According to the latest weigh-in, Billy is losing weight a little faster than Katherine would like. Playtime probably has something to do with that...
We'll up his dinner ration to 40 grams, 20 grams each of wet and dry food. Breakfast stays the same, at 20/15. Whitey stays the same, at 15/15 for both breakfast and dinner.
A blog for the feline overlords of the Summerhill Kitten Farm, a division of Kendra Electronic Wonderworks.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tummy Trouble
My usual routine when home alone in the evenings is to feed the boys and then immediately cleanly the litter box in the laundry room next to kitchen.
When I finished cleaning the litter box tonight, I discovered that someone (I don't know who) had wolfed down his dinner and then thrown it up in the front hall.
Cleaning it up, I wasn't mad, just sad -- one of our boys isn't feeling well, and now he'll be hungry overnight to boot. (I'd cheerfully feed them both again if I thought they would keep it down.)
When I finished cleaning the litter box tonight, I discovered that someone (I don't know who) had wolfed down his dinner and then thrown it up in the front hall.
Cleaning it up, I wasn't mad, just sad -- one of our boys isn't feeling well, and now he'll be hungry overnight to boot. (I'd cheerfully feed them both again if I thought they would keep it down.)
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Dawn Patrol: T-I-M-B-E-R !!!
A normal morning ...
Until Whitey goes completely FRAP, charging from the hall through the bedroom to the back picture window and leaps onto the three foot cat tower at the window hard enough to make it slam into the window sill, which in turn causes Billy to leap from the tower to the bed to save his own furry self.
Billy then charges across the bed and out the door as Whitey reverses course and barrels out of the room after Billy, leaving the cat tower teetering from all the feline forces applied to it.
The tower slowly tips and falls to the bedroom floor with a boom.
Estimated elapsed time from entrance to exit, perhaps five seconds.
Until Whitey goes completely FRAP, charging from the hall through the bedroom to the back picture window and leaps onto the three foot cat tower at the window hard enough to make it slam into the window sill, which in turn causes Billy to leap from the tower to the bed to save his own furry self.
Billy then charges across the bed and out the door as Whitey reverses course and barrels out of the room after Billy, leaving the cat tower teetering from all the feline forces applied to it.
The tower slowly tips and falls to the bedroom floor with a boom.
Estimated elapsed time from entrance to exit, perhaps five seconds.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Photo Extra: The Mist of Clean
One reason Whitey likes my desk is not only it has the Silver Kitten Warmer, but the 30" flat panel also provides a nice toasty glow. (He must like it, for all the fur he sheds rubbing on it.)
As Whitey was exploring my desk this morning, the sun happened to hit the monitor when it was mostly black, and this pointed up how poorly I've cleaned it in the ten months I've had it. It was bad, really bad, immediately grab old soft t-shirt and spray bottle of water bad.
Which led to a lesson on how smart Whitey really is. The bottle I grabbed is normally referred to as the Mist of Doom, and when merely pointed at one of the boys can it send them fleeing from the scene of a crime. This morning however, parked on the Silver Kitten Warmer, Whitey clearly respected the Mist of Doom but was quite unafraid -- he probably read my body language and realized I wasn't hunting errant kittens today.
How comfortable was he? As soon as the monitor was clean and I started writing this post, he helped write. (That's the middle of this post on the screen above his head.)
![DSC_0009.JPG](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tC-Uq9MVn1uWraHwvEJkcMBcq26p3vZQdxsd0Az6mMBzVbXZWmfYcwh_5bBB5wOu83LK_I8d3M924CNBnnKSeRX-YdZIPgErikzpY6_CGU9g15Z-Fl51I_GM-0BslvQLeDbG4X0F-LFdM=s0-d)
As Whitey was exploring my desk this morning, the sun happened to hit the monitor when it was mostly black, and this pointed up how poorly I've cleaned it in the ten months I've had it. It was bad, really bad, immediately grab old soft t-shirt and spray bottle of water bad.
Which led to a lesson on how smart Whitey really is. The bottle I grabbed is normally referred to as the Mist of Doom, and when merely pointed at one of the boys can it send them fleeing from the scene of a crime. This morning however, parked on the Silver Kitten Warmer, Whitey clearly respected the Mist of Doom but was quite unafraid -- he probably read my body language and realized I wasn't hunting errant kittens today.
How comfortable was he? As soon as the monitor was clean and I started writing this post, he helped write. (That's the middle of this post on the screen above his head.)
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The Feline Workout
Last night, headed upstairs for the evening, I decided to grab a few extra wanded cat teasers hiding in the front hall closet and take them upstairs. It wasn't a mistake, but we had serious scope creep.
In particular, we didn't have a extra "few" teasers, we had 10 of them. Sorting them evolved into pulling them out of the closet, untangling them, and tossing them into sorted piles on the floor, where the quality assurance team (Billy and Whitey) checked them out.
Whitey in particular was interested in the feathered wands, and after a basic play test I handed a wand to Katherine for Whitey to hunt on the stairs, while I chose a pom-pom ended wand for Billy to hunt on a cat tower. The end result was for the first time since we moved west, we had both boys seriously engaged in extended play in the same room.
It really only wound down when it seemed that Whitey was favoring his left rear leg. We had Whitey run several short sprints (kitty treats are quite useful for this), but the results were inconclusive. An hour later he was chasing his brother at full tilt, so we don't think he did anything serious.
Katherine and I agree, a good plan is more feather teasers for our resident bird watcher so he can work on his conditioning.
In particular, we didn't have a extra "few" teasers, we had 10 of them. Sorting them evolved into pulling them out of the closet, untangling them, and tossing them into sorted piles on the floor, where the quality assurance team (Billy and Whitey) checked them out.
Whitey in particular was interested in the feathered wands, and after a basic play test I handed a wand to Katherine for Whitey to hunt on the stairs, while I chose a pom-pom ended wand for Billy to hunt on a cat tower. The end result was for the first time since we moved west, we had both boys seriously engaged in extended play in the same room.
It really only wound down when it seemed that Whitey was favoring his left rear leg. We had Whitey run several short sprints (kitty treats are quite useful for this), but the results were inconclusive. An hour later he was chasing his brother at full tilt, so we don't think he did anything serious.
Katherine and I agree, a good plan is more feather teasers for our resident bird watcher so he can work on his conditioning.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Photo Friday: Tigers roasting by an open fire
The boys approve of the Kitten Farm West. It has many features that were lacking in the original Summerhill Kitten Farm. Carpet, big windows for birdwatching (and a wide variety of birds to watch), even a fireplace. They don't think we use the kitty roaster nearly enough, so Christmas morning was a special treat for them.
![TigerRoast2-Dec-08.jpg](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tJFDbrIk8x_FMO5eRk60ZPDbZIJUu-xI9ZkC6rS-lArYJeA6VqsYx0LkyUsRsFleIVB0_mzW6kMYKybXdLcOEaJ6gHgkbWlSloRVv1ctR6jmIqIIb4b-2hGd8L5A9wTF08QtHz0uhi8eH9xge1mybAfWmw=s0-d)
(That's the hearth off to the left. We have a picture that shows the actual fire, but thought it was misleading because the boys appear to be awake.)
(That's the hearth off to the left. We have a picture that shows the actual fire, but thought it was misleading because the boys appear to be awake.)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The Stench for a New Year
Billy reminded me this morning that I should have posted that on Monday night there was a hairball found at the border of the living room rug and the Christmas tree apron (soiling both, I might add).
How did he remind me? By leaving another hairball in front of the bedroom door at 4:40 AM this morning.
Thoughtful, that cat.
How did he remind me? By leaving another hairball in front of the bedroom door at 4:40 AM this morning.
Thoughtful, that cat.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Yum!
While we were out yesterday evening, the boys found the bedroom kitty treats.
We found an empty bottle.
We don't know if I left the drawer open or not. We're hoping I did, the alternative is too scary to consider.
Oddly enough, the boys were not nearly as excited as they normally are at dinner.
We found an empty bottle.
We don't know if I left the drawer open or not. We're hoping I did, the alternative is too scary to consider.
Oddly enough, the boys were not nearly as excited as they normally are at dinner.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Photo Friday: A Cute Little Devil
For the return of Photo Friday, we present the boys' newest cousin, Maverick. Maverick and his sister May were found abandoned as new borns north of Boston in August. Our favorite veterinary tech adopted them and hand nursed them.
Alas, May didn't make it. Maverick, however, makes enough trouble for two; our friend describes him as Satan in fur. A really cute one, at that.
![2008-Maverick-Tree.JPG](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sPdRkAZea38BLENPmadD9WEFn5coHtpzVnR3AGIK47iXVP4lWMSJ9WmuBnTsQj-XJ9Z-jsen1FkVZ-9blAjbGQ6NczHyHuyhFq5zkTqFUKL3sVbDJmHwdgbCc4zcyeWavUlBrVpVoesGn5HKqaDbN8AVg=s0-d)
Alas, May didn't make it. Maverick, however, makes enough trouble for two; our friend describes him as Satan in fur. A really cute one, at that.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Heights (not!)
The recent changes to Katherine's office did not include access to the new speaker shelves themselves. Today Whitey sat on the scanner next to Katherine's desk, glazed up at the new shelf some five feet up ... and meowed, sadly.
Sorry, Whitey, even if it was low enough there's not room for you and the speaker too.
Sorry, Whitey, even if it was low enough there's not room for you and the speaker too.