Cats of the Farm: The Pride Goes On

[dressagetraks]

A new sound this morning.

Little Bit has a very sharp meow. It’s bigger than the cat. I wonder if it will decrease in emphasis as she settles, but on the other hand, Pharaoh has, from his first appearance until today, had a meow that would wake the dead. It’s never gone down. He was just using it on me a little while ago, as he is also the self-designated Alarm Cat who has the important responsibility of waking me up 10 minutes before the alarm goes off. His timing is flawless.

Anyway, I got up, went through the bathroom, greeted everybody in the house (outside critters will be feed/checked on at daylight), and then went into her room. She was sleeping in the scratch box, which she likes, but she got up promptly as always when I went in. So I was talking to her and giving her an occasional stroke, trying not to trip her switch since she has a limit on petting. One stroke, let it digest, one stroke. I reached out to pet her that last time, and she did the “brrt”/“mmmr” sound. You know, like they thought about a meow, but it never actually escaped the cat. I haven’t heard that one from her before. I left it there and exited.

Progress! But my main goal, which was to warm her up, has already been accomplished. It is brutal out there, and tonight will be the worst. She’s earned a retirement.

As for her age, there are four people who agree on the “at least a decade” timetable for her hanging around the edges of that place. And she “feels” like a senior to me. Been down the road of life for several mile markers and has Seen Things.

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Cotton waits respectfully while Rascal goes first at the bowl of warm water. It’s a cold morning, but all critters are fine. They have shelter.

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Here is the link for scratch boxes. One of the best cat purchases I’ve made the last six months, and quite affordable. The cats love them.

Hide & Scratch Extra-Large Cat Scratcher Box

[B_and_B]

I have a cat with a meow that is smaller than the cat. Miss Kitty is a mostly, maybe, Maine Coon, senior, off the urban streets at about age 6. She can vocalize. Loudly, but only if stepped on or if lonely. If lonely, she collects her Green (not the purple, or the blue, or the red, or the yellow or the…) mouse, stuffs said mouse in her mouth and screams. Loudly, while choking on the mouse. And carrying it throughout the house, up the stairs, and everywhere.
But if she is hungry and begging, i.e. always, then the meows are silent. At best they are a sort of hiccup noise or a creaky squeak.
Since she begs shamelessly and constantly, I am very glad for the silence. Even if the baby bird mouth (only has three canines left) is very effective at the goal of food!

[dressagetraks]

I just went in to do the litter box and found two books on the floor. The guest room is the library annex and is lined with bookcases, but Little Bit has shown zero interest in the bookcases so far, so I was surprised.

Then I saw it. At her breakfast a few hours ago, I gave her a small slice of Fancy Feast. I then put the remainder of the can on an upper shelf of the bookcase just to park it for a minute while I talked to her and petted her a few times. (Do not attempt to pet a cat while holding Fancy Feast. It doesn’t work.)

But I forgot to take the can with me when I left, so she tried to climb the books under it to reach that shelf. She didn’t realize books aren’t a solid structure. Probably scared herself when they fell out with her, because she didn’t try again.

Sorry, Little Bit. I wasn’t trying to set up a trap there. However, if she learns to respect books, not just be oblivious to them, that’s a plus.

[dressagetraks]

Thinking about things like any proper tortie.

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The spider.

Little Bit is settling and getting into a routine. She will usually come toward me, though not always all the way, when I enter, and she sleeps routinely in the scratch box and doesn’t hide under the bed anymore. So yesterday, I advanced a phase. I put Mystery in just for a minute. Mystery is the most amiable cat on the planet. He has plenty of “whateveritude.” He will do whatever any other cat wishes: Want to play? Great. Want to nap? Great? Want to ignore each other? Great. Want to curl up together? Great.

So he came in for a minute. Little Bit was on the bed, and she snarled and hissed and growled and was an entire symphony above while he ambled around the room sniffing this and that and occasionally looking up with a “what is this cat’s problem?” expression before shrugging and meandering off to something else and ignoring her. Just a minute, and I put him back out. This morning, he came in for a minute again. I could tell an improvement. There were still sound effects, but they weren’t quite as defensive, more just making a statement. I’ll keep this up for a few weeks and see how far we can get.

If she absolutely does not want to integrate with other cats, that’s fine. She can live out retirement in the guest bedroom. But if she could adjust, that, of course, would be better, and Mystery is the perfect test subject. He isn’t going to ramp up from another cat’s shenanigans. If possible, integration will be a slow process, letting her get comfortable, because Mystery is one of a kind. Several of the others have much more spice, and then there is Solo, who carries the term spice to new definitions. No way would I put Solo in for a visit until the whole idea of other cats in general is accepted. There is also Brio, who, while perfectly friendly, is large and boisterous and goes overboard in play at times. He’d never hurt anybody, but I wish I had something else his size and energy level so that they could wrestle themselves silly now and then. He needs the other cats in the house to just say “enough of that, quit it” when needed without taking it as an attack, which it isn’t.

[Aussie_2020]

I watch Jackson Galaxy videos and he has several products he uses to help cats adjust to a new place or other cats. Calming sprays, etc. Have you tried any these types of things?

[dressagetraks]

She has a Feliway diffuser in that room.

[luvmyhackney]

Finally got all my girls plus my neighbors cat all in one picture plus a pick of my sweet one supervising chores.

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“I’m starting to think I might like houses.” Little Bit

[FrittSkritt]

I don’t know if it’s been said before, but I LOVE that quilt!

[shiloh]

@dressagetraks

There is also Brio, who, while perfectly friendly, is large and boisterous and goes overboard in play at times. He’d never hurt anybody, but I wish I had something else his size and energy level so that they could wrestle themselves silly now and then. He needs the other cats in the house to just say “enough of that, quit it” when needed without taking it as an attack, which it isn’t.

I will lend you my Baler. He does the same thing. Every day he has to be told that no-one else wants to play WWE with him and be pummeled and flung around. Or can I borrow Brio? lol

[dressagetraks]

@FrittSkritt

I don’t know if it’s been said before, but I LOVE that quilt!

The quilt was for Mom at the nursing home. She did recognize cats on it and respond to it before she got too far gone. When I had to place her, that facility, God bless them, took her with nothing arranged financially. Nothing. I was totally up front with them, said I was about to break myself trying to handle all and she needed more supervision at this point, but that there were zero resources for this. I promised to apply for absolutely every program around starting the next day and that they would eventually get paid, but I had no idea how. They accepted her with that disclaimer, and I did indeed start the next day applying for everything.

Anyway, when nursing home payment was finally sorted out, she had I think $50 a month or something as a personal allowance. I forget exact amount. Not much. But what does someone totally demented who can’t leave the facility spend for personal allowance? It just sat in the nursing home personal allowance account, and they were the ones who warned me that it was building up. If that balance got too high, and the bar was set pretty low, the powers that be would decide she “had money” now, and it would mess up all of the funding that was finally in place and working.

So every few months, I had to spend Mom’s money. I would look for different things that I thought she might actually react to and enjoy, I’d order, then I’d send the nursing home the bill, and they’d pay out of personal allowance. The quilt was one of those items. I found it online somewhere, might have been Vermont Country Store. It was nearly $200, but hey, the entire object here was to spend money.

Mom did enjoy it, and so did many workers there. Lots of comments on it. After her death, of course, I brought it home. It is very dear to me. Appropriately for Mom’s quilt, cats have always loved it.

[dressagetraks]

@shiloh

I will lend you my Baler. He does the same thing. Every day he has to be told that no-one else wants to play WWE with him and be pummeled and flung around. Or can I borrow Brio? lol

Here’s Brio. There has been some debate about what his facial markings resemble. My favorite version is an erupting volcano on wheels, which is actually appropriate.

[dressagetraks]

She was having a sun nap on the bed when I went in, spoke to me but didn’t get up, and I slowly edged my way up next to her. She wasn’t sure at first, but too good of a sun spot to exit. I lay there for several minutes.

[Rackonteur]

Good call.

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A bird impatiently waits in line.

The cats are fine. They have polar bear coats and many shelters, and I know they’ve been nesting, because they come up during the cold snap with a few straw pieces attached.

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I have had several lessons in playing with Little Bit. This cat has zero concept of playing. Makes me sad that at her age, she has had no toys in life. But the last play lesson, I started to get interest, and this morning, she finally actually went after something, reaching for it. We’ll get there.

[luvmyhackney]

My Maki kitty is turning quite sweet considering she grew up in a feral colony. Her two sisters think she’s making terrible decisions.

She enjoyed breakfast so much she rubbed up against my hand and gave me a few kitty licks, plus a minor play bite to let me know my place.