CHRISTMAS CAT TREE

There was a mystery gift and it wasn't under the Christmas tree. Rather it was sequestered in behind the tv and covered over with a blue blanket ~ its hasty wrapping paper. When, what to my wondrous eyes should appear...

A brand new cat tree for the cats to enjoy! Me too, actually, because now they won't be on every other surface in the house and since they lost their last cat tree this past spring, they've been wanting one back. 
My husband made this tree from bits of rough hewn wood he found round the dairy. When, I don't know and when he got it into the house and down the stairs into the basement where I rarely go, I don't know and he isn't telling...
But I've been asking for one for a-g-e-s to keep the cats off other kitchen surfaces that they've claimed as their own and out from under my feet.

four cats in a tree

 

After putting it in the kitchen for the time being its become the most popular place in the house! Come January it will go in the living room front window.

This is the only way Molly and Sassy will share - 1. when they can't see each other and 2. when they are on different tiers.

The morning's entertainment on Boxing Day 2012;

For once Molly isn't hitting Winston and she can't see Blackie, so he's safe.
Of course, there's a story here, the grey cat on the highest tier is a little female; the one beside is a male...

Since she was fixed she's gained weight and  attitudes toward every cat that used to beat her up. 

So guess what?

Winston and the Grey male sharing the cat tree on Boxing Day morning.

Pretty much, you guessed it; she will take after any cat now...

Barn cats sharing a homemade cat tree

Happy Christmas to Everyone, including you're pets!

Prosperity, Family and Good Friends are all very welcome in the New Year ~ 2013

Catspaw

Frame by Funny Frame

 

And a dangerous situation is put in its place by a colony cat while Sassy looks on...

Catspaw

Cats ~ How Litttle We Know Them

We all know what to expect when living with a cat, don't we???

Maybe we missed a few details in our assumptions! Allow me to clarify...

Don't they just take "what's mine is yours" to the absolute LIMIT!!!

Imagine, being 'told off' by your cat! What is the world coming to?

And what does happen when you discover there is no room for YOU!?

Well, this is what happens... you also discover they are the most loving, darling, crazy animals ever that have personalities and characters of their own and just watching their ridiculous antics makes you calmer and you live longer.

I am BORG!

You will be assimilated. 

Resistance is futile. 

I mean Heck, they even mimic our attitudes and behaviors sometimes...

But in the end, 

Resistance is Futile

We can't help but love 'em!

Catspaw

Would You Use These...

I don't know about you but I usually try to 'fit' my cat or kitten's name with his or her personality. Failing that however, there are a few names I'd adopt; oh, just because...  

Here are a few names to consider if your looking for a more out-of-the-way name for your pet. Some of these names I would consider using for a pet*


Abernathy*             Cashmere*        Meowric*            Hamish*
Ambros*                  Cinnamon*       Fergus*                Hrothgar*
Azure*                      Cricket               Fiddle*                 Inca*
Batherskite              Crusoe*             Fizgig                    Kofi*
Babbette*                 Daxter               Fluffels*               Lady Meow    
Binx*                         Diesel                Freyja                    London*
Bixly*                        Dozer                 Frostbite* the 3rd?  Lunar*      
Bristles*                    Elfin*                Gowain*                Mactavish*   
Cameo*                     Ebony*             Graffiti*                 Maestro* 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maisie*                    Minwee*           Nyler*           Rayne*
Mariposa*               Minette*           Norbert*      Rowan*      
Mason*                    Mittenz*            Nyla*            Ruffus*         
Maximillion*          Montague*       Pandu*         Sabetha*  
Meeko*                     Mookie*            Pesto*           Samwise*      
Meep*                       Moggie*            Petal*            Saffo*          
Messa*                      Mosaic*            Piewacket*   Slagathore*              
Meko*                        Neechie*          Pitten*           Snickelfritz*                   
Memow*                   Neko*                Pudding        Snowtuft*             
Mishi or Michi*       Nessa*               Pym*            Sookie*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stitch*                      Truffle*             Wubbles*          
Tailspin*                  Tuna Paw          Winnie*                           
Taina*                       Tuppence*        Winston*                            
Tartan*                     Tybault*            Xavier*                               
Tavistock*                Tyce*                  Xeno                                   
Tecate*                      Unin                   Yazmin* Yaz fir short                       
Templeton*              Vasili*                Ynez*                            
Tenebrae*                 Wembley*         Zaneta*                              
Thistle*                      Willow*              Zazou*                     
Tiffin*                        Wolfgang                       
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Being a writer I look for the more unusual names to include in my stories and I prefer the more uncommon-place names than what most people would choose.


Hope you like these.


Catspaw
 

Kittens GONE!

I am happy to report that a lady from Cat Action PEI came at 1 pm and picked up the two kittens from my Kijiji Ad. She said they'd be dewormed and vet checked but they were too young and malnourished to be spayed yet. If people are still interested in them, they can phone Cat Action or email the lady who picked them up. Please contact me for this information by leaving a comment in the box or email me from my Kijiji Ad, that I have already updated.


As to availability, an interested party already contacted them so I don't know if a kitten has a new home already, but one or both still need homes. They are available for immediate adoption now and their new owners can have them spayed themselves when the time comes or Cat Action will do them. They are still strays until they are adopted, then they become house pets. You will need to talk to Cat Action about that if you have questions regarding spaying and shots. 


Living on a registered cat colony, animals are always being dumped at the farm, I and my husband always take them in and eventually they end up on Kijiji. Check back often as anything that happens, you will learn about it on my blog first.


Catspaw

PS: This just in, one lady phoned Cat Action and got to talk to someone. Interested parties will need to contact the lady who picked up the kittens directly. Please contact me for her email address if interested.

Stray Cat Strut ~ Again.

The little dark tabby kitten who came in on the 29th out of hunger and desperation.

I posted an ad on Kijiji for the kittens; 174 visits and one call came so far. Not everyone is looking for kittens! My hubby found a third kitten in the barn hayloft very early this morning and brought her to me. She is light grey like the other. I should mention here that these are no ordinary cats. They have unusually long legs and very large ears. In fact they almost look part jack-rabbit. They are not deformed in any way and look perfectly normal for cats but they are quite unusual. So much so, that I am having difficulty finding a breed like them on the web and both my husband and I have searched. I am going  to edit my Kijiji ad and add this information into it. 

The sibling the dark tabby brought over yesterday. She is not ready to trust people so easily and runs for shelter whenever I move.

They have successfully survived the winter but only just without human intervention. Even the colony cats have to be fed in winter as there is no prey for them to hunt. They are just beginning to come around and trust me but their hesitancy shows they've been hurt and abused. The barn cats, in staking their own territories out, do not want them around and although there is food for the colony cats, they don't share it with these strays. So these three have suffered abuse from there as well. The fact that I can 'feel' their rib cages, back bone and tail bone testifies to that. 

These kittens need homes and they need them now. If you live on Prince Edward Island, Canada and are interested in them, Please contact me by leaving a comment in the box and I will get right back to you. 

Updated today. The grey kitten on the far right is the sibling my husband brought in this morning. She was hidden in the barn hay loft for warmth. He had to crawl in to get her. All three are pictured here.

Don't let their fur fool you, they are skin and bones. Please take a look at my Kijiji Ad using the ID # 367392593.


Catspaw

PS: Merrill just told me the only reason she was found in the hayloft is because she was crying so loudly! Her siblings were gone and she was alone. If they have been eating anything, its to sneak down from the loft and eat barley that that they find on the floor of the barn.

Stray Cat Strut ~ Again.

Two skin and bone females have been discarded at the dairy or they have found their own way here. This one came in without hesitation yesterday evening so hungry she could barely eat! She could not decide what she wanted more, food or affection and I couldn't give her enough of both. 


My cats were not at all pleased to have her in 'their' house but they know its what happens around here and if they misbehave, outside they go to cool their paws for awhile. 

This morning there were two! The dark kitten brought her sibling, another female, light grey in color. In this pic, she got the flash in her eyes. Both are half starved and very wanting for affection and attention. Either they've been on their own for awhile or their former owners threw them out, denying even their basic needs of food and shelter and they have not been able to find another kind caregiver since. I can feel every bone in their little bodies, they are so thin!


If there is anyone out their interested in giving these two a home on Prince Edward Island, Canada, where I live, I'm posting an ad on Kijiji for them.


Catspaw

An Outdoor Excusion, In The Yard

A day or so ago I was out-of-doors with the cats; it was a balmy 77F, who could resist, I ask you!? Couped up all Winter with blowing snow, ice crystals and gale force winds; Ya, I love living on an island in the middle of the Atlantic with only a 9 mile slip of a bridge connecting us to the mainland of Canada!! 

I digress...  so, getting back to my 77F day with only a light warm breeze, I was happy enough to hang about the porch for awhile watching my cats and those of the neighbors, the cat colony cats. My cats have cat collar with bell so I hear them wherever they are, much to the shurgrin (if anyone knows how to spell this word, let me know) of the, shall we say, `quieter`cats. 


So here`s a pic of the colony cat area of where they hang out on a day like mentioned above:

All the long and relatively mild winter this is where they`ve been hold up. Though this particular day I could not find hide nor hair of even one, with the exception of the ones that always come round my place. 

Again, I digress... getting back to MY cats...

Winston was NOT keen on being outside, he`s quite convinced himself that the dogs are about and out to get him. In fact, they visit every two weeks or so but he remains convinced and is not at all keen to be out of doors.

He was barely outside two seconds... 

when I called him back! He`s looking a little distrustful of me now, but...

he came and went in through the porch door. 

Honesty!

Catspaw

Cats and Dogs ~~ Go Figure!

Usually on a sunny day I leave the porch door open to get the benefit of a sunny spot where the cats can sun and snooze. This day was heard a mad and violent banging at the door combined with a mixture of strained yowls so terrible it brought me running to the door!


My Drama Queen was have a hissy fight with the door and in particular, with what lay beyond ~~~

Molly violently reacted

It was a visit from the dogs down the lane, so to speak. 







A blond Boxer and a mini Dobi ~ friendly enough dogs but they like to terrorize the barn cats and create havoc on the dairy in general... Just dogs having fun I guess.

The frantic pounding on the door and the screaming yowl from Molly didn't take long to convince the dogs they weren't welcome and Molly, the attack cat, was ready for them if they insisted in pressing their claim.

It was hard to get a picture of Molly in action as she acted way too quickly.

This was not the calm situation presented here!
I hunted through my fridge and found leftovers the cats would turn their perky noses at ~~ so I gathered it up and gave it to the dogs. 

There's nothing funnier that a dog with spaghetti on his face!

After the meal and my cleaned out fridge, they happily headed home and left the barn cats alone, who by this time had made themselves pretty scarce. I happily cleaned the rest of my fridge! Molly was happy that she triumphed over the dogs and protected her territory. 


Yes, everyone came away happy from the situation.


Catspaw

Drawings of My Cats

These are a few pics I drew of my cats, I hope you enjoy them.

Winston & Em on the cat tree, Em's in the box

Emerald on top of the fridge

Molly, on the box; Emmy beside & Sassy are watching the Ravens

Ok, technically I drew them, first as pictures then as drawings with my picture software. What do you think of them?


Catspaw

Stray Cat Poem

This was written by by Zachariah Atteberry of Hannibal, Missouri.

She was thrown away and found again...

The cat in the picture is a cat one of my friends rescued. She was found in a ditch in a trash can (that's really what its coming to these days!).

Well they gave her a good home.

 Fore When I grow old   
I shall become a stray
To live the mournful life,
As a cast-a-way.

Abandoned like all the rest
buried like past in the sand
I will surely remember the past
As I leave paw prints in the land.

Shipwrecked away far from my home
I meow, with a fellow purr at the door
they now have a kitten all cuddly and warm
A younger cat, for them to adore.

We grow old and dusty
Thrown away like trash
Why do I still ponder...
I figure I might as well crash.

I still wander this land
One day soon to depart --
I leave paw prints in the sand
Perhaps... for another human to take heart.

 Catspaw

A Readers Narration

A visitor to my blog told me this story and I wanted to share it with you, verbatim:

Quote: “I don't really have much of a story, we had a white color mini poodle who died then we got three cats from the SPCA . :) We got a Maine-Coon that was about 10 years old, she seemed lonely. :)
So we got a Tux Boy that was only about 1 year old but he was too much energy for the Maine-Coon :)
And then we got a several month old ginger Tabby to play with the Tux as he is very high energy. :)
Our Tux cat is like a dog, he is smart and he nods his head at you to say hello. :) He always gives you a double head nod as a way to say hi. :) It's funny, as he's like a person since people often nod too. :)” End Quote

I decided to see if I could find some pictures of a Maine-Coon and a Tux Boy, here's what I came up with. A Tux is a Tuxedo cat and I didn't realize it but I believe Molly and Boo were Tux's! Go figure, the things you learn huh! 

Pictures of Maine Coons

Pictures of Tuxedo cats

Picture of Boo, the baby I lost just last year was definitely a Tux Cat!

Molly, Tux Cat!

Catspaw