lovely.

[nebo113]

Kid #1 is renting a farm house surrounded by corn and bean (now winter wheat) fields.The guy she rents from farms the ground and uses the sheds and bins, so he keeps cats around to keep the mice down.  One of the kittens, a girl she named Waffles, had adopted her and her GSD (who picks Waffles up with a bird dog's soft mouth and carries her around like a toy. Alternatively, the puff ball will stare or hiss at the 110 pound puppy and cause him to fall all over himself, backing away with his tail tucked.)

Waffles keeps pretty full on field mice, occasionally playing with them when the other two or watching.  She also likes to bite off the mouse's head and swallow that, and the rest of the mouse, pretty much whole.  Farm cats are a tough lot, though.

Giggling and smiling over this.  Thank you!!!

[OneMoreYear]

I'm sick and trying to grade. It's a bad combination. Ninja, who is usually SO's cat, has deigned to lay on my lap as long as I don't pet her too much.  I'm not sure I'm grading any more effectively, but I appreciate her gesture.

[smallcleanrat]

I'm sick and trying to grade. It's a bad combination. Ninja, who is usually SO's cat, has deigned to lay on my lap as long as I don't pet her too much.  I'm not sure I'm grading any more effectively, but I appreciate her gesture.

More evidence for empathy in cats?

Unless you have a fever and Ninja is just enjoying the extra warmth...

Hope you feel better soon, OneMoreYear.

[OneMoreYear]

I'm sick and trying to grade. It's a bad combination. Ninja, who is usually SO's cat, has deigned to lay on my lap as long as I don't pet her too much.  I'm not sure I'm grading any more effectively, but I appreciate her gesture.

More evidence for empathy in cats?

Unless you have a fever and Ninja is just enjoying the extra warmth...

Hope you feel better soon, OneMoreYear.

I'm not sure if it's empathy or if she likes the blanket I'm using. But sure, we'll go with empathy :)

In other news, we purchased an advent calendar for the cats (yes, we're those people).  However, it appears to be a complete bust. Our cats apparently do not like salmon + seaweed treats. I wasn't surprised that Ricochet ran away from them, but I thought Ninja would try them. No dice. Anyone have cats with sophisticated pallets that would appreciate an almost full advent treat calendar?

[the_geneticist]

I'm sick and trying to grade. It's a bad combination. Ninja, who is usually SO's cat, has deigned to lay on my lap as long as I don't pet her too much.  I'm not sure I'm grading any more effectively, but I appreciate her gesture.

More evidence for empathy in cats?

Unless you have a fever and Ninja is just enjoying the extra warmth...

Hope you feel better soon, OneMoreYear.

I'm not sure if it's empathy or if she likes the blanket I'm using. But sure, we'll go with empathy :)

In other news, we purchased an advent calendar for the cats (yes, we're those people).  However, it appears to be a complete bust. Our cats apparently do not like salmon + seaweed treats. I wasn't surprised that Ricochet ran away from them, but I thought Ninja would try them. No dice. Anyone have cats with sophisticated pallets that would appreciate an almost full advent treat calendar?

I am also one of those people!  Our cats LOVED the first offering of treats, but seemed a bit baffled by the second ones.  Maybe the texture is too dense & chewy for them?
I actually got two advent calendars for the cats - one is cat treats and the other is canned food.  They have hand-knit Christmas stockings too.

[Puget]

As I may have mentioned here before, in an effort to lighten up a hard semester I've been posting a cat picture at the end of each week's online lesson with some message related to the content that week. Many of the students seem to have really enjoyed it, and have sent me some of their own pet pictures (which I also posted one week).

This is the last week of classes, so I stopped by each of the TAs' (zoom) discussion sections to answer any questions and say goodbye to the students. First question in one of today's sections: "Can we see the famous cats?"
Little Calico was in her basket at my feet, so I was able to oblige with one cat at least.

[OneMoreYear]

I'm sick and trying to grade. It's a bad combination. Ninja, who is usually SO's cat, has deigned to lay on my lap as long as I don't pet her too much.  I'm not sure I'm grading any more effectively, but I appreciate her gesture.

More evidence for empathy in cats?

Unless you have a fever and Ninja is just enjoying the extra warmth...

Hope you feel better soon, OneMoreYear.

I'm not sure if it's empathy or if she likes the blanket I'm using. But sure, we'll go with empathy :)

In other news, we purchased an advent calendar for the cats (yes, we're those people).  However, it appears to be a complete bust. Our cats apparently do not like salmon + seaweed treats. I wasn't surprised that Ricochet ran away from them, but I thought Ninja would try them. No dice. Anyone have cats with sophisticated pallets that would appreciate an almost full advent treat calendar?

I am also one of those people!  Our cats LOVED the first offering of treats, but seemed a bit baffled by the second ones.  Maybe the texture is too dense & chewy for them?
I actually got two advent calendars for the cats - one is cat treats and the other is canned food.  They have hand-knit Christmas stockings too.

You are right. I think it's the texture. They generally get crunchy dental treats and these are chewy. I'm going to look for the canned food advent calendar! I think at least Ninja would eat that.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I'm sick and trying to grade. It's a bad combination. Ninja, who is usually SO's cat, has deigned to lay on my lap as long as I don't pet her too much.  I'm not sure I'm grading any more effectively, but I appreciate her gesture.

I hope you feel better. Maybe she's administering feline homeopathic care?- Feliopathic? Or she could be channeling healing vibes from the cat home world. :)

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

We're watching Coyote Peterson's Brave Wilderness and so is Youngest evil cat! She is mesmerized with the alligator turtles. It's so funny to see this bulbous silhouette of a cat behind parked in front of the tv.

[AmLitHist]

Our two girls like B&W Gunsmoke episodes.  Fela loves anything with a horse. A number of years ago there was a PBS show about the Royal Lipizzaner Stallions, and she sat and stared at the screen the entire time.  Little Cat likes the horses but also often sits and watches when Marshall Dillion is chasing a bad guy or when Miss Kitty is onscreen (no joke).

[OneMoreYear]

That's so cute that the e_p_w cats and AmLitHist cats like to watch TV. I've never had a cat that was interested.  We were watching The Last Dance last night (SO was born and raised in Chicago, though he cares more about The Bears than the Bulls).  Ninja happily sprawled on the bed next to SO.  Ricochet sat in front of the TV staring at us.