SQUIRRELS AND CATS AND OTHER THINGS

Our cat doesn't like us.

At the shelter, when we took her out of her cage, she was friendly, well-mannered, and calm. We petted her and she seemed glad of the attention.

We got her home and...

Once out of the carrier, she took off and it took several days for her to come around us. Now she looks down her nose at us, like she's saying, "Okay. I allowed you to break me out, but that doesn't mean I have to put up with you." She doesn't like being petted. She doesn't like the kind of food we feed her. She won't come sit with us. She won't play with us.

Oh, she doesn't scratch or claw when we pick her up. But at the first opportunity, she hops down and runs the other way. And the only time she approaches us is when it's time for food.

Otherwise...We're on our own. She hangs out in her room and we hang out in ours. If she decides to play with her toys, she plays with them by herself. She stops playing if we try to join in.

So we've taken to exclaiming over the birds and squirrels that seem to abound in our yard, hoping she'll get a little jealous. So far, no good. But the other critters are quite cute and fun to watch!

Like this squirrel. He gets on the big feeder and pitches food out on the ground while picking out the tastiest morsels for himself. Here he is in the bushes, eyeing the feeder:

And here, he's climbing up the feeder:

He strikes all kinds of cute poses as he eats:

The doves below like for him to eat, too, since they get what's on the ground.

There are also cardinals, a blue jay, and other birds that I have no names for. But they're all interesting.

Thank goodness, they'll entertain us since our house pet won't! Though she enjoys watching them, too.

NEW FAMILY MEMBER

Well, two and a half years after losing our cats, we are adopting a new feline. It took awhile to get over our babies' loss. Then, in the process of changing locations and homes, we decided to wait till we got settled. We still aren't settled but we're ready for a pet!

So we started visiting shelters and looking online and searching for the right cat. A female, my guy decreed. One not too young and not too old. One that had passed the energetic kitten stage but one that was alert and interested.

I saw our cat online first, along with several other adult cats. Her little blurb said that she was a short-haired cat, with a soft, sleek coat; that she was a little shy but when she got to know you, she was friendly; and that since she was a black cat, she was afraid no one would adopt her. For some reason people don't like black cats. We aren't superstitious, so on Thursday we decided to visit her.

It seems our new home has a small but very nice animal control shelter.

The building is small but neat, with fenced areas for the dogs to the left.

And they're open nearly every day, which is convenient.

The staff and volunteers are friendly and anxious to let their animals put their best foot forward. When we went inside, we were greeted and directed to the cat room. There, in cages almost to the ceiling, cats slept or looked out or meowed or poked paws out to us. This is just one section. There are cages behind, too, and on the left side of the room is a matching tower. Then, to the rear is another room for small kittens.

A nice lady pointed out several adult cats and complimented some while reluctantly admitting a beautiful white powderpuff cat, 10 years old, could be a little cranky at times. Here are a couple of less grumpy denizens:

There are two Interaction Rooms for visitors to get to know the cats. Today, one of them was in use to showcase the special cats of the week who got to stay in it all day.

We used the second Interaction Room to interview a whitish cat with pastel markings. She was active, wanting to play and making us laugh with her antics. However, she was a little too frisky for us.

Then we took out a black and white cat who reminded me too much of Roz, but my guy, who was crazy about Roz, was interested. I was concerned she might be ill because though laidback, she hardly moved.

Then we took out Naomi, the black cat I'd seen online, who'd been in the shelter for some time. She didn't want to come out at first but when I left my hand in her cage awhile, she sniffed at it and finally consented to be carried to the play room. There, she looked out the window but didn't dart around. She did come over to us after a few minutes, wanting to be petted. Then she looked out the window some more, and asked to be petted some more. She was active but calm. When she started making up to my guy, he decided she was the one.

After we filled out the papers, they told us to come back the next morning with a carrier and the money for her adoption. They would transport her to the vet the next week for spaying, and we could pick her up from there.

We had an appointment Friday so I asked if we could wait till Monday. The lady at the desk said if we wanted her, we'd better be back the next morning. Naomi had been there a long time. What might happen didn't need to be mentioned. The lady volunteered to let us in earlier than normal hours if that would help. It did and we met her there.

We went out and bought a cat carrier, food, litter and the other stuff a family cat must have. So next week, we'll have a new addition to the household.

I'm rather excited as I decide where to put her water and food dishes. My guy has ordered a screen to go in front of the gas logs; we know from experience how cats love to get into fireplaces! I think he may be a little excited, too.

SICK CAT

My cat is old. Her brother passed away a few months back and it's taken her a while to adjust. He was about twenty and she, at seventeen, never knew our home without him. She was deeply disturbed and has been going downhill, her physical problems including barely eating.

The vet prescribed some steroid medication. His thinking is that rather than doing a lot of tests and exploratory surgery to see what's going on, let's just make her comfortable in her old age. I agree.

So she took the medicine for about a week and really perked up. Her yowling when using the bathroom stopped, her appetite picked up, she stopped throwing up, she seemed livelier and generally looked like she felt much better. A few days after getting off the medicine, the old symptoms started coming back.

I finally called the vet again and told him. He asked if she was still on the medicine.

"No, it only lasted about a week and there were no refills."

"I could have sworn I had her on it longer than a week. I should have given you refills. Well, let's try it again. This time, I'll give refills. She needs to be on it continuously for one or two months."

That same day, the drugstore filling the new prescription called. "I was filling this and I looked at your old prescription and thought the dose seemed high so I checked out the backup info. I'm so sorry. We had a new pharmacist in and..."

The new pharmacist thought the dose was one and a half teaspoons and that's what he put on the label. Poor Cat should have been getting one and a half milliliters so she was taking, like five or six times the correct dose!

No wonder she was feeling so good!

Here's our beautiful girl!

CAT

Our sweet boy cat is gone.

Our girl cat is not taking his absence well. She joined our family when she was a kitten and has never been without her brother before. She can't understand why he isn't here and keeps going through the house looking for him. Sometimes she yowls for no reason. Her appetite has dwindled.

After a couple of weeks hoping she'd get better, I took her to the vet. He's a new vet--very nice--who bought the practice from our old vet, so he hasn't dealt with our baby before. I explained that she's a temperamental cat. That she's missing her brother and has never liked strangers--she actually bit the old vet who laughingly referred to her as a "*itch"--and that I always took her out of her carrier and held her during examinations.

Making me out a liar, she behaved beautifully. When we had to leave her for a couple of hours while he ran a blood test, I was afraid she'd act up, but we reluctantly went off.

When we came back to get her, the vet said she'd been fine. He'd given her a shot and she hadn't tried to scratch or bite or anything. She'd been a perfect lady.

I don't know if he's lying, but he didn't look upset and he had no visible wounds. If he's telling the truth, this is probably the first time in her life she hasn't threatened a vet. Maybe she's taken a fancy to him?

CATS

I've been a little distraught. My boy cat is old. Like about twenty.

The last couple of years he's been blind and deaf, but he was able to find his food dish and his litter box and his bed. Then he began having some mental problems. Meowing in the middle of the night. Going around in circles. Wanting to eat every couple of hours.

But he was still in pretty good health so we catered to him. Feeding him three or four times a day, putting him in his bed when he meowed, moving him to a familiar place when he got lost.

We were making it fine until the last couple of weeks. Now he's looking tired and withdrawn. And he's making hacking noises that sound like whooping cough. When I pick him up, he's uncomfortable. He's always been a gentleman and would never scratch me, but I think he's beginning to be in some pain.

I can't see him suffer, but it sure is hard to let him go.

Here he's asleep in his little bed. I moved it into my bathroom because he likes it in there. The girl cat usually sleeps with him, but lately she's deserted him. I'm wondering if she knows he's feeling bad and is making it easier for him.

Pets are like children. Easy to love and hard to lose.

DREAMS

Yesterday about six a.m., my girl cat meowed. One of those Get-up-and-feed-me-before-I-starve-to-death! yowls that make you think someone is murdering her. Just one yowl but enough to wake me in the middle of a dream.

I danced in the back of the chorus line while Barbra Streisand sang "Hello Dolly" in the front. I never saw her--backs of period costumes and hats of the dancers around me blocked my view--but I heard her very plainly. Seems I was actually a part of the dream. Don't know why I dreamed about her. She's okay, but I was never a big fan.

Usually, I don't participate in my dreams. They normally work like movies or books. Movies flow as if on screen. For books, I see the pages.

My most unusual dream was a television show. With commercials. It was a period (Hmmm. Could I be onto something here? Maybe I should be concentrating on writing more historicals?) drama. The only scenes I remember were men in black suits and string ties carrying a coffin up--or down--a narrow staircase; and women in Victorian mourning dresses sitting around a table, wiping their eyes.

The commercial came in the middle, naturally. A merry little jingle accompanied an actress flinging open the trunk of her car to reveal a beautifully wrapped large box with one of those big, puffy bows. I think it was advertising some department store I'd never heard of. Then back to the drama.

Strangely enough, I could sing the commercial's ditty the next day. I have no idea where that came from. Neither tune nor lyrics were familiar.

Anyway, this morning my cat didn't yowl till seven o'clock. Guess I was past the dream stage because I just woke up annoyed.

Not that she cares.

ONE MORE COMPLAINT ABOUT THE CATS

It's not only litter my cats are finicky about. They seem to have taken up my entire life.

My daily schedule:

Seven a.m. - (sometimes as early as five if they've consumed all the dry food) - one or both start meowing for breakfast. Loudly.

I get up, replenish the dry food and put ice water in their fountain (yes, they demand ice cubes in their water).

Next, I fix their canned food. This means mincing the meat (and this is the ground kind, not the flakes or shreds or morsels) into even smaller pieces on two plates. If the can's been in the fridge, I must microwave the food for a few seconds. I then mound the minced food up on each plate before putting them down. At that time, I forcefully direct the boy cat to his dish since he always tries to eat the girl cat's food first.

Then the litter boxes need tending, including a sweep of the floor since my girl cat tends to get exuberant when she's in her bathroom and tosses litter everywhere.

Then back to the food dishes. Any food that's left gets mounded up on one plate for the boy cat. He likes to come back later and dig into a new pile of food.

About one p.m., the boy cat starts meowing. Persistently. It's time for his nap and he doesn't like to nap alone. Most days, I'll lie down with him on my bed for about an hour. Sometimes the girl cat joins us. If I'm busy and can't nap, I put her on the bed with him. If she stays, that will keep him quiet. If she doesn't, he ends up in my lap, squirming as I try to work on the computer.

About five p.m., the girl cat starts meowing again. She's quite vocal when it comes to meal times. So I go through the same thing as in the morning, except they take a stool softener before eating--yes, you read it right--to keep them regular. (Hey, they're old and have problems!) They learned how to hide the pills in their mouths until they got out of sight where they could spit them out. So I have to buy broth, and not the kind with celery and carrots but the unadulterated, expensive broth, to mix their powder in. They love this and lap it up eagerly. Sure beats using a syringe to force it down their throats.

At night, they don't sleep with us much any more, thank goodness. When the girl cat sleeps with us, she gets between my knees and I can't turn over. Lately, they've been staying in their cat bed or on the sofa where I've laid one of my dirty shirts to entice them to curl up.

And that's my routine.

This can't be natural. Surely, every cat owner doesn't cater to their cats like this. I must have trained them wrong, but it's too late to change them now. Guess I'm stuck till they kick the bucket.

SPIDERS - UGH!

I stepped out into the garage this morning to put out recyclables. (So thrilled that now we can separate them!) Started to step back inside and noticed this huge, quarter-size-body, spider right in the doorway. I hyperventilated but stepped on it.

It was a her. Hundreds of tiny little spiders went scurrying everywhere. I started stomping here, there, everywhere... Squealing all the while.

No one came to my aid. My guy was in the bathroom. My girl cat who chases and eats insects had, unbeknownst to me, slipped into the garage when I opened the door. My boy cat is blind and I think he's hard of hearing, too. (Except when it's mealtime.)

So there I was. Dancing and stomping and screaming with no audience and no rescuers. Just me.

Once I didn't see any more gnat-sized spiders scurrying, I grabbed the insecticide and sprayed wildly. That's when I saw my cow-cat, sticking her little face in the door, wondering what the commotion was about.

I dragged her in and closed the door. Looks like I may need to get another bodyguard.

FERAL CATS

Turns out the reason the squirrel population isn't so much in this neighborhood is the feral cats. They're gorgeous, all of them, but still wild. I think one we saw prowling through our back (fenced-in) and tiny yard before we made the move was feral.

Seems like there wouldn't be as many birds, but guess they're more observant than the squirrels. I was following my guy out of the neighborhood yesterday morning, he off to his art class and me off to hit yard sales. He braked in front of me and waited. I thought he'd forgotten to tell me something and would get out, but no. He kept sitting there in his car. Then I saw a sleek black cat crouched just to the side as if stalking something. In a moment the cat darted across the street and my guy went on.

I started to go, too, but noticed the cat slinking behind a tree, still stalking. Just as I rounded the tree - one of the huge water oaks we have here - the cat pounced on a squirrel who'd been sitting on the ground. The squirrel tried desperately to get away, leaping in the air and thrashing around, but the cat clung to him determinedly. I was in shock, the car advancing automatically so I never saw what happened. But I'm pretty sure the squirrel got gone.

Awful to witness a murder first thing in the morning. And yes, I know the cat was hungry and this is nature and all that. But still...Right before my eyes?

TIDBITS

The crime blotter in the local paper had several reports today.

A woman called police because of a loud argument. She said a woman asked a man for ten dollars. He got mad and started yelling at the woman. A second woman struck out at the first woman with her fists. A second man got into the fray and the first man swung at him. But no arrests were made. Guess the police didn't want to get involved.

In another item, a woman reported she let a male borrow her car in March. He said he'd be right back. Yep, still gone.

A third one had a man verbally abusing officers directing traffic. They took umbrage so he pushed one officer, yelling he had no problem going to jail and that he'd resist. He got his way. Wonder if he's still in jail.

This item reported police responding to calls about a fight. After telling about twenty people to disperse, they saw a woman dragging another woman by the hair toward a car. An officer told the dragger to release the draggee but she wouldn't. So she got Tasered. Three other women were given citations. Guess it was women's day out or something.

And in the final one, a man heard a gunshot and later saw the suspect walking down the street loading a shotgun. Then he fired and screamed threats. He got arrested. I should hope so!

What are these people thinking????

And to end on a rather sad note, here's my little girl-cat who's the tennis aficionado. The tennis players who were out all last week have gone home since spring break is over, and she's left to droop in the window with nothing to watch.

Poor baby. Little does she know there will soon be no more tennis courts outside her perch.

PIRATE CAT

Still not quite up to walking yet, so no pix from outdoors. Instead, here's a picture of the girl-cat in her pirate house. She got new tissue paper in it after Christmas (from all the presents) and loves to get in and make it crackle. So far, she hasn't let the boy-cat inside; he's only been allowed to sit and watch her make herself comfy.

AFTER CHRISTMAS DOLDRUMS

We're kind of sluggish around here. No walks, barely getting out to pick up laundry. After a hectic holiday, we're back in the condo recovering. Even the cats are sluggish. (Aren't they always?)

Here's the boy cat under his denuded Christmas tree. The heater is right across from him so guess he's enjoying the heat. Due to dietary restrictions, neither he or the girl cat got ham. I think they're still sulking.

GIRL CAT & DOPPELGANGER

Here's my girl cat with her doppelganger. She thinks she looks svelte next to Fat Cat. If she doesn't change her eating habits, she may soon be the same size!

GIRL CAT

My girl cat likes jewelry. Whenever I turn my back, she's after my rings, bracelets, earrings...

I wonder if I can get her ears pierced. She'd look really cute with studs.

Or maybe some hoops I could tie a leash to!

Night Bird

Woke up last night to hear it raining. Such a nice sound on the roof.

Then I heard a night bird right outside the window going, "Twee-ee-ee-ble. Twee-ee-ee-ble."

At first I felt sorry for it, picturing it under a bush with rain coming off its tiny head. But it keep tweebling and I couldn't get back to sleep.

I got up to go to the bathroom and had to dislodge one of the cats. "Twee-ee-snort."

Yep, it was the boy cat. Must have had a stopped up nose 'cause he sure snored funny.

CATS

So my guy lost a thumb drive. This right after Roz threw his watch off the dresser.

"Those *&%$* cats! I'm ready to change their zip codes! All they do is lose my stuff!"

(The zip code threat isn't unusual but he was pretty miffed this time.)

I of course was the voice of reason. "Where did you have it last?"

He thought. Called a friend because he'd been helping her with some stuff and used it in her computer. No answer. He left a message.

He thought some more. "I hope I didn't leave it in my jeans and it got washed."

"Haven't washed dark stuff lately." (Haven't washed anything lately. I hate housework.)

He checked the dirty clothes hamper and guess what! There it was, tucked away in the watch pocket.

He did apologize to the cats. My guy's really pretty nice.

CATS AND SMALL SPACES

Why do cats love to get into small spaces? Go to get some underwear and presto! One large cat stuffed into one small drawer. Open a cabinet to throw something in the trash can and presto! One large cat wrapped around the trash can when there's barely room for the can.

And don't forget laps. Get on the computer with your knees almost touching the keyboard drawer and presto! One large cat between your lap and the keyboard drawer, jiggling the keyboard and making you type *%$#(P)_#.

Once our cow-cat curled up in a plastic bag. Then something scared her and she shot out like a rocket. Unfortunately, the bag handle was wrapped around her neck. She ran through the house in terror, unable to get it off, spreading urine and other stuff I won't talk about. We finally caught her and got it off, but what a mess.

Sometimes I wonder if they're worth it. But then, I think of course they are. What else would my guy and I talk about if we didn't have them?  And they're sweet when they're asleep.

Of course they get kind of grumpy when you wake them up. Like the cow-cat below giving me the evil-eye when my camera flash went off.

Roaches - Ugh!

I noticed Jackson, the older cat, lurking in the closet the past couple of days. Normally, he lurks on the furniture so I figured something was up.

Today, as I pushed back the shower curtain, a big roach -- well, at least a medium-sized roach -- ran across the opposite wall. I screamed for the guy who lives with me. He rushed in. Killed the sucker with his bare heel. Yuck. He's my hero.

Guess Jackson was warning me that an insect was in the house. Too bad he couldn't catch it before it launched the bathroom attack.

The Cat

While reading a new Elizabeth Peters book yesterday, I looked up to find the cat with her nose in my salted peanuts.

I yelled, "Roz!"

She looked up. "What's wrong?"

I removed the dish but she tried to get back in them while she chomped down her mouthful. I figured she'd be sick, but guess not. Now I'm wondering if I can use them for bribes.