Cat of Nine Tales

That's a Wrap!

2011-06-30T05:00:00.014-04:00

Nick wrapped around Penny makes a Penny wrap sandwich!

And that's also a wrap for us! We are taking our annual summer break from blogging and plan to be back in the fall.

We never rule out an occasional post and we'll visit when we get a chance.

We hope you come by on occasion and check out some of our older posts.

Have a wonderful summer (or winter depending upon your hemisphere)!

~Lisa Co9T

One Word Wednesday

2011-06-29T05:00:00.006-04:00

ANGUS!

~Lisa Co9T

Two Cat Tuesday - Cheek to Cheek

2011-06-28T05:00:00.018-04:00

BJ (on the left) and Wizard (on the right) are sharing a coveted spot

in front of the window on the back of the couch.

Back in the day when BJ was an indoor/outdoor kitty,

Wizard would rush up to greet him when he first came in the house for the evening.

All he'd do is sniff him all over, probably getting a "scent" of where BJ had been in the great outdoors.

BJ didn't seem to mind it.

BJ is our oldest kitty at 12 years old and Wizard is at least 8, although we don't know his exact age.

~Lisa Co9T

Mancat Monday - Mancat in Jail

2011-06-27T05:00:00.035-04:00

Oh! No! Wizard got himself put in jail!!

Sometimes Wizard gets carried away when he fights with Nick. For some reason, dominance perhaps, Wizard will turn a play session into a nasty pursue and attack session that he will not back down from. It only happens with Nick. We usually have to squirt him with water to get him to disengage, but he'll continue to pursue and attack Nick. Ultimately only a "time-out" settles him down and changes his behavior. It happens maybe once or twice a month and always lands Wizard in jail!

Lucky for Wizard, jail has many amenities and only lasts 10 or 15 minutes. Five minutes after I took this picture, Wizard started goofing off, turning upside down, making coo-meowing sounds and sticking his paws outside the bars.

It worked. I let him out early for good behavior :).

~Lisa Co9T

A Snafu Friday

2011-06-24T05:00:00.048-04:00

An Update on Snafu in June

But first, some fun photos of him playing with his newest favorite toy.

He loves to carry it about and keep it away from the other kitties.

Never a dull moment!

As of today, Snafu is not on any herbal remedies or pharmaceutical medications. If you are new here and need a historical reference of where we’ve been with Snafu and why you may want to read Mancats Can Wear Pink Thongs, Snafu - Extended, Situation Normal All F**ked Up, Homeopathy, and Snafu on the Offensive (otherwise know that he is cat aggressive, has fear/anxiety issues and is a territorial in-house peer). We did try Bach’s Rescue Remedy which at first made him more anxious, then we took him off the homeopathic album tincture and the Rescue Remedy seemed to work better. But…nothing we gave him seemed to make any consistent relative difference in his behavior and he still sprayed and attacked other cats. So, ultimately we decided to just monitor him when he is out of his room and only let him out when we can give him lots of attention.

In fact we have learned the best way to calm him is heat. A hot day (or in the winter, the woodstove) takes the aggression right out of him. Case in point - the other day when it was sunny and in the 80’s here, he and Penny actually tapped noses in passing. Taps instead of hisses and flat ears! Imagine that! Otherwise, on cool rainy days, he trys to beat the crap out of Angus, who insists on teasing him.

For the most part I keep his “trigger housemates” Penny, BJ and Angus in another room (if they are agreeable) when Snafu has his time out to run and play through the house. If he decides to curl up and take a nap, only then do I let the other kitties out, too.

Simply put, we are managing his behavior. At some point, we may try a different pharmaceutical when we have the money and perhaps reach a new tipping point because sometimes it is hard to see him so full of anxiety, but for now management (and heat) works best whether he is on or off medication.

By the way, the thong we had him wearing on occasion proved unhelpful when he had to go #2...which we could not predict. I only had to clean that up off him once to nix that accessory.

Thanks for reading this and thank you for your continued concern over our troubled boy. If anyone would like more specific or detailed information on what we've been doing and why, please email me at the Gmail address above. I know some of you have similar problems and are looking for answers too.

~Lisa Co9T

Yukon's Secret Obsession

2011-06-22T05:00:00.005-04:00

Yukon has a secret obsession...

He's a banana licker.

He also loves to chew on banana rinds.

What's your secret obsession?

~Lisa Co9T

Meditating Mancat Monday

2011-06-20T05:00:00.003-04:00

Angus is listening in meditation

and we think he looks quite handsome doing it...

~Lisa Co9T

Garden Post?

2011-06-16T05:00:00.018-04:00

I'm sure this morning you have seen some beautiful flowers and healthy plants in all the many gorgeous gardening posts around the CB.

All we could conjure up is BJ showing us the world's tallest dandelion.

DP must have missed this guy when she mowed inside the cat enclosure, so we had to take a picture of how tall it grew! It's hard to tell from this picture, but it is about 3 feet tall.

OK. You may resume your viewing of beautiful flower posts...thanks for stopping by.

~Lisa Co9T

Wordless Wednesday Wash up

2011-06-15T05:00:00.011-04:00

~Lisa Co9T

Two Cat Tuesday - A Lit'l Dis and a Lit'l Dat

2011-06-14T05:00:00.013-04:00

"Fine!"

"May I PLEASE go in the house YOUR MAJESTY?"

"Hmmmm...I'll take it into consideration, and get back to you."

~Lisa Co9T

Monday Morning Hangover with a Mancat

2011-06-13T05:00:00.007-04:00

Owen just had breakfast and now he's ready for an early morning nap. Who's game?

We hope you all had a good weekend!

~Lisa Co9T

Calico Girl

2011-06-10T05:00:00.004-04:00

I love, I love, I love my calico girl! Yeah, yeah!

I have a hard time taking a good picture of Penny.

Her whites are so white, they glare up

almost all the photos I take - flash or no flash.

But I'm going to go for it anyway this time.

Here is my calico girl showing some diva attitude!

~Lisa Co9T

Gifts from Cats

2011-06-09T05:00:00.002-04:00

Some skillful kitty left this gift
in the middle of my bed!

Here is a close up of the poor thing.

I think it was Nick since I've seen him catch a dragonfly in mid-air before.

It wasn't quite dead so I put it back outside.

Unfortunately, other kitties found it and finished it off.

~Lisa Co9T

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-08T05:00:00.003-04:00

~Lisa Co9T

Two Long Hairs for Tuesday

2011-06-07T05:00:00.007-04:00

Nick and Angus are lounging on the cat tree

~Lisa Co9T

Mancat Monday with Yukon

2011-06-06T05:00:00.010-04:00

Here is some cross-paw action DP caught from Yukon.

This is his lovey look.

Watch out, he wants some serious petting!

Here he comes to get it!

~Lisa Co9T

Yard Cats

2011-06-01T05:00:00.005-04:00

This is what we did over the holiday weekend.

Found some shade in the sun

after days and days of rain in May.

Snafu is on his back (looking at me) between the two ramps,

Penny is on the deck with Nick below her, and

Wizard is sitting on a new addition to the enclosure.

It's a camp chair we got at a yard sale.

DP is a yard sailing aficionado.

~Lisa Co9T

A Snafu Friday

2011-05-27T05:00:00.006-04:00

In this video is a pretty typical move of Snafu.

I try not to let it get very far, but lately I've
been wanting to capture his behavior on video.

Notice at the end how he sees that I'm watching him and he
looks for his next move. That's when I stop and redirect
him...

and this is how I spend my time...redirecting Snafu.

If you'd like to read even more about Snafu and how he is doing. Please visit my
other blog After Boom.

~Lisa Co9T

Can I have some sun?

2011-05-26T05:00:00.003-04:00

Yukon likes to share with dogs.

In this case Rex is sharing with Yukon,

although it looks like he'd like a little more sun.

What do you say, Rex?

Arf, arf!

~Lisa Co9T

Trouble with Turbo Trac

2011-05-24T05:00:00.003-04:00

Some kitties, just don't want to share!

Penny, Yukon, Owen are playing with the Turbo Trac with Snafu watching from the side (because Penny is there).

Can you guess who will be naughty and not want to share?

Ha! Did you guess right?

~Lisa Co9T

A Silly Series of Nick

2011-05-20T05:00:00.017-04:00

Silly Nick is sound asleep. Until...

DP brings out the flashy box.

Luckily, it barely disrupts him.

He doesn't even open his eyes.

He just falls asleep again in a new silly position...

~Lisa Co9T

Penny is Hunting

2011-05-19T05:00:00.005-04:00

Can you see what Penny is hunting?

He is making a lot of noise, too!

~Lisa Co9T

Wordless with Owen

2011-05-18T05:00:00.004-04:00

~Lisa Co9T

Two Cat Tuesday with the Gray Boys

2011-05-17T05:00:00.001-04:00

Wizard and Snafu watch the birds and rodents through the screen door.

Can you guess who is who?

~Lisa Co9T

Mancat Monday with Angus

2011-05-16T05:00:00.004-04:00

Angus in his usual sleeping position.

~Lisa Co9T