I think Oscar wants to be like Billy when he grows up.
A little while ago, Billy led me to the Closet of Toys and particularly requested a long fuzzy monkey tail teaser. He ran up the cat tower after it once, but Oscar was lurking around the base of the tower and Billy seemed to lose interest. So I shooed Oscar out and played with Billy with the door closed for a little while.
But the fun part came after Billy was (apparently) done. I let Oscar chase the teaser while Billy was retrieving his traditional treats from the puzzle box. Only Oscar didn't seem quite sure what to do with it. So Billy stepped in and went another few rounds, this time with Oscar watching with big wide eyes from a safe and respectful distance.
I told Billy he was being a great role model for the kid and gave him extra kitty treats.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
To Go Boldy Where No Feline Has Gone Before
Oscar's quarantine is lifted, having been replaced by supervised releases.
That is, as much as humans can supervise a tiny cat (hey, we trained on Catzillas). Basically, the kid has the stealthy size and Brownian motion of a large kitten but the coordination and energy of an adult cat. He also has also a mini-turbo mode he saves for escaping grasping hands. Since we're not sure how much he can aggravate the Catzillas if truly left alone, this means we spend a lot of time and energy trailing him from floor to floor.
The kid is also quite fearless. If the Grey Mouser with his love of human affection and disdain for the Catzilla brothers seemed Emily reincarnated, Oscar is Emily's revenge for being stalked. Whitey still occasionally hangs out in front of Oscar's door, but he is shocked when Oscar actually comes prancing out and walks right up to Whitey, making Whitey deeply nervous and defensive. Billy is less perturbed, and is willing to sniff nose-to-nose with the new kid, but would prefer to be left to go about his business.
The new kid, meanwhile, isn't real good at boundaries.
Overall, Oscar spends a lot of time out of his suite acting like an mildly annoying groupie, trailing his uncles around the house and occasionally cornering them in a way that can cause a raised paw (which Oscar answers) or even a low hiss. Fortunately, there has been no contact -- the boys prefer to break off the engagement rather than give their nephew a somewhat deserved clocking. This morning, he came prancing up to Billy and basically pounced on him. (Keep in mind that Billy is twice his size.) A brief bout of shadow cat fu ensued. Billy wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or confused, and vacated the area with Oscar in hot pursuit.
As for catching Oscar to put him away, we may have a solution. Like the Catzillas as kittens, he's a sucker for a laser dot, including chasing it all the way from the living room to his suite.
That is, as much as humans can supervise a tiny cat (hey, we trained on Catzillas). Basically, the kid has the stealthy size and Brownian motion of a large kitten but the coordination and energy of an adult cat. He also has also a mini-turbo mode he saves for escaping grasping hands. Since we're not sure how much he can aggravate the Catzillas if truly left alone, this means we spend a lot of time and energy trailing him from floor to floor.
The kid is also quite fearless. If the Grey Mouser with his love of human affection and disdain for the Catzilla brothers seemed Emily reincarnated, Oscar is Emily's revenge for being stalked. Whitey still occasionally hangs out in front of Oscar's door, but he is shocked when Oscar actually comes prancing out and walks right up to Whitey, making Whitey deeply nervous and defensive. Billy is less perturbed, and is willing to sniff nose-to-nose with the new kid, but would prefer to be left to go about his business.
The new kid, meanwhile, isn't real good at boundaries.
Overall, Oscar spends a lot of time out of his suite acting like an mildly annoying groupie, trailing his uncles around the house and occasionally cornering them in a way that can cause a raised paw (which Oscar answers) or even a low hiss. Fortunately, there has been no contact -- the boys prefer to break off the engagement rather than give their nephew a somewhat deserved clocking. This morning, he came prancing up to Billy and basically pounced on him. (Keep in mind that Billy is twice his size.) A brief bout of shadow cat fu ensued. Billy wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or confused, and vacated the area with Oscar in hot pursuit.
As for catching Oscar to put him away, we may have a solution. Like the Catzillas as kittens, he's a sucker for a laser dot, including chasing it all the way from the living room to his suite.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Video Extra: Wake up call
Somewhere along the way in the past six weeks we've acquired not one but two gizmos capable of shooting video. Thus we can now publish our first moving pictures, featuring Whitey teetering more or less above Katherine.
Nothing gets valets moving like the thought of a flailing cat landing on you at 7:50 in the morning.
Nothing gets valets moving like the thought of a flailing cat landing on you at 7:50 in the morning.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Winning Lottery Numbers
While Katherine carefully tracks the weight of the boys, we never seem to publish the numbers. However, in honor of Oscar's arrival, we 're here to announce:
- Billy
- 12 lbs, 5 oz.
- Whitey
- 12 lbs, 10 oz
- Oscar
- 7 lbs, 10.5 oz.
We recently reduced rations of both Catzilla brothers to get their weight down, while for now the catten gets all he can eat.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Photo Extra: Made in the Shade
Oscar in his natural habitat, in the shade under the futon. Mostly, it's cooler there. He's happy to come out to be stroked, or be stroked in place.
Exploring With (and About) Oscar
Update on the new guy ...
Did I mention he purrs to wake the dead?
We did not pick his name. Oscar is the name on his adoption contract, and we don't seem to have a better one. He already has been referred to as Slinky, Grasshopper, Micro-mighty Hunter, Whitey Junior, and a few other sweet nicknames.
At three weeks old, Oscar was found with two siblings under a garbage can. His rescuer bottle fed them, and he seems wonderfully social (almost needy) and quite fearless.
He does somewhat resemble physically a small Whitey (Mini-Meow?), with the same white nose and a few white strands on his ears. But Oscar has white stretching all the way across his shoulders and dark rear flanks.
Personality wise, Oscar is more like Billy, with confidence to spare and a Happy Tail to show the world it. Oscar also shows a touch of our departed Emily and the retired Kageneko -- he loves affection more than either Catzilla.
He's not as strong as the larger Catzillas, but he jumps well for his size and is quite agile. There is none of the Grey Mouser's clawing his way up something that he can just hop onto.
Oscar has been here 16 hours, and he's already bored with only having a luxury suite so I let him explore the upstairs while the Catzilla brothers were down at breakfast. He trotted happily through all the rooms, and then camped under the bed when I tried to put him in a cat carrier to walk him back up the hall. I do mean camped as opposed to hid, because he wasn't scared -- he just doesn't like carriers. He purred when petted under there, and when he got bored he came out to climb the bedroom cat tower to look out the window at the bird feeder. (And sadly, he was catnapped back to his suite.)
Officially, we should probably quarantine him five days in case he has anything like a kitty cold that we don't want the boys to get. Pragmatically, we doubt it will last much longer than until his first vet visit in a day or so.
Did I mention he purrs to wake the dead?
We did not pick his name. Oscar is the name on his adoption contract, and we don't seem to have a better one. He already has been referred to as Slinky, Grasshopper, Micro-mighty Hunter, Whitey Junior, and a few other sweet nicknames.
At three weeks old, Oscar was found with two siblings under a garbage can. His rescuer bottle fed them, and he seems wonderfully social (almost needy) and quite fearless.
He does somewhat resemble physically a small Whitey (Mini-Meow?), with the same white nose and a few white strands on his ears. But Oscar has white stretching all the way across his shoulders and dark rear flanks.
Personality wise, Oscar is more like Billy, with confidence to spare and a Happy Tail to show the world it. Oscar also shows a touch of our departed Emily and the retired Kageneko -- he loves affection more than either Catzilla.
He's not as strong as the larger Catzillas, but he jumps well for his size and is quite agile. There is none of the Grey Mouser's clawing his way up something that he can just hop onto.
Oscar has been here 16 hours, and he's already bored with only having a luxury suite so I let him explore the upstairs while the Catzilla brothers were down at breakfast. He trotted happily through all the rooms, and then camped under the bed when I tried to put him in a cat carrier to walk him back up the hall. I do mean camped as opposed to hid, because he wasn't scared -- he just doesn't like carriers. He purred when petted under there, and when he got bored he came out to climb the bedroom cat tower to look out the window at the bird feeder. (And sadly, he was catnapped back to his suite.)
Officially, we should probably quarantine him five days in case he has anything like a kitty cold that we don't want the boys to get. Pragmatically, we doubt it will last much longer than until his first vet visit in a day or so.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Photo Extra: Oscar
Don't let your eyes deceive you, this picture is not of Whitey. Rather, we have a new arrival, Oscar.
Katherine met Oscar last week at Petsmart's Adoption Center, and encouraged me to meet him today. The rest, as they say, is history.
Oscar is small (no Catzilla he) 11 month old neutered male. His adoption page lists him as shy, but we have no idea why -- he's already acting like a lap cat with Katherine, and playing with the other candidates at Petsmart he clearly thinks other cats are his friend.
He even handled the sounds of various legal and illegal fireworks drifting in the windows without too much trouble in his new strange home.
We hope he'll get long with the boys when we introduce them several days from now.
Katherine met Oscar last week at Petsmart's Adoption Center, and encouraged me to meet him today. The rest, as they say, is history.
Oscar is small (no Catzilla he) 11 month old neutered male. His adoption page lists him as shy, but we have no idea why -- he's already acting like a lap cat with Katherine, and playing with the other candidates at Petsmart he clearly thinks other cats are his friend.
He even handled the sounds of various legal and illegal fireworks drifting in the windows without too much trouble in his new strange home.
We hope he'll get long with the boys when we introduce them several days from now.
Photo Extra: In The Air Tonight
Whitey knows something is a foot, as the former Grey Mouser's suite has a closed door and a new smell.
Little does he know, we got him a minion! Details to follow...
Little does he know, we got him a minion! Details to follow...
QOTD
Me: Can you ask Whitey why there is fur all over my keyboard?
Katherine: Uh, He's cleaning his paws and doesn't want to be disturbed.
Katherine: Uh, He's cleaning his paws and doesn't want to be disturbed.