Post 538: a slow Caturday morning…

Nobody’s moving much or very fast this morning. In fact, there is a distinct sense of a nap coming on.

Andy didn’t get his medicine until a bit after 9:00 AM. Not because he hid from me, but because I just wasn’t moving very fast. Then, when I realized I’d forgotten to take care of Andy’s medicine, I located him by the front door, lazing. He looked up at me, I reached down and picked him up. No drama, no resistance, even when I wrapped him in the towel. Oh, he put up token resistance when I put the syringe of medicine up to his lips, but even that was a lazy resistance, just enough to assert his disagreement with the act of being dosed.

He got his praise and treats, then went under the computer desk to that spot he likes to go when he wants to avoid capture, can see but not been seen easily.

Andy’s hidey-hole under the computer desk.

Dougy didn’t have much energy going either today, this slow Caturday morning. Oh, he tried to put on a show by scratching on the settee he knows he’s not supposed to rip apart but does, but it was just enough to show he’d been by, a show for Andy’s sake a few feet away under the computer desk.

Dougy looked back toward Andy to make sure Andy saw the show at the settee.

But it turned out Dougy put on a show for a kitty that wouldn’t let himself be worried by some silly territorial business today. Dougy ran off to take a nap in the bathroom.

I think Andy moved a little bit. Mmmm. That tail switched, right?!

I think Andy moved a bit. Mmmm. That tail switched, right?! Yes? No?

A slow Caturday morning…. Maybe I’ll take a nap, too.

Post 537: the webcam cable is no toy

Andy has a long time fascination with the cable to my webcam. After this video was taken, I had top disconnect the webcam or risk Andy chewing it.

Yesterday, I thought it might be long enough after the cable incident above that I could reconnect the webcam, a computer toy I actually would use a lot if the kitty left it alone.

Oops! What you don’t see in the video is Dougy chewing on the cable moments before. Dougy thinks it’s a toy, too. Once again, the webcam had to be disconnected to protect a cat and the cable.

Post 531: Andy mocks authority

Andy’s been a pill today, in a sweet kittenish way. First of all, he avoided his medicine. I think he realizes I won’t give it to him after a certain time because I try to give it to him at the same time for best results. I don’t think I’d over dose him if there were too few hours between doses, but, for such a small creature, it just isn’t worth the risk. No dose for today.

After that magic time, the time beyond which I won’t dose him, he showed up again, and took his place on top of the blue carrier on the settee. “See me? I’m right in front of you, human, and you can’t do anything about it!” Andy is a rascal.

Well rested, Andy hopped down on the settee to contemplate his next moves.

“Woohoo! I think I’ll tip the wastepaper basket by the computer…while the human watches!”

“What next? Hmm. I’ll tip the wastepaper basket in the kitchen!”

Andy contemplates the next move.

“Cheese it! The cops!” Andy realizes I’m watching. Am I just taking photos or am I plotting to get close enough to catch him? Andy takes a hike under the table, a good strategy!

Dougy decides this isn’t a good place to be. “If I’m not careful, the human will credit me with the mayhem!” He scurries out of view.

Post 529: Arrr! It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Andy had his doubts about that tuna-flavored bomb...!

Andy on an ordinary day.

...because tomorrow the bogeyman's catching you and taking you to see Dr. David!

Haven’t ye heard, Andy, what today is!

“Arrrr…! I feel the glow!”

Flashback to Andys kittenhood…

Andy (above) and Dougy lurked in my bedroom last night, and decided 1:30 AM was a good time to wake me up on my birthday! (Notice Andy's horn is showing. I guarantee there was another one on the other side, too!)

It became clear.

How we looked after the trip to Deidesheim.

Me-Arrr! Andy is a pirate kitty!

I first learned about this day when I still worked at the hose factory. I’d spent hours trying to get formulae to work correctly on a spreadsheet I prepared to separate nonaccountable mandrel scrap from accountable scrap. I felt I was near to the answer when the Human Relations Manager showed up at my desk. He was wearing a tricorn hat and slashed the air around me with a toy sword.

“Arrr! It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day!” he said, clearly into the fun of it, but oblivious to the effect of this unwelcome distraction, one that cost me a few hours progress on resolving my spreadsheet challenge. “You have to talk like a pirate all day.”

Disgusted, disturbed, delayed, but not yet defeated, I felt an urge that would imperil my future. I mumbled something in “pirate-ese”, but thought a more specific pirate thought, “[Blank] you, matey! [Blank] you!”

He was the Human Relations Manager afterall.

more information here

😉

On a different note, the Scottish independence referendum is complete, with a 55% majority voting to remain a part of the United Kingdom. I still don’t know what I think about the issues, but there appears to be some concessions that give additional autonomy to the Scots and, promised, Northern Ireland, Wales, and England. It’s enough to turn one into a pirate!

Dougy was obsessing over birds at the feeder across the lane, chirping, pacing, and deciding to leave the scotch to the humans!

Offered a single malt scotch, Dougy declared he prefers to watch birds. Arrr!

Post 475: “We wait…!”

Andy and Dougy have their priorities. Sorry, but this post interferes with kitty play time some days, and the boys don’t get it.

Andy waits.

Andy watches and watches. Something, something might just happen, and he wants to be ready!

Dougy waits.

Dougy choses the “whiney kitten” mode, sighing, pacing, positioning himself in play zones in broad hints about what he wants and expects from me…NOW!

I better close this early, and get back to my primary purpose in life, amusing my cats! See ya!

Post 463: a nap would be fine…!

I took my brother to the airport this morning. After five weeks of family visits, I am home alone. I enjoyed the visits — good thing — but I am happy to get back to routine, too.

The cats are less certain, though. When I returned from the airport, Andy and Dougy looked for my brother, seemed a little confused and concerned he wasn’t with me. Need I say my brother is their favorite “uncle”? Of course not! He’s great with animals and kids, and they know he likes them, too!

Dougy was especially concerned, and I had difficulties catching him in frame and in focus. On the other hand, this photo gives you a good sense of how agitated he was…!

I finally did get a decent photo of Dougy. He settled down, but I think he and Andy miss my brother. My brother is lots of fun! Sure, I played with them after I got home to help them decompress, but they were less engaged than they normally can be.

“Where’s Uncle…!?”

Andy wasn’t as agitated as Dougy, but he kept looking back from his perch, toward the kitchen and door area, possibly in hopes of seeing my brother.

“Something’s not right…!”

Both boys seemed to understand something was going on this morning because neither my brother nor I generally wore anything but shorts and short-sleeved shirts while he was here. We had bare feet unless we were headed out or — Andy acted like he thought there was interest in catching him — getting ready to take the cats to the groomer or veterinarian. Today, we even had on shoes! Oh my! The boys like to sniff feet, so they notice these things!

As of this report, things have begun to return to routine. But a nap would be fine. I’m exhausted.

Post 445: hot day

The forecast is for a July-like nasty hot day (81°F or 27°C, with a thunderstorm in the afternoon). It’s a more tolerable 61°F (16°C) at 5:30 AM, a pleasant coolness I will enjoy as long as it lasts!

I make sure my boys, Andy and Dougy, have plenty of water available in their cat fountain. They are very good about hydrating themselves, though cats sometimes are water-shy. (Especially when immersed in it!) That helps them keep cool.

If the temperature inside gets too warm, I do turn on the air conditioner. When I am away from home for any extended time, I like to leave it on for the cats, too, just in case it gets too warm for their comfort and safety inside the closed apartment.

Andy is cool~!

Cats, though, are pretty smart about coolness. (“Cool cats”!) Andy likes to sleep and laze one of two places in hot weather: the top of the washing machine, which is cool to the touch, or on the floor by the shower. Dougy lounges on the cool floor in the bathroom, too.

Neither cat is as active in the hot part of the day as they are in cooler weather because they are smart about such things. “Mad dogs and Englishmen” alone go out in the mid-day sun, as they used to say, but not “cool cats”!

A friend used to talk about the life lessons he learned from watching his family cats. In defense of other animals — dogs, for example! — I think it is fair to say most animals instinctively know to avoid heavy activities during hot weather, and have developed strategies that work very well toward that end.

I mean, how many dogs do you think would deliberately lock themselves in a hot car while their human runs into the store for the weekly groceries? They are smarter than that, animals are!

My childhood dog Peanuts, for example, went inside his dog house, which had a dirt floor, and excavated a good-sized hole in the moist, cool earth for his hot day comfort. Good doggy! He had lots of water and a nice flowering crabapple tree over his doghouse, too, which added to his comfort.

Myself, I will avoid going outside today. Tomorrow, another hot day predicted, I have no choice since I go to the military museum in the afternoon for my weekly volunteer “work” there. Fortunately, it’s air-conditioned for the safety of the displayed items — and any humans who stumble off the sweltering streets!

My home air will be turned on for the boys.

You! Keep hydrated, remember to treat yourself to any coolness you can, but don’t forget to help your pets keep cool, too.

Post 436: we’re adjusting, slowly

I don’t expect my brother and sisters to follow my cats’ schedule. I mean, I have no choice: They know where I live! But my siblings live real lives elsewhere. This is a temporary situation, where my cats stalk them at night, jump on their beds, maybe make a racket hopping onto a favorite windowsill to view the nighttime outside the apartment.

I, on the other hand, expect this constant assault on my sleep. Dougy pounces on my bed, then hops up to walk on me from foot to head, head to foot to let me know it must be time to feed the kitties! (He has a good sense of this mythical time, after all, and it something like what you humans call 3 AM!) Andy just sits on a high place and stares at me. Also an effective strategy since one starts to feel watched when one is, well, watched!

So, struggling out of bed, stepping on the favorite string toy Andy drags around the place and leaves in random places, I begin my day.

You think the shot’s out of focus, but this is a realistic representation of how the world looks when the cats get me up. A “before I can focus my eyes” shot

I’m used to finding Dougy waiting in his favorite salmon-colored tub for the day’s play to begin. He’s always “up” for play, believe it! He’s in kitty paradise with four people willing to play cat games with him. Thanks to the new toys that even Andy likes, the boys eventually tire out and take a nap.

Sounds like a good plan. A nap….

But first, gotta grind some beans and make some industrial-strength coffee to get my plane off the ground. Oh, yeah, and catch Andy to give him his yummy tuna-flavored medicine. At least it’s supposed to be yummy, but I guarantee he makes a face.

Post 433: What’s up, boys?

Andy and Dougy aren’t cooperating much today.

If I don’t get boxes torn apart and in the trash fast enough, one or the other cat claims it as a cat lair. Yep! Ugly boxes all over the place! I try to weed them out from time to time, but the boys watch closely….!

I wanted a photo of the boys at a new box of contention that brought on a cat fight yesterday — yes, Andy and Dougy have snits! — but they both walked away as soon as they saw the camera. True Thomases!