Post 341: Catsquatches captured in blurry photos!

“Catsquatch found the food lure, and eats heartily. Rumor has it, there is a second Catsquatch. Maybe it will come to the other plate of food and I can get both in one blurry photo!”

Dougy’s worked out a plan. Chase Andy before he eats (and gets his daily dose of medicine), then Dougy gets first shot at both plates of Catsquatch chow! As if catching that wee rascal Andy wasn’t hard enough…!

“No! While the second Catsquatch lurks in a dark corner (all the better to not appear in a blurry photo), the first one – the chunky one! – helps itself to the second plate of lure food! Will I ever see both at the lure plates at the same time?”

Speaking of Andy, he’s stretched out a few feet away from me as I type. Dougy is lording over him from the top of the cat tree. Can I catch Andy unawares? Whew!

Catsquatch Nr. 2 captured and wrapped burrito-style for administration of Catsquatch medicine! It was shockingly easy to capture the wary beast…! It now rests quietly on the beat up old computer chair next to my computer desk. I can touch it from here!

Well, capture Andy I did. He is medicated and hanging out with me, the devil he knows!

Poor little Catsquatch! “Why do you do this to me,” his eyes beg me to say…. Aw! “Little Baby Jesus must have looked so sweet…and fuzzy?”

“I don’t care if it’s tuna-flavored. I don’t like it.”

Post 337: Andy is of a different opinion…

Andy suspects Dougy’s up to something… [Dougy is in front.]

Andy’s fears confirmed: Dougy’s headed for Andy’s new tub! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Hunh!? Doesn’t Dougy see Andy watching him from below!? One small step for Dougy, and he’s in!

Dougy is pleased with himself! You know it!

Andy rushes to the cat lounger by the door to assess Dougy’s perfidy and total disregard for territorial rights!

“Dougy will feel the brunt of my mighty will, SOON!” Andy is steamed! Dougy, in the meantime, is oblivious to impending doom…!

Our bad boy snuggles in for a snooze.

Andy plans his attack!

Andy has catty remarks for his brother!

A tussle ensues!

“Be gone you bad kitty!” Andy is adamant! Andy is in no mood for Dougy’s cattitude today!

Dougy runs to save his tail. Andy chases to make his point: “That is MY tub, you scruffy rascal! MINE! MINE! MINE!” Andy makes his point with tooth and claw.

Post 334: odds and ends

I had an unexpected visitor yesterday afternoon, a church friend who brought me a plate of cinnamon buns. I protested, but gave in. I’ve had her cinnamon buns before, and they are delicious! Especially with a steaming mug of coffee made from home-roasted coffee beans. Mmm!

roll 1

Let’s take a closer look at those yummy rolls:

Thanks, Jane! They are delicious!

Yeah! I’m rationing them as best I can, but…!

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Andy and Dougy both like to share my computer desk with me, as most of you who follow this blog and my videos on YouTube well know.

Today, the sun, which hasn’t been around much of late, lit up Andy’s hair just so, creating this lovely angelic effect:

angel andy

Lest you confuse Andy with an other-worldly being, here’s another photo of his lower half, strangely sprawled over books at one end of the computer desk shelf. He sometimes snores in his sleep, too. Of course, he sometimes purrs in his sleep. Andy is a funny cat!

angel andy 2

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Andy and Dougy spent over an hour playing “Chase the Antelope” this morning. As further evidence Andy’s doing better since he began medication for his heart murmur, he not only kept up with his brother Dougy, he initiated much of the play! He even took on the “Cat’s Meow” toy with an ardor that was, well, very playful indeed!

At one point, Dougy was on the recliner. Andy was on the spare carriers, looking down, trying to decide how best to avoid Dougy.

He hopped onto the arm of the recliner, Dougy thought he had his brother ready for a tussle, but Andy deftly hopped from one arm, over Dougy (who was very surprised), to the other arm, then down to the floor.

He ran off into the north bathroom, leaving Dougy in his dust!

It does my heart good to see Andy so active!

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Post 333: “Stealth” isn’t Dougy’s middle name!

I caught Dougy preparing to hide on the doorway cat recliner. Andy, Dougy suspected, was in the guest bedroom. Hiding this way, he could catch Andy off guard. Yes, Dougy prepared for a game of “Chase the Antelope”, a favorite of the boys!

A problem, though: To tuck his head down low enough to be concealed, his big kitty butt ended up high in the air, thanks to the shape of the cat lounger.

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Yeah, he could hide his face, but there was a second issue: I caught him in his game and started making flash photos. Game over! (Andy is sleeping on the washing machine in the bathroom anyway, Dougy.)

Post 325: Andy’s doing fine, thank you!

He and Dougy both are slaves to their stomachs. Poor Andy! Even though he pretty much knows I’m going to give him medicine before I feed the two of them, he still falls into the trap of following me around so he’s always where I am when I prepare the cat food. Works out just fine: I can easily catch him for his daily dose of Benazepril!

I mentioned the “cat enchilada” method of swaddling a cat in a bath towel to make it easier to give the cat medicine. I meant “cat burrito”, though, honestly, there is not a great deal of difference. “Cat burritos”, I guess, differ in that they don’t need chile verde ladled over them. 🙁

Andy took his medicine like a big boy this morning, though he almost slipped out of the towel and got away at one point. Stuffing a “cat burrito” seems simple, but does require a bit of practice for consistent results.

andy on stand 1 27 feb 2014

After breakfast, the boys follow me over to the television where I watch morning news. Always. I’m as boringly predictable as they when it comes to routines. If they spoke English, we’d probably finish each other’s sentences.

andy on stand 3 27 feb 2014

Or talk about how Andy maintains his magnificent tail.

andy on stand 4 27 feb 2014

But more likely, he’d tell me to shut up so he could grab some winks on his light stand. Yeah, this is part of his territory, and it is deep inside the Dougy Republic.

The main thing is Andy’s doing fine, thank you!

Post 323: Dougy sneaks a snooze…in ANDY’s tub!

I mentioned in Post 322 how Dougy sneaked a snooze in Andy’s tub, but Andy spotted him and got him to move out with “The Staredown”. It seems Dougy learned nothing from that encounter.

Andy’s in his favorite cat tree spot, distracted by a noise outside

Aw! To lean back and prepare for a snooze!

Dougy spots an opportunity!

Woo hoo! While Andy snoozes, Dougy heads for Andy’s tub!

So close! So close!

One foot inside…!

“Victory! Scootch down, and it is mine!”

The Dougy has landed!

Andy’s oblivious to the territorial breach…

…but not I: “J’accuse, Monsieur Chat! J’accuse!” Dougy’s perfidy is called out!

“Plumes de souris! Je suis coupable des chefs!” ~ What else could Dougy say? *

* Dougy could say, “Mouse feathers! I am guilty as charged!” So Dougy took a nap in Andy’s tub. Why not? Andy was sound asleep in the cat tree…!

Post 321: Andy’s home!

Andy spent most of the day at the veterinarian’s. I went to pick him up at 4:00.

His veterinarian called me into an examination room to review the findings, showing me this two page document of test results that mostly were in the normal range, except for blood pressure (high) and platelets (low).

He explained the significance of these results, but I couldn’t focus…. The presentation looked like medieval plainchant notation, and the explanation largely passed over my head as I tried to grasp the significance of the aberrant test results.

Test results or Medieval plainchant?

There was no ultrasound test today, but there may need to be one down the road. I take Andy back March 17th for another blood pressure test and examination, perhaps to learn if the ultrasound’ll be needed to establish why his heart appears enlarged. At least that test is pleasant, though he’ll have to have a patch shaved in his fur to allow the test.

Andy was very ready to come home, and he was especially ready to eat like a starved kitten!

Best news of the day was that most of his test results were in the normal range. He is a young adult cat – two years and seven months old – so should be in relatively good shape. Still, I will need to give him a daily dose of Benazepril, a heart medication. I’ll have to look it up on the Internet to learn more about the drug.

Andy’s medication can be flavored many different ways, and I decided to have it flavored like tuna fish since he likes that. Best of all, it is in liquid form.

Even though I have full confidence in Andy’s veterinarian and faith that all things will work out, this has been a stressed out day for me. Yeah, but not so much as for Andy and Dougy, who moped around the house, looking for his brother all day.

(I suspect Dougy felt a little less happy to see Andy when Andy hogged the wet cat food when I put it out, blocking Dougy’s access to his portion!)

Best of all, though, Andy’s home! We missed the little guy.

Post 320: A slow fluffy snow day…

When it’s 19 degrees F (-7 degrees C) and there’s a slow fluffy snow falling, the best thing to do is adjust your pace to the day.

Yes, the blessing of a slow fluffy snow day…!

Post 319: Cattitude ~ Andy has it!

Wednesday, I learned Andy has a heart murmur and will need follow-up tests next Monday to establish future care. Yesterday, I stewed about my poor invalid kitty. Today, that same cat took on his brother in a manner reminiscent of the kitten wars when they were little:

Andy may have a medical issue, but he still has his cattitude! I am more confident now he’ll be OK in the long run.

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Here’s a bonus Dougy video:

Post 318: mugging

Shortly after I retired, I discovered zazzle.com, one of several places where you can create custom designs on a variety of items. Though I’ve made t-shirt, a Louie the ginger cat calendar, postage stamp, poster, Christmas card, and business card designs, many just for my use, my favorites are coffee mugs.

New Louies Cape_Complete

Without a doubt, my cat coffee mug designs are my favorites since, well, my cats are great subjects, starting with the late Louie the ginger cat. My favorite Louie mug features this image, a combination of my photo and New Zealand friend Peter Studt’s droll super hero outfit painted on it.

That image made a great poster, too, which hangs over the settee:

Thanks to Andy, Louie the Ginger Cat as Captain Me-Ow is tilted in his frame! To live with cats is to accept a certain level of chaos and destruction!

There were others; there will be more.

Today, I added these two to my mug designs:

dougy mug

andy mug

I guess it is obvious why I might like these two designs for mugs! Of course, since today is the last day of a 40% off sale on mugs, I decided I needed two of each design. I have the design in 15 ounce mugs, but that is a lot more coffee than I want to drink at one sitting! I’ll use them for water or pencils, and the new, smaller mugs for coffee.