(Seeing me finally toss out the cardboard carrier that we brought Oscar home in ...)
Katherine: We're keeping him?
Me: Nah, but we can return him in one of the permanent carriers.
Actually, Oscar is pretty much signed on for the long haul.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Photo Friday: Three Of Kind
Sometimes, the boys all have a shared purpose:
This was after Billy had taken a closer look at Katherine's dinner:
Unfortunately (at least in their view), she never did share any.
This was after Billy had taken a closer look at Katherine's dinner:
Unfortunately (at least in their view), she never did share any.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Dawn Patrol: When the People are Away ...
We took the weekend off and went up to Victoria, BC for two nights. Our car sitter was in of course to feed and play with the boys.
No doubt Oscar didn't get enough play time without round-the-clock attention, because he was pure FRAP last night, and this morning he was running at full volume by 5;30 AM.
I tried closing the bedroom door (putting the humans in protective custody as it were), but he sat outside and meowed. So I woke up the bailiff and she remanded him to jail.
He seems to do this every time we leave town, so I expect (hope for?) him to settle down.
No doubt Oscar didn't get enough play time without round-the-clock attention, because he was pure FRAP last night, and this morning he was running at full volume by 5;30 AM.
I tried closing the bedroom door (putting the humans in protective custody as it were), but he sat outside and meowed. So I woke up the bailiff and she remanded him to jail.
He seems to do this every time we leave town, so I expect (hope for?) him to settle down.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Photo Extra: Kitten Pile!
While we still have some concerns about how well Oscar is fitting in, pictures like this are very encouraging.
That's Oscar in the foreground, Whitey in the background. Nothing close to this ever happened with the Gray Mouser. And while Emily occasionally pretended not to notice tigers intruding within a few feet, actual fur-to-fur contact was simply not acceptable.
So we're making progress. Yay!
That's Oscar in the foreground, Whitey in the background. Nothing close to this ever happened with the Gray Mouser. And while Emily occasionally pretended not to notice tigers intruding within a few feet, actual fur-to-fur contact was simply not acceptable.
So we're making progress. Yay!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
One kitten wrecking crew
There's a pass through between our kitchen and living room, seen in the background in this picture. This morning, Drew found paint and drywall dust on the sill in the opening.
Drew called me down to look. He had his suspicions, which were confirmed when I explained that Billy did it. He was chasing a bug (I think), launched himself toward the top of the opening, and sank his claws into the wall ... Where he discovered that he couldn't quite get enough purchase to support his weight, so he slid back down with much claws-on-chalkboard squealing and a certain amount of dust.
Drew called me down to look. He had his suspicions, which were confirmed when I explained that Billy did it. He was chasing a bug (I think), launched himself toward the top of the opening, and sank his claws into the wall ... Where he discovered that he couldn't quite get enough purchase to support his weight, so he slid back down with much claws-on-chalkboard squealing and a certain amount of dust.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Dawn Patrol: Bench Warrant
After five days of peace, Oscar returned to his noisy morning ways.
The good news: He did it after 5:30 AM, not 3:30 AM.
The bad news: When Katherine decided to jail him, he didn't automatically follow her down the hall to his suite. Rather than hunt him down, she let him stay out, and he quieted down ~ 10 minutes later.
We can deal with this (more or less) if it's weekly, not every morning.
The good news: He did it after 5:30 AM, not 3:30 AM.
The bad news: When Katherine decided to jail him, he didn't automatically follow her down the hall to his suite. Rather than hunt him down, she let him stay out, and he quieted down ~ 10 minutes later.
We can deal with this (more or less) if it's weekly, not every morning.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Hunter in training?
I think Billy is trying to teach Oscar to hunt.
I shut Oscar in his suite to give Billy some private playtime. Once Billy was done, I let Oscar go after the pom-pom-on-string toy Billy had been chasing. He was perfectly happy to chase it around on the floor, and onto low objects like the library's futon. But if I tossed it up a cat tower he just sat on the floor twitching his tail.
While Oscar was wondering what to do, Billy walked up, climbed the tower, retrieved the toy, and dropped it at Oscar's feet. All very casually, with nothing like his usual energy. After this happened a couple of times, I decided Oscar's problem might be that I was tossing it up too high. (He can climb just fine, but his sight lines are lower.) So I flipped the pom-pom onto a lower shelf, and then a lower one. Billy sat and watched, Oscar sat and watched. Finally, Oscar looked at Billy, looked at the toy (on the lowest shelf, now), and pounced.
No idea what Billy thought of all this, but I told him he was being an excellent big brother and gave him extra kitty treats.
I shut Oscar in his suite to give Billy some private playtime. Once Billy was done, I let Oscar go after the pom-pom-on-string toy Billy had been chasing. He was perfectly happy to chase it around on the floor, and onto low objects like the library's futon. But if I tossed it up a cat tower he just sat on the floor twitching his tail.
While Oscar was wondering what to do, Billy walked up, climbed the tower, retrieved the toy, and dropped it at Oscar's feet. All very casually, with nothing like his usual energy. After this happened a couple of times, I decided Oscar's problem might be that I was tossing it up too high. (He can climb just fine, but his sight lines are lower.) So I flipped the pom-pom onto a lower shelf, and then a lower one. Billy sat and watched, Oscar sat and watched. Finally, Oscar looked at Billy, looked at the toy (on the lowest shelf, now), and pounced.
No idea what Billy thought of all this, but I told him he was being an excellent big brother and gave him extra kitty treats.
Dawn Patrol: Paroled
Katherine convinced me not to jail Oscar automatically every night.
The kid has managed to stay out of jail two nights in a row, he's been much quieter and less combative with the Catzillas in the wee hours. We think he may have had his schedule screwed up by our being gone last weekend, now he's settling back into the human schedule.
The kid has managed to stay out of jail two nights in a row, he's been much quieter and less combative with the Catzillas in the wee hours. We think he may have had his schedule screwed up by our being gone last weekend, now he's settling back into the human schedule.
Photo Extra: Turbo time!
The day we adopted our first cats, we got a Turbo ball for them. Whitey and Billy have never given up on it, for example Whitey found it when he was a year old catten.
Five years after we got the Turbo ball to entertain the two kittens which would be someday be Catzillas, a new generation uses it.
Updated: I thought this was the same unit that Whitey was playing with above; the ball got replaced when we moved and the original ball got lost. However, it appears the original unit (with a bit of paper stuck in the middle) is in the library. (We also have a green one downstairs.)
Five years after we got the Turbo ball to entertain the two kittens which would be someday be Catzillas, a new generation uses it.
Updated: I thought this was the same unit that Whitey was playing with above; the ball got replaced when we moved and the original ball got lost. However, it appears the original unit (with a bit of paper stuck in the middle) is in the library. (We also have a green one downstairs.)
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Five for Fighting
We have failed to update our loyal readers on Oscar. He's alive, here, reckless, and trying to take over the place. In particular, he has been left out most nights, with varying peace for us and the boys during the early morning hours. No more...
After a week of record hot weather, things have cooled off. This means that Billy has returned to his role of bedtime Kitten-in-Chief, snuggling up Katherine after she goes to bed. He's very good at it too, being reasonable about her moving and even me getting up in the middle of the night to use the little valet's room. He can acknowledge a gentle ear scritch and go back to sleep (the same would wind up Oscar like a top).
Yesterday morning, Oscar got bored at 4 AM and decided to visit the bed. After noisily poking around for a bit, he decided the most fun thing he could do was pounce on the sleeping Billy. Fun for him maybe, neither Billy nor I viewed this in a positive light. When distressed meowing started, I hissed at Oscar, but Billy took at the warning as directed at himself and bugged out. Oscar almost went to jail (the library with the door closed), but things immediately quieted down, so I left the parolee out.
This morning, Oscar again visited the bed and pounced on the Kitten-in-Chief. I immediately grabbed Oscar, and peeled him off. He didn't got the message, and so it was rinse and repeat twice more. After the third peel, Oscar was scooped up and sent to jail. Do not pass Go, do not collect kitty treats.
Meanwhile Billy had jumped down, but I scooped him up (far more gently than I did Oscar), set him on the bed, and told him what a good boy he was. I then nudged him towards Katherine, and he padded over and returned to his duties.
The entire adventure woke me up and stressed me enough that I didn't get back to sleep for almost three hours. This is not good.
Oscar gets jail at night until we can figure out how to enforce the rules at 3 AM.
After a week of record hot weather, things have cooled off. This means that Billy has returned to his role of bedtime Kitten-in-Chief, snuggling up Katherine after she goes to bed. He's very good at it too, being reasonable about her moving and even me getting up in the middle of the night to use the little valet's room. He can acknowledge a gentle ear scritch and go back to sleep (the same would wind up Oscar like a top).
Yesterday morning, Oscar got bored at 4 AM and decided to visit the bed. After noisily poking around for a bit, he decided the most fun thing he could do was pounce on the sleeping Billy. Fun for him maybe, neither Billy nor I viewed this in a positive light. When distressed meowing started, I hissed at Oscar, but Billy took at the warning as directed at himself and bugged out. Oscar almost went to jail (the library with the door closed), but things immediately quieted down, so I left the parolee out.
This morning, Oscar again visited the bed and pounced on the Kitten-in-Chief. I immediately grabbed Oscar, and peeled him off. He didn't got the message, and so it was rinse and repeat twice more. After the third peel, Oscar was scooped up and sent to jail. Do not pass Go, do not collect kitty treats.
Meanwhile Billy had jumped down, but I scooped him up (far more gently than I did Oscar), set him on the bed, and told him what a good boy he was. I then nudged him towards Katherine, and he padded over and returned to his duties.
The entire adventure woke me up and stressed me enough that I didn't get back to sleep for almost three hours. This is not good.
Oscar gets jail at night until we can figure out how to enforce the rules at 3