Blast from the past: my cat stories
Now that I've settled on a permalink structure for the blog I'd like to show some of my new readers some posts I wrote a while back.
These posts deal with my cats.
Enjoy and feel free to leave comments!
Well, today I took the day off from work to get a few things done around the house. For those who may not know, I have six cats. Yes, I said six! Two of those cats do not go outside. At any rate, I was planning to get some painting done today in one of the bedrooms.
I need to finish painting the trim in this room so I dug out my cans of paint and a few brushes and set to work cleaning and clearing the area around the window. There was one thing I forgot to clear from the area: my cats.
Yep, I foolishly did not close the door to the room or lock up the inside cats.
I was nearly done painting around the window when I needed top open the window to paint the the sill and such. Big mistake!
As soon as I opened the window the two indoor cats, Kiko and Koko, came running into the room.
Let me tell you right away that Kiko and Koko are often referred to as "Frick" and "Frack" in our house. The two are almost always together and as Earl's mom said about him and Randy, "One of you is bad, the other is just simple." Kiko is the bad one and Koko is the simple one.
I had the window open up all the way and I was painting the sill when I heard the first "investegatory" meow. I froze.
Coming from either side of me was a cat. I reached back and pushed Koko aside but Kiko took the opportunity to run right past me and jump onto the sill. Yep, all four paws were now covered in paint.
I tried to extract him but he arched his back in such a way as to wedge himself in the window.
My biggest fear was that he would jump down and leave a trail of creme colored paw prints all over the house. With Koko in one hand I elbowed the window open a little further and pulled Kiko out. I then headed straight for the bathroom.
I had a slight problem in the bathroom. Koko was not the problem, his paws were clean. Kiko, however, is very wiggly and all four of his paws were covered in wet paint.
He got paw prints on my shirt and pants before I was able to get a wet wipe out and hold him down in my lap. I commenced to clean his paws off but I could not get it all out. I ended up locking them both in the bathroom while I finished painting the first coat around the window.
So, anyone know a good way to get paint off of a cat's paws?
I found this website for a Bengal cattery in Norway and I have to share it with all of you.
As many of you know from reading my blog, I'm a huge cat fan. I have six cats and love them all dearly. As much as I would love to have a Bengal cat I know I can't add anymore cats to my house unless I got a bigger house.
The website is Chetila's Bengal Cats. They are based in Norway and will ship kittens world-wide.
I know it may sound strange to many people in the US who are casual pet owners, but cat breeders often ship kittens (with great care) to world-wide destinations.
They have a very detailed "Health Plan" on their website to let prospective owners know how the kittens are raised as well as detailing the warranty you get when you purchase a show or breeding cat.
The cattery is owned by Marit og Bengt Fjellheim Olsen, who are located 80 km west of Oslo. they began breeding 2003 with a pair of Bengal cats and fell in love with the breed. their home is amazing to behold and each cat has their own private room.
I suggest you take moment to look over their "Jungle" set up for the cats. This jungle allows the cats to experience the out doors with out any risk of getting lost or hurt. It's amazing to behold and I hope they post more pictures of it in the future.
The "Kitten" pages on their site cover the litters all the way back to their first. They show both parents and pictures of the kittens after they have opened their eyes. Below is a smattering of photographs of the kittens nursing and playing.
There also pages for the Females and Males detailing their pedigree but not what litters they have sired. the kitten pages do link back to their parents but the parent pages do not link back to their litters. I hope they do add this feature in the future so you can get a better idea of how these cats breed and what sort of litters they produce.
Because this cattery is based in Norway some of the English pages are a bit off. It's mostly simple grammar mistakes or the wrong word used here or there, nothing so bad as to make it un-enjoyable though.
When I found this page I just fell in love with the cats pictured there. I hope you enjoy this website as much as I do.
A few years ago, my daughter and I took a trip to the local "big box" pet store in search of some cat toys. When we got there we found they were holding a big "free hamster" event. I took a quick look at the free hamster cage and saw there was only one left. Foolishly I told my daughter that if there were any left when we were done, she could get one...
I say foolishly because I did not realize they were using the "rice krispie treat" marketing method. You know it from the commercials. They leave one bar in the box so the customer wants to buy it as it is the "last" one. Once the customer leaves they drop another "last" one in the box.
At any rate, we walked around the store and found the cat items we were looking for.
OK, I know what you are thinking. If you read my earlier cat posts you would know I have six cats in my house. At the time we only had four as the Siamese were not yet living with us. So, you are probably wondering why someone with four cats would be buying a hamster. Well...
My daughter had recently gotten caught up in the Hamtaro craze that was sweeping the cartoon-aged kids of the country. She wanted a hamster, and that was that. Of course she wanted a cute cuddly teddy bear hamster, but those cost money. We did get a hamster... an "evil" hamster!
Yes, we got a very nasty dwarf hamster. A hamster that bit me as soon as we got home!
Back to the story...
The hamster was not exactly "free" though, you had to buy a cage to get the hamster. So, we looked around and picked out a SAMS cage. It's similar to Habitrail and was only about $30. We also had to buy bedding and food.
In the end, the "free" hamster cost me about $50!
On the ride home the surly hamster was just going nuts trying to get out of his little box. We made a quick pit stop at my wife's work to show her when it dawned on me... my wife has a rodent allergy.
In my zeal to put a smile on my daughter's face I forgot all about my wife's allergies... she did not. As soon as we walked into her work she looked at us and said, "What is that?" When my daughter told her she looked at me, "you do remember I'm allergic to hamsters? What possessed you to bring an animal that you know I am allergic to into our house? Have you also forgotten about our four cats?"
Yeah, I screwed up. I admitted it and then we left.
Once we got home we put the cage together and when I went to put the hamster in the cage, he bit me! After he bit me I just tilted the box and "poured" him into the cage. He needed a name; we named him "Evil Ham."
My daughter wanted to keep him in her room but we ended up putting him in the living room on top of the TV cabinet. It took a few hours before the cats noticed him... Once they did, they would just sort of stare at him... Sometimes they would jump up and look at him but mostly, they didn't care much.
Over time we bought extra tubes and added them onto his habitat. At one point we had so many tubes that we had to add extra weights to the bottom of the cage to keep it from falling over.
After we had him for about 16 months, we got the first of the Siamese, Kiko.
Kiko had a "thing" for the hamster. A short time after we got Kiko the hamster died of old age.
We had a short service for him and buried him in the flower garden, right next to a fish that had died before we got the hamster.
Soon enough, my daughter was bugging us for another hamster. My wife relented and we got a new hamster. This time we paid for the hamster and got a good one.
We got a "Panda" hamster that is named "Panda-Ham" and is very large. The hamster is so large that we ended up selling the old cage as he could not fit through the tubes!
We bought a mostly wire cage with a few short tubes that the hamster "crawls" through at a low rate of speed. Where Evil-Ham would fly through the tubes at break-neck speed Panda-Ham just sort of ponders through them.
When Evil-Ham came to a dead-end he could flip over and turn around, Panda-Ham has to back up.
Due to Kiko's "thing" with hamsters we had to move Panda-Ham's cage on top of our computer cabinet. For a while this worked but, eventually, Kiko managed to jump the five feet from a nearby table to get on top of the cabinet.
For a while he would just sit up there and stare at the hamster, but one day, he pushed it down...
It was early in the morning and I was about to get up when I heard this very loud crash! I jumped out of bed to see the hamster cage in pieces (it was part metal and part plastic) and a very guilty looking Kiko on the floor looking for a hamster-snack!
I wasted no time moving the cats out of the way and finding the hamster. It bit me!
Well, I can understand why this normally friendly hamster bit me. I mean, it just fell about six feet to floor to have it's home smashed and then to be chased by a hungry cat!
I duct taped the cage back together and put it in the basement.
I bought a new cage a few days later but kept him in the basement.
I finally found a new home for him in the bathroom on top of a cabinet with *no* tables nearby for a cat to jump up from.
One funny thing about this hamster is that he loves the hamster wheel, even though he hardly fits in it! To see him running in it is quite comical as he has to arch his back to avoid hitting the spindle in the middle. Due to his large size, when he runs, you hear a very loud, "ka-thunk, ka-thunk, ka-thunk" all throughout the house!
A Tale of Two Cats: Kiko and Koko
I know I mentioned this before but I'll say it again, I have six cats.
That's right, six cats! I didn't always have six cats but I do now. This story is not about all six cats, it's about the two newest cats; Kiko and Koko.
Kiko and Koko are about 6 months apart in age but came from the same breeder. Kiko has more Siamese features while Koko has the colorings, but not the sleek body of a Siamese. They are both very affectionate cats and they get along very well with each other.
Kiko, who came first, has bonded to me. That is one of the reasons we got Koko. He has certain "peculiarities" that define him as a cat:
1) He likes to sit on my shoulder.
2) He only eats "shredded" cat food.
3) He has an unusual attraction to hamsters.
4) He likes to sneak out of the house, earning him the nickname "Kiko-Sneako"
5) He never comes when called.
6) When he wants your attention, he climbs on top of the "cat cubey" and mews.
7) He only eats cat treats off of the floor. If you put them in a bowl he can't see them... Don't know why.
Koko, who has bonded to my wife is a very different cat. He does not like being held (at least not by me) and the other things I will list below:
1) He likes to sit far away from me.
2) He will eat anything.
3) He couldn't care less about hamsters.
4) He has zero interest in sneaking outside.
5) He comes when anyone makes noise.
6) When he doesn't want your attention you can't find him.
7) He enjoys tormenting all of the other cats in the house.
So, right away you can see that both cats are different in many ways. There is one thing they do like to do together, well two if you count playing "pig pile on the Byter" on cold days. Both cats love to hunt together.
I'm not talking about hunting cat toys, I'm talking about hunting other cats.
They work as a team. I know it's hard to believe since most cats are solitary hunters but these two do it.
Once, I heard some angry cat noises coming from my kitchen so I looked in to see what was going on. what I saw was most interesting. Figaro was laying down on a chair while Koko was on the table above him whacking him in the head. At the same time, Kiko was on the floor below whacking him in the butt. Figaro had that "let me out of this house now" look on his face!
What is also interesting to watch is when they operate their "ambush" strategy. One of the two will go in the kitchen and start bugging another cat. The other one will be stationed in the next room behind a piece of furniture. Once the victim runs out of the kitchen the ambusher rushes out of his hiding space and tackles the running cat. They then switch positions and the ambusher becomes the instigator in the kitchen.
The most likely target is always Figaro, I think it's because he squeals a lot. They don't try this on Spyder Cat because he's too tough for them. Byter? No, she's too snugly and can't run very fast. Squirty? Yep, but Kiko is always the ambusher on that lineup.
They also chase each other across the house when other cats are not available. This usually starts in any room except the bathroom and ends in the bathroom or the hallway outside the bathroom where the cat tree is. I think they are playing some sort of "king of the mountain" game because they both charge up the cat tree but someone gets pushed off.
Another trick Kiko uses is to sit next to a cat, lick his head and then grab him in a head lock until his grip is broken. Koko uses the, lay down next to a cat, show your belly, then whack them in head as hard and fast as possible until they do something. If they run, he chases them down. If they jump on him he wrestles with them for a while.
I think Kiko learned the head-lick maneuver from Squirty. I often see Squirty walk up to Kiko, lick his head and then grab him in a fierce headlock. This is often accompanied by loud growling from Kiko and a very determined expression on Squirty's face.
When it comes to bed time, Koko jumps right in the bed as soon as he hears by belt come undone. See, as a kitten I used to play with him by moving my hand around under the covers and letting him catch it. Now his claws are longer and his grip is stronger so I only do this when protected by thick blankets. If I don't play with a little bit before I go to sleep he attacks my fingers, armpits, whatever he can reach.
Kiko is the opposite, he will only come on the bed when I am sleeping. Then he lays down just out of reach and goes to sleep. Sometimes Koko will jump him in the middle of the night and I wake up to a rolling fur ball on the end of my bed.
Figaro used to sleep with me, but Kiko put a stop to that! If Figaro is on the bed Kiko chases him off, fast! He can't chase Squirty away but Squirty spends most nights outside.
Well, that's about it for this entry. I'll post more cat stories in the future.
When my wife and I got married we each had two cats. I had two long haired cats and she had two short haired cats. When we brought them all together... We had cat fur all over the carpet.
Her cats; Min and Byter, were older then my cats; Spyder Cat and Fat Cat. Though we never knew just how old Fat Cat was because I got him *used* from a friend.
Min was the oldest cat. He was also the first cat my wife had gotten after she left her parents home and started to live on her own. He was a mostly black cat with some white spots. He looked to be wearing a tux. He was the king cat, and up until he died, he was the master of the house and yard.
Byter, my wife's temperamental calico, was close in age to Spyder Cat. We also call her "The Bitch Cat" due to her nature. Byter is not a bad cat, but she is a very persistent cat who likes to chew your hair while you sleep, and while you are awake... In fact, if you sit still long enough you will find her purring her way towards your head.
She is also very particular about being pet. If you sit on the couch, and she sees you, you will soon find her under your hand moving her head back and forth. Yes, she will use your hand to pet her if you don't. Also, never stop petting her unless she is ready, otherwise she will bite you.
Fat Cat, my 'used' cat came from a friend who had too many cats. She claimed Fat Cat was gay and hated all female cats. Well, I never saw him do anything to my other male cats but he used to do this really weird thing with pillows... He was passed on to my sister-in-law because him and the Byter just never got along. She did give him a torn ear as a going away present though.
He lived a better life where he went anyways. Often times when we visited my sister-in-law Fat Cat would hide from me. I think he was secretly scared I would take him back to the house of many cats. In his new home he was the only cat and he was treated as a child. All of the catnip he wanted and he got to eat out of one of those fancy dishes you see on the gourmet cat food commercials, the ones you say, "no one would ever feed their cat out of one of those," but then you go to my sister-in-laws house and say, "can I be one of your cats?"
Spyder Cat was not always named as such. He started out life with the name Harley, due to his very loud purr. However, after becoming an 'outside' cat he learned a very peculiar *trick* for getting our attention. He would jump up and grab the window screens. Then he would climb up the window screens until we let him in. We lost a lot of good window screens to his claws.
Spyder Cat is a very loving cat, but he is also a bit of a loner. On game nights he always comes to the game room and plays musical laps. The only problem with Spyder Cat is his grooming skills, he doesn't have any. He will often come in the house to eat and have a pricker bush hanging off of his butt. One time he came in with a whole Azalea bush stuck to his backside. He saved me a couple of bucks that day but I had to avert making eye contact with my gardening neighbor for a few weeks.
One day, while petting the Byter's belly, I noticed a hard lump on her. We feared the worst and brought her to the vet. My wife, thinking it was cancer, was overcome with grief. She was so overcome with grief that she went out and got us another cat while the Byter was still at the vet! she came with a cute orange tabby kitten that we named Max.
Max was a very cute kitten. when he heard my pants hit the floor in the bedroom he would come running and jump right on the bed and demand to be pet. Byter came home a few days later (it was a strangulated fat cell) and did not understand why some new kid was in the house. She was very suspicious...
Max and Min both died about a year later. Min had sever internal organ failures and we had to put him down. He would not eat, dragged himself around the house (when he moved at all) and all the fat on his body had burned off. His eyes had sunk in and he was a very sorry sight.
Max was diagnosed with FIP about a month later. I found him out in the yard, just sitting there, he would not even move for food. It was all very strange as he appeared healthy. After the vet told us the bad news we had to have him put down too. It was a very hard time for us...
Around this time we ended up with two new kittens. Grey and Figaro. Grey came first and he was a little off. He was prone to seizures and never got very big. He disappeared one afternoon when a thunderstorm passed through. We have no idea what happened to him as he never went more then 100 feet from the house. He was a quiet cat, but like most with brain problems he could never seem to retract his claws.
Figaro was fine though. He was very similar to Min in coloring and also very shy. where Min was the king of the house Fig was glad just to be in the house. He was never much of a fighter but he was a great cat to have on your lap.
We then added another cat to our home, Squirty. He is a long haired orange tabby that is all muscle. He is also a purr machine, if you just look at him he will purr. Once you touch him you can't shut him off. He has some grooming issues but he is no where near as bad as Spyder Cat. He is also very neurotic and hyper.
After a while my wife started bugging me about wanting a Siamese cat. See, she had always wanted one and since we were down to only four cats we had room for him! He would be an inside cat and never go outside. so, we broke down and got a Siamese and named him Kiko.
Kiko was a very interesting character. He liked to play fetch and be carried around. For the first few months I thought his legs might be made of rubber because his paws never touched the ground! He especially like to sit on your shoulder while you walked around the house. He was very loving but... He bonded to me.
This made my wife very upset, so she bought another Siamese! For those of you at home that brings us up to six cats! Koko was from the same breeder as Kiko but he looked less like the classic Siamese breed. Koko bonded to my wife and at first Kiko was real mad, but after a few days he realized he could play with Koko.
See, with the exception of Squirty, none of the other cats wanted to play with Kiko. I think even Squirty regretted it later because he got Kiko's undivided attention whenever he was in the house!
Also, Byter enjoyed being the mom cat! We have many pictures of the Byter covered in little sleeping Siamese cats, all you can see is her head. She was very good to the kittens and they still sleep with her on cold nights.
Eventually, Kiko and Koko took over the house. they are like two peas in a pod and play together constantly. Especially late at night when I'm trying to sleep! The other cats come in mostly just to eat or sleep, but sleeping is tough when the combined team of Kiko and Koko are chasing you! One will attack from above, the other from below, and unlike our other cats, these two work effectively as a team!
So there you have it, a quick tale about the cats in my house. Feel free to share your own cat stories.
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