spinning-jennie: Cats archives

For the Compliant Cat
This clamp-on desktop kitty perch is cute and all, but I can't see Elli using it. Unlike Elmo, she's not content to sleep in the kitty beds -- she's happier in a more out-of-bounds spot. So it would probably sit empty, with her claws slashing my shoulders and the back of my neck from her chairtop perch.

Or with her butt in the air right in front of my face.
04/14/08 11:13 PM in Cats , Stuff  |  Comments


McFly's Ghost
The woman who lives directly across the street from us has an outdoor cat, a cat that has always rather reminded us of the departed McFly. Kind of spooky.

Lately, the cat has taken a liking to our patio. The first time I saw him out there (sometime last week, I guess) it was mid-stalk, and the visit ended with a juicy mouse dangling from his mouth. Maybe rodent hunting is why we've always been so popular with the local felines? If they take care of the scritchy-scratchy noises beneath the floorboards and behind the fireplace, they're all more than welcome to take up permanent residence!
10/16/07 08:53 PM in Cats , Photo  |  Comments


These Two Things are Related
Let's see if you can guess how.

1. As soon as I was out the bedroom door, Elli was whining and trying to ramrod her hard little head past my legs through the bathroom door and up into the sink. This usually means that the cats have emptied their water bowl. But that didn't seem quite right, because it was full when I checked it last night, and it's a pretty big bowl.

2. Last night, while I was cooking tortellini for dinner, the bub snuck away with the container of parmesan cheese.
10/08/07 08:58 AM in Bub , Cats  |  Comments


RIP, Kitty
It's hard to believe that McFly has been gone for over a year, now. Someone else's pink-nosed grey and white kitty passed over the weekend, and it made me think of him more.

I wonder if the other cats hold memories like that.
12/11/06 11:30 PM in Cats  |  Comments


Trail of Blood
I woke up (too early -- civilized people don't get up at six, bub) this morning to a trail of very bloody paw prints across the floor, my desk, and the office windowsill, still damp. Needless to say, this was a bit upsetting.

So I hurried back down the stairs to hunt cats. Which was easy enough; they were both just hanging out, acting their normal, epitome-of-lazy selves.

I picked Elmo up and flipped him over in my lap (he's a very obliging kitty). Nothing. Elli won't let me do the same, but everything looked normal as far as I could see. If she were seriously hurt, she wouldn't have let me within ten feet of her snarling demon self.

So... WTF?

I'll update with any new findings.

Update: It appears to be one of Elli's rear paws -- looks like a little damage to the pad or claw, but there's too much clotting (and she's too dangerous to hold long) to really get in there for a look. It doesn't seem to bother her, though. Elmo started acting strangely after I wrote that first bit, and I thought it might be him, after all, but maybe the smell bothered him or something.

Update Update: We managed to get a good look at the damage. Appears as if she snapped a claw off below the quick. I'd heard those things bled like crazy, but... eesh. I'm still finding spatters on my desk. Ew.
11/06/06 07:08 AM in Cats  |  Comments


The Hugginator
I never thought Elmo could get tired of attention. But, as his days are filled with nearly identical scenes, he's been the one to break up the hugfest more often than not.
06/03/06 12:44 PM in Bub , Cats , Photo  |  Comments



mcfly.jpg
11/08/05 09:48 AM in Cats  |  Comments


My Devil Cat
meow! meow!

meeeooooowww!!!

Where is that coming from? I check the closets - usual culprit in cases of trapped kitties. The sound is so very faint, desperate, and girly... Elli. Not in the bathroom. Not in the dining room cabinet I just had open. Front... door? Nah. But there she is, on the porch, tail all bushed out.

?!?

I can only assume that she escaped when Daniel and I were putting the recycling bins out. Less likely: she hopped out the patio door when I was trying to shoo out a giant black fly, squeezed beneath the fence, and somehow miraculously found her way around the property back to the front. Given that she's never been outside (here), it's kind of strange that she knew well enough to come to our front door in any case.
04/25/05 05:23 PM in Cats  |  Comments


Friends
Elmo is the only cat that will, on occasion, actively seek out Daniel's abuses. It looks like he's being nice here, but seconds later the ear-pulling will begin.
02/15/05 08:49 AM in Baby , Cats , Photo  |  Comments


Feline Friendster
Oh, all right. I won't be caught dead on any of those online "social network" (ahem - popularity) sites (too snooty? fragile ego? junior high flashbacks? you guess!)... but I've gone and subjected my cats to one. Not that they care.
08/08/04 12:25 AM in Cats  |  Comments


McFly Update
McFly is acting normally this afternoon, walking fine, sociable, and able to jump up on things. He's also regained his appetite, which is good. And the other two cats have stopped treating him like the Evil Alien Cat. So things are looking good for now.

D. just talked to the vet; apparently there was nothing in the routine bloodwork, but they're still waiting on some results for parasite tests. If those are normal, the doctor thinks it may either be epilepsy (treatable with phenobarbital), or a brain tumor. Of course we're hoping it's not that. Maybe we'll know more tomorrow...
07/18/04 06:26 PM in Cats  |  Comments


Scared.
I was sitting here in the office just now, when I heard this series of crashes in the living room. McFly was having massive spasms next to the tv, writhing and flopping and panting. D. threw some clothes on and made for the vet (I don't even know where the closest emergency place is around here). I wish I were quicker at dressing right now, because I'm just going to worry until I know what's happening.

I wish now that I hadn't made bad jokes not an hour before about how I didn't like him anymore (he gouged my inner thigh while hopping off my lap abruptly).

Update 1:06: D. tried a hospital on Watt and Madison, and the woman was a total bitch about the fact that they "don't accept emergencies." At a vet hospital. She at least referred him to a different center on Howe and El Camino, and I called, and it's open (and the woman I talked to seemed very nice, at least). They're headed that way now. Elmo is still freaking out, I can't find Elli at all, and McFly is making a new, scarier noise.

Update 1:46: They're keeping him at least until this evening, possibly overnight. Doing some bloodwork and whatnot. I guess when D. left just now, he was acting completely normal again. Freaky, freaky stuff. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Update 7:55: They told us we could pick him up today, so we did. But he still really can't use his back legs well; he's lying listlessly on the rug in front of the kitchen sink. Well, at least until I paid him too much attention - then he dragged himself under the kitchen table to hide. I don't think they let him try to walk around at all before calling us. The test results won't be in until tomorrow or even Monday. I hope he shows some improvement by then...
07/17/04 12:42 PM in Cats  |  Comments


Making Bath Night Fun
Elli is a tough little tiger. She whomps on the boys, she hunts scary bugs, and she plays rough-and-tumble, like a puppy.

Unless she's a) threatened with a bath, b) put into a car, or c) heard a scary noise, such as very loud thunder. Then she wails, and... well, she pees. And sometimes more. She's done this since she was a tiny kitten.

I've never heard of this behavior in a cat before, much less such a normally aggressive one. Have you?
05/16/04 08:38 PM in Cats  |  Comments


Not Spoiled
If I were a cat, I'd beg for my people's food, too. How satisfying can hard brown pellets really be? Probably, for me, something akin to gnawing on Grape-Nuts all day.

So I take pity on them sometimes, and get them a little people food-esque treat. Funny, though, how the only place I can generally buy it without remark and "crazy cat lady" eye is Petsmart.

You'd think I was buying dog water, or something. Sheesh.
05/07/04 01:58 PM in Cats  |  Comments


Stupid Pet Tricks
Elli is a cunning little brat. We haven't been latching the double pet gate at the bedroom door, just shutting it, as it closes pretty firmly. But Elli has learned to patiently work the bottom corner until she can juuuust squeeze through. Her reward - a cozy nest in a just-washed stack of clothes on the bed. Grrr.

Of course when you have pets, you inevitably get the occasional impulse to dress one of them. And since Elmo is the most pliable, and often the most right at hand (or knee), he's the one that got the frilly white bib. I should've taken a video clip, he was so dapper and happy with it. A bit scary, really.

McFly continues to do nothing particularly interesting, unless you count keeping my lap warm while I type. He's become very good at that.
02/17/04 02:05 PM in Cats  |  Comments


Penthouses, SUVs, and Cabanas - Oh My
Our three aren't nearly as spoiled as I thought they were. Clearly.
01/21/04 11:29 AM in Cats  |  Comments


Cats Do Not Appreciate Your Inebriation
Oh-oh-oh! We subject our bunch to some wearable abuse... but this is just priceless.
12/16/03 04:31 PM in Cats  |  Comments


Nap Accessory
Everyone should own an Elmo for napping. They curl up on your tummy in a warm, comforting ball, rumbling and gazing up at you with that big green-eyed "You're the bestest person in the Whole Wide World!" look.

widdle cuddly wuddly cute-um poo

D. has a fetish for chronicling these double-chinned droolfest catnaps; has a long history of it. I suppose I won't deprive him.
09/02/03 04:08 PM in Cats , Photo  |  Comments


Bath Day
Our kitties live indoors - with the exception of free reign of the patio - and they stay pretty clean. But some stank buildup is inevitable and we both suffer from allergies, so, every few months, they get locked in the shower stall with one of us and a bottle of Winnie-the-Pooh baby shampoo. Unless we wash McFly first, he hides as soon as the pitiful caterwauling begins (we expect that, one of these days, the neighbors will call the SPCA on us). Today he hid inside the entertainment armoire behind the DVDs.


08/31/03 02:34 PM in Cats , Photo  |  Comments