Tag: kitten Tuesdays

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Take Your Cat to Work Day

I recently found out that my friend took her cat with her to her office one day (she’s the boss, it’s ok) which is pretty much one of the greatest things that I have ever heard.  We were talking about how there should be a national “Take Your Cat to Work” day and then how it should really just be every day, much in the same way that national Margarita day should.

One great thing about working from home is that I do have my kittens at work with me.  Every day is take your cat to work day in my life.  And they are very good helpers.  They both have their spots and when I settle in to start working on my writing, they go to their designated places nearby and get hard to work on their mid-day sleeping.  It actually makes me feel like I need to stay at my computer and be productive because they are making a point of keeping me company after all.

Many years ago, the gal that I worked with suggested that we get an office cat.  It was just the two of us and we were both cat lovers; it was an intriguing idea.  The only problem was what were we going to do on weekends and holidays?  Both of us already had cats at home who were not likely to appreciate company, even if it was only part time.  Around that time, Mr. Man gave me a pair of kitty stuffed animals who sufficed as our office cats.

Here are a few of the great benefits of having your cat help out at work (that I just made up):

  • They make a great paperweight.
  • Cats are good at filing (if you use the floor as your filing system).
  • Free notary and paper shredding service.
  • The heat generated by your computer doesn’t go to waste.
  • I once had an office in an old building that had mice – that wouldn’t be a problem if I had an office cat.
  • Cats are a good judge of character, they could help with interviews and client meetings.
  • Prevents you from having to meet with people who think they are allergic to cats.
  • Getting up to pet the cat ensures that breaks are taken.  Petting cats is also proven to relieve stress and can help to generate great ideas.
  • Reduces absenteeism – workers would miss seeing the cat more than they would want to miss work.

Places that are open 24-7 (or at least every day) like police stations, firehouses, and hotels are good venues for live-in workplace cats.  Other workplaces like shops and offices would probably require a commuter cat – one who is brought to work in the morning and taken home at night, like when my friend took her cat to her office.

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Bathroom Privacy

Any cat parent knows that bathroom privacy doesn’t exist.  Beyond the usual, don’t you dare close that door behavior, Anabel and Sally are very interested in the shower on a daily basis.  Most days, when I open the shower curtain, I find Sally sitting on the bathmat waiting for me.  If he was distracted when I went in, he will come running when he hears me getting out.  He examines all of the drips and once I’ve toweled off and stepped out of the tub, he hops in to inspect it.  It really is too bad that he can’t hand me my towel.

Sometimes Mr. Man closes the door.  If Anabel is keeping tabs on him, she will sit outside of the bathroom door and cry and cry and cry.  If Sally is keeping tabs on him (they take turns), he has a door opening technique.  He will sit up on his back legs and use his front paws to push at the door – it is sort-of like speedbag boxing.  If the door isn’t firmly latched closed, he can get it open; it’s worked many, many times on my closet door.

The other day, both kittens were supervising while I showered.  Anabel was sitting on the edge of the tub and Sally just outside on the mat.  After I dried off, I closed the door partway to hang up my towel.  One thing that the kittens like less than being closed out of the bathroom is being closed in the bathroom.  I try to close it sometimes when it isn’t kitten bath day just to switch it up on them, but it’s too late.  They think that the closed door mean they are getting a bath.

Because of the placement of the vanity and the door, even when the door is ajar, there is not enough room to get out at ground level.  So, as they noticed that the door was closing, they tried to run out.  It was great to watch them panic, then start to problem solve.  Sally jumped up on the counter, then out the door.  Anabel noticed that her brother had left and was about to follow in his footsteps, but Sally went ahead and pushed the door open for her.  What a gentleman.

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The Kitten Bowl!

You remember how there was that football game the other weekend?  And for a few years now, Animal Planet has counter-programmed with The Puppy Bowl.  The Puppy Bowl is nice and all, but really the best part of it is the half-time show (one word: kittens).  Well, I got a hot tip about something even better than just a kitten half-time show, something wonderful, called The Kitten Bowl.  Thank you, Hallmark channel, for creating such needed and quality content.  And thank you Hallmark channel watcher for the tip, it was very much appreciated.

This was Kitten Bowl VI.  Yes, SIX!  The fact that I have missed five years of this quality program tells you that I clearly haven’t had my priorities straight.  The fact that I didn’t miss it this year means that things are finally moving in the right direction, don’t you agree?

Ok, back to the show.  The instigator of this extravaganza is Beth Stern, Howard Stern’s wife and famous crazy cat lady.  Thank you, Beth.

This was a start-packed extravaganza.  Boomer Esiason was the commissioner of the Feline Football League (FFL).    Rebecca Romijn was the ambassador of Hallmark Channel’s Pet Adoption campaign.  She presented special interest stories about all sorts of adopted cats throughout the broadcast.

The announcers were Dean Cain (yes, Superman) and Rodney Pete.  You have to give it to those guys, they dropped more cat puns in the first five minutes of the broadcast than I could imagine possible.

Some of my favorite cat puns:

  • Ruff-ere (there were puppies there to officiate)
  • Paw-session
  • Unnecessary fluff-ness
  • Catletes!

Here’s the format: there were two playoff games between four teams: Last-Hope Lions, Little Long Tails, Pouncy Panthers, and North Shore Bengals. The winners of each game would play each other in the final game.

Last Hope Lions were mostly grey and grey-and-white kittens.  They had a wide fur-ceiver, who caught my eye, Prince Hairy II.

Little Long Tails were black and black-and-white kittens. There was some suspense, one of the players, Rob Goncatski, Jr. missed the flight and was coming by party bus.

The first play-off game went to the Little Long Tails who beat the Last Hope Lions by a whisker, 24 to 23.

Time for game two, Pouncy Panthers versus North Shore Bengals.

Pouncy Panthers were the defending champs, and also happened to be the tabby team – you know that these guys were my favorites.

North Shore Bengals were the orange kitten team.  They had a ringer, a one-eyed wonder named Davey.

Somehow, North Shore Bengals beat the Pouncy Panthers 29 to 23.  I still can’t believe it.

Time for the championship game: North Shore Bengals versus Little Long Tails.

North Shore Bengals were dominating the first half.  Rob Groncatski, Jr. finally arrived with a few minutes left in the half.  He was a game changer and scored two touchdowns in a row!  At the end of the first half, the score was Bengals 21, Long Tails 22. 

After the second half started, Rodney and Dean started losing it.  There were making voices and making up dialogue for two kittens who were wrestling with each other.  It was fantastic.  Somehow, they managed to pull it together and got through the rest of the game.

In the end the score was Little Long Tails 35, North Shore Bengals 32.  But the real winners were everyone who loves kittens.

Don’t worry if you missed it, you can find the whole thing on the Hallmark Channel website.

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Playing with Fire

It was a cold and rainy night.  Mr. Man decided that it was a good occasion to have a fire in the fireplace.  I was not so sure for two adorable reasons.  Yes, my fireplace was still packed full of cardboard boxes to keep Anabel and Sally out of it.  No, they hadn’t gotten bored with it by now.  In fact, Sally had just spent the whole weekend trying to get in there.

So even though I love a cozy evening by the fireplace, I was concerned that we would have more on our hands than Mr. Man realized.

Our dearly departed Clementine loved having a fire in the fireplace.  Clementine was always looking for the warmest spot possible and lounging on the ottoman in front of a raging fire was one of her favorite ways to spend her time.  But she was a grown cat by the time the fireplace came into her life and never paid it any attention when it wasn’t serving her insatiable quest for warmth.

As Mr. Man was removing my make-shift barricade and getting the logs ready to light, I was in the other room putting the kittens’ harnesses on them.  When I bothered them by attaching the leads, they knew that something was up.  This part was probably more disturbing than the fire wound up being.

Mr. Man kept telling me that I was over-reacting because animals know what fire is and they know to stay away from it.  I’ve seen The Jungle Book, I get it, but I also have seen how interested these kittens were in a candle.  I felt that an abundance of caution would not be regrettable in any case.

Helpful hint: place your candle inside a large glass cylinder to keep curious kittens safe.

The kittens and I watched from a safe distance as Mr. Man lit the fire.  Once he had it going and the screen back in place, I let them wander around and check it out.  They were respectfully interested, but not overly so.  Within a few minutes I felt comfortable taking the leads off so that we could all go about our own business.

Sally did get bold and approached the hearth, but he didn’t get after the screen like he does other times.  I will probably want to put the leads on again the next time we have a fire, just until things get going.  But it is looking like the kittens and the fireplace will be able to co-exist peacefully and happily ever after.

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Toe Tufts

Anabel lounging with toe tufts visible

I know that I often revel in the fluffiness of my kittens, but today I want to take a moment today to appreciate how fluffy their feet are.

I mean look at this!

I googled images for furry cat feet and none of them had hair coming out from between their toes like Sally does.

That is not to say that these are the only kitties with furry toes.  I discovered a great term for it on Wikipedia: toe tufts.  According to Wikipedia, toe tufts are, “commonly found on cats with medium to long coats.”  To officially qualify as a “tuft” the fur must stick out at least a centimeter from the paw pads (so strict!).

Cats with toe tufts are even more silent than non-toe-tufted breeds.  Except when they slip on the wood floor and crash into something in the middle of the night, then they are equally noisy.  It certainly means that they are well-equipped to traverse snowy ground…not that that is something that I have to worry my kittens will ever experience.

Mr. Man thought that I should ask the vet if we should trim the kitten’s toe tufts (and by “we” he meant me).  The answer is (thankfully) no.  Messing with it could cause irritation that would lead to excessive grooming which could cause problems.  Of course, if my kitten steps in gum or some other sticky gunk (I’m not making this up y’all, this is what the vet told me), I should try to work the sticky gunk out with olive oil before taking scissors to it.  If my kitten steps in gum, Mr. Man is going to have a lot of explaining to do.  Can you imagine?

I will admit that on occasion, I’ve accidentally snipped a bit of toe tuft when trimming the kittens’ claws.  Sometimes it is really hard to know what I’ve got when I’m looking at Anabel’s white claws against her white furry feet.  It doesn’t happen often, and no one has found it a reason to be irritated yet (beyond the standard low-grade irritation of having one’s claws trimmed).

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Butterfly Cat Toy

The kittens received a Christmas gift from their cousins.  My dear nephews are experts when it comes to battery-operated toys and of course they (their mom) found something for their furry cousins.

A little motorized butterfly cat toy!

My sister knows the frustration of gifts without batteries and she made sure to put batteries in it before it went under the tree.  She also noted that it came with a spare butterfly.  Which was a good thing because that first butterfly barely lasted a week.  I kept straightening out the wire and picking up little bits of pretend butterfly wings.  Once I found the whole contraption flipped over and another time, it was no less than three feet from where it had been.  Mr. Man found the whole thing shoved inside of the cat tunnel one morning.

Eventually, Mr. Man changed out the batteries and put on the spare butterfly.  Then he got on Amazon to see if he could find replacement butterflies.  Fortunately, he did, and they come in a six-pack!  The box says, “Recharge Papillons” which sounds so much more fun than “butterfly refills.”

The base of the toy has a little button to turn it on and off.  Les chatons have figured this out and will turn their toy on themselves when they are ready for playtime.  I’m impressed that the little motor has lasted as long as it has since it has run for hours at a time.  And especially because sometimes they will just grind that poor papillon into the carpet and then leave it stuck there.

Anabel really likes when her cat tunnel is lined up with the papillon.  She likes to shoot through the tube to preserve the element of surprise for her attacks upon the poor, motorized butterfly.  Sometimes she will charge back through the tube after she pounces, other times she leaps to the far end of the tube, turns, and zooms through again.

But by far, the most adorable part about watching Anabel and Sally play with this toy is the way that they take turns.  No, I am not exaggerating.  Yes, it is hilarious.  Sally will sit back and watch while Anabel takes a few passes at the poor thing.  Maybe 3-4 times.  Then she will take a few steps back and settle in to watch Sally go at it.  It’s kind-of like a kitten break dance battle.  They get their licks in, then sit back to let the other guy take a few swings at it.

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Distraction Duo

Oh these kittens, they make my life better every day.  But I’ll tell you what, they are a HUGE distraction! They are THE distraction duo.

As I write this, they are maybe four feet away, getting into things.  I hear a thud, and look to see what they’ve knocked over now, and just keep staring because watching them trouble around is so entertaining.

The way that Sally always tries to pick up my pen…

We are just really lucky that he doesn’t have thumbs

When Anabel takes her nap behind my laptop…

The view when I closed my laptop

How Sally tries to get into the bag of dry cat food – not because there isn’t dry food in his bowl at this very moment, but because it is there, so he feels that he should get into it.

Those times when they run out in front of me, flop over, and ask for belly rubs…how can I resist?

Here comes Anabel, she is going to help my write this post.  Maybe if she walks on the keyboard we will wind up with the next great work of English literature?  Nope, that did not look like a masterpiece to me.

You know how multitasking was big for a while?  I remember sitting at my desk, working on tasks for at least two or three different projects, and replying to every email as soon as it came through, even if I was on the phone.  I was so busy, I must have been getting a lot done!

Anabel finds multitasking exhausting

Then it turned into, no one really multitasks, they just switch between tasks.  Oh, and that is a really inefficient way to work because your brain isn’t that good at switching tracks.  I believe it.  And I’ve been working at only working at one thing at a time, really focusing and forcing myself to stay on task.  I will set a timer to write and not check my email or my phone during my writing time.  But when you’ve got a kitty sitting on the back of your chair, grooming your head, it is tough to stay focused.

One strategy that I’m trying to keep me from getting too off track when they come in flaunting their cuteness at me is that I set aside little bits of time throughout my day to play with them.  That time is focused on appreciating them; I don’t try to catch up on Facebook with one hand while Sally gets his belly rubs.  Often, my kitten time coincides with their nap time.  There are only so many hours in a day and they need to sleep for 18-20 of them, so I can’t really expect that they can be bothered to get up just because I want to play.  But if they are up for it we might play with the ribbon on a stick or practice walking on a lead for a few minutes.  If they are feeling mellow, it might be a good time for a nail trim or other grooming.

Sally needs tummy rubs now

The only thing that I can say for my kitty distractions is that every time it happens my heart feels happy, as opposed to the panic-y, fear feeling that I would get from trying to multitask at work.  Some distractions are worth it.

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Kitten Road Trip

I had a brilliant plan: take the kittens on a kitten road trip to my mom’s house for Christmas.  I would get to have them with me and get to show them off to the family and they are so easy going that I didn’t think that they would be too bothered (of course they would be a bit bothered, they’re cats).  Also, since I’m home a lot these days, they are not used to being left alone for long periods of time.  They make a big deal when I come home after a couple of hours, I couldn’t bear the thought of how upsetting they would find it to only have a cat sitter just stopping by a couple of times a day.

I had some great ideas about how to prep the kittens for going on a road trip and how to handle them in the car.  It’s not unheard of.  I found articles on Chewy.com and one on Medium which led me to the official Adventure Cat website!  I’m not the only crazy cat lady out there.

I got them both harnesses which we practice wearing around the house.  They would be slightly bothered with the harnesses when I put them on, then quickly forget about it and go back to their usual kitten hijinks.  Now, it’s not even a big deal at all. Mr. Man is so much more bothered about the harnesses than the kittens ever were. Anabel will pull hers out and bring it to me to put it on her; I know that is because she likes the way that the pink accentuates her pink nose.  After a few days of harness practice, I even got Sally to walk on a lead (for treats).

Part two of my brilliant plan was to take them on short car trips around the neighborhood.  The last time they had been in the car was when they went to get fixed, I knew that it would be smart to let them know that every car ride does not lead to surgery.  Well, I pretty much blew off this part of our prep completely.  When I finally did take them on a car ride, they were mildly bothered, but I could tell that it was something that they would be ok with if I had taken the time to get them used to it.

Mr. Man was not on board with my genius idea from the beginning.  You would think that he has learned by now that I’m always right and that he should support me.  But he was even less ok with this plan than he was with getting these kittens in the first place. And even though he got over that in two seconds, it was clear that he was not going to be swayed so easily this time.

So, Mr. Man stayed home to take care of the kittens and I went by myself to visit my family.  Of course, I did spend the entire drive working out what I would do if I had the kittens in the car with me. I think that a kitten road trip is in our future.  I just need to be more thorough in my preparations and I’ll have adventure cats in no time!  Well, maybe not AdventureCats.org style that go hiking and camp but at least kittens who are emotionally equipped to take a road trip occasionally.

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A Tale of Fluffy Tails

a fluffy kitten tail

On today’s episode of Kitten Tuesday, we will be exploring how fabulously fluffy Anabel’s and Sally’s tails have become.  I have to admit that for a while there I was not optimistic that these tails would turn out as spectacular as they have.  This is a tale of fluffy tails.

When the kittens first came home, they had little stubby baby kitten tails.  Anabel used to chase her tail and it was so short that she couldn’t turn around far enough to catch it.  She would spin like a dervish until she tumbled herself over, then she would jump up and go again.  It was pretty entertaining.  No, I’m not sure how much time I spent watching Anabel chase her tail, but every minute of it was time well spent.

As they grew, their tails began to lengthen, soon the tail to body ratio was pretty much equal. They started wrapping their tails around themselves when they slept.  They didn’t have the tail muscles to carry them up yet, Sally’s would make a sort-of half arch when he would try but at least they were proportionate.  By September, their tails were getting thicker but were not what I would call fluffy. It is only recently that they have become fabulous.

It is funny because even though from certain angles Anabel and Sally can be hard to tell apart, their tails are so different in shape and texture.  Anabel’s is wide and linear,and the coloring is consistent the ticking on her body.  She tends to walk with her tail straight off her back which adds to the long line.

Sally’s tail is like a beautiful fluffy plume.  He carries it high over his back, especially when he comes running to meet me at the door. It is his beautiful welcome flag. His tail puffs out in the middle and then tapers at the end.  The color variation is more pronounced on his tail as well. 

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Remembering Emma

Many, many years ago, around of this time of year, and pretty much out of nowhere, Mr. Man said to me, “Do you know what you need?  You need a kitten.”  I was a little surprised.  I did? I hadn’t really been thinking about pets.  It had been a long, long time since I had a cat.  But as I thought about it, I realized that he was right, I DID need a kitten!

So, Mr. Man embarked on a quest to bring me a kitten for Christmas.  His first stop was a cat rescue place somewhere in Orange County. He was so upset when he got home, the lady there wouldn’t even TELL him if they had any kittens.  They “prefer if you and your fiancé come in together to meet our cats.”  The quest continued.  One thing we discovered was that December was pretty much the only month of the year that wasn’t “kitten season.”

Finally, we found a nice cat rescue lady who had kittens and would let him come to meet them.  He went to the woman’s house; she went to get the kittens and came back with her arms full.  He picked up this one sweet little brown tabby who was just staring at him, not squirming or crying like the others and the kitten immediately Velcro-ed herself to him.  Since she had attached herself to him, he decided that he may as well take her home. Done deal.

Baby Emma with her flamingo beanie baby

This kitten was a feral rescue, so she hadn’t been socialized to people as a little baby. Even though she was only nine weeks old, the rescue folks had her fixed because they weren’t sure if she would have to be released into a feral cat colony.  He got instructions on keeping her confined because there was a good chance that she would just hide from us and we would never see her again.  Mr. Man brought her home and set up a kitten room in the bathroom where the only place that she could “hide” from us was behind the toilet (of course we already had all the supplies, you know that I went shopping as soon as we decided that we were doing this).  And then I get a call at work. “You aren’t going to believe it! I got you the smartest kitten ever! She went straight to her box and used it!”  He was an instant fan.

When I would go into the bathroom to get her and she would hide behind the toilet and cry and purr simultaneously.  I would grab her and we would go play and snuggle in the other room. She had perfect tabby markings, her stripes were well defined and symmetrical, and she was very photogenic.

Mr. Man and I were loving on her and trying to decide what her name would be.  I suggested maybe something starting with “M” since she had a big “M” on her forehead.  “EMMA!” Um, that doesn’t start with “M”, but hey, why not!  And that was how our first kitten became known as Emma.

After a few weeks, we started letting her roam the house a bit at a time.  She liked to play and hang out with us and was very loveable. She even started sleeping in the bed with us.  One night I woke up and I couldn’t move.  For a split second, I thought that I may have had a stroke!  No.  I had a kitten sleeping on my head who had draped herself across my neck.  She did not appreciate being disturbed but I sure was relieved that once she was relocated I was no longer paralyzed.

Emma was our only kitty for several years.  I’ll tell you about Clementine another day,but suffice it to say, Emma did not love living in a two-cat home.  Even though she was older, she outlived Clementine and had the opportunity to be the only cat that she always wanted to be, at least at the end of her life.