Category Archives: Pets

OK, Cat, I’m Up

OK, cat, I’m up.

Headache, congestion, ache all over… so slept in a few hours.

Survived repeated rounds of nose-to-nose sniffing, ear meowing, and body walking, but literally biting the hand that feeds her finally got me out of bed.

Mission accomplished, she is now happily curled up in the guest chair in my office. Sigh.

And the stars aligning as they are, giggling in gleeful madness, I am scheduled for my flu shot today.

Guardians at the Gate, Grazing Cat

Took Choco out on her harness. She’s an indoor cat, but she does like to get out to graze now and then. Unfortunately the drought this summer resulted in even less grass than our sparse little patch usually gets.

grazing cat

It’s the time of year when lots of spiders festoon themselves around our front door. Entering or exiting requires a careful scan of the situation, and much ducking and, er, weaving, to get through without creating too much disturbance.

spider

Bye-Bye Christmas Tree, I’m Going to Miss You, Meow

Yumi “undressed” the tree nearly two weeks ago, but we were loath to let it go. It still looked and smelled wonderful, but today we finally wrapped it in a canvas drop sheet, and took it down into the garage.

Choco the cat finds the garage spooky, but she sat by the door and cried, so I let her out. She went directly to the tree, sniffed around, meowked a couple of times, and then trotted back to me.

I guess in her own way, she needed a minute.

Lighting the Fire

We don’t use our fireplace much because it’s gas-fueled, and is not very efficient. Most of the heat goes up the stack, with little going into the house. For years we’ve aimed to rectify that, but other reno priorities always win the budgetary battle.

So we light the pilot light for only a couple of weeks each year, from near Christmas to New Year’s.

Here are two of my girls, my wife and cat, enjoying the fireplace. The third girl, the turtle, was under her broad spectrum lamp.

Yumi Choco fireplace

Catgirl Senses a Mouse in the House

I’m wondering if the colder weather has enticed a mouse into the house. The cat’s antsy, and wants to check out all the less used spaces behind closed doors — the storage under the stairs, the utility room, etc.

She rid us of a couple of mice a few years ago that sneaked in from the garage. Didn’t kill them, but caught them and brought them to us, and we released them outdoors.

She’s certainly fixated:

cat in sweatshirt cave

Ensconced in her cat cave, yet vigilant. The door to the under-stairs storage is about three bounds straight ahead, and is slightly ajar for access.

And yes, Daddy’s sweatshirts are great for sleeping on, under, in. . .

So are his outdoor fleeces, if he forgets to hang one up and just tosses it on the chair :  -).  That scenario results in a mass of cat hair matted onto the fleece.