Protecting Outside Cats in Excessive Heat

As I’ve said many times before, I have outside cats that are only “outside” cats because of a certain inside baby (Alexa) who I’m afraid wouldn’t be too welcoming. We don’t call her our little spoiled baby for nothing.

Plus, a few of our outside cats are Ming Li’s kittens – she was a feral cat who it took months of coaxing to even approach. Unfortunately, she’s no longer with us but before she left, I was able to pet her at will – she actually became a pretty big baby, purring constantly.

She left behind several babies and, since they were born to such a wild little momma, I’d never stand a chance of picking them up!

I can pet two out of three of them regularly. They’re very sweet but picking them up would probably completely freak them out at this point.

So bringing them inside is an impossibility. Hannah, of course, can be picked up, hugged, kissed, and held all day… she loves it, the big baby. I’m just very scared of her and Alexa getting into a squabble. Besides, she doesn’t seem to mind living out in the wild.

However, with an excessive heat advisory in effect here in Owensboro, Kentucky today – I’ve been doing all I can to cool off my hot little girls and boys.

I’ve “iced” Hannah down twice – she loves it! Fatima wants no part of it and the boy cats look at me like I’ve lost my mind completely. Earlier, Fatima (the tiniest little cat in the world) looked on the brink of death – seriously. Her mouth was hanging open and her eyes just didn’t look right. I wet a towel down with cool water and laid it on the ground. She wouldn’t let me rub her with it but when I laid it out on the ground, she laid on top of it.

I then took out a big bowl of ice and placed it all around the area she and Hannah were lying in. They both licked the ice and laid down amongst the melting glaciers.

One of the boy cats (Bullet) took off for the barn after a long cold drink and the other (Jelly Bean) enjoyed the glaciers with the girls.

He’s such a little Romeo.

I looked out a few minutes ago (I’ve been checking on them frequently) and they were still chilling nicely. Fatima looks 100 percent better and Hannah seems to be hinting for another ice massage.

Soooo…. I’m off to ice my girl down and HOPE the others will allow me to give them one as well.

Cat Perch for Pampered Cats

This morning, as I was admiring our beautiful purple morning glories (planted specifically beneath one of Alexa’s favorite windows – so she can admire butterflies and hummingbirds up close and personal), I realized that IF there were such a thing as reincarnation, you could do a lot worse than coming back as a pampered house cat! They don’t have to fight for anything – food, water, shelter, a bed, attention, safety, head scratches, 8:00 am hummingbird shows….

I read not long ago that one of the things we Americans DIDN’T cut back on during the slumping economy was pet food and pet supplies. We love our babies! They bring us so much love, happiness, joy, companionship, and laughter – how could we NOT want to give them everything their little cat hearts desire?

Admittedly, I just returned from the store with cat food, fresh cat litter, and even a bag of Whiska’s Cat Treats. All of our cats absolutely adore these cat treats, especially the Salmon variety.

Now, Alexa’s curled up in her favorite cat bed – belly full and more content than anyone or anything has a right to be!

Three of our outside babies (outside simply because Princess Alexa wouldn’t accept just being “one” of the cats inside… she has to be “the” diva who lives inside with her people) Hannah, Fatima, and Jelly Bean are sprawled out in the shade, enjoying their full bellies and the August breeze.

Our fourth outside cat, Bullet, is apparently off catting around or sacked out in a loft. Hannah ate enough treats for her and him both, though.

The Two Level Cat House -Cradle & Perch – Cream appears to be something Alexa would be very much interested in and, personally, I’m crazy about the beautiful Cream color – though they’re available in 9 great other colors as well. The hunter green is also gorgeous – it might even make the pampered cat feel like she’s out in the jungle!

Product Description:
Whether you have multiple kitties, or just one who is the queen or king of the castle, this Two Level cat house is a great piece of cat furniture. This cat house features two rest areas – a round bed and a curved cradle. Not only is this a terrific cat lounger, it also is a scratching post. A solid pine pole is wrapped in all-natural sisal rope, which provides an outlet for busy paws. Available in nine colors – Cream, Tan, Brown, Red, Navy Blue, Country Blue, Green, Gray, and Hunter Green. With such a range of colors, you’re sure to find one for even your most finicky of felines. And remember – not only do cats love having their own area, but a good scratching post will deter your cat from scratching your furniture! This item ships directly from the manufacturer. Product usually arrives in 4-10 business days, depending on destination, including order processing and shipping.

See Two Level Cat House -Cradle & Perch – Cream for a closer look. I just looked at the different colors again and now I’m torn – I love them all. The country blue couldn’t be any prettier. But the cream….

What is My Cat Thinking? Cat Lovers, You’re Going to Love this Book!

I absolutely love What Is My Cat Thinking?: The Essential Guide to Understanding Pet Behavior, by Gwen Bailey. As the mother of (currently) six cats (and countless cats in the past and future), I can tell you this: Gwen Bailey knows her kitties!

The photography in this wonderful book is gorgeous and the information is priceless. There’s a great deal of humor because, face it, cat’s are – by nature – hilarious little creatures.

Even if you’re as close to and familiar with cats as I am, I guarantee you’ll learn something from this book. It’s chock-full of fascinating insight and explanations for many of the mysteries surrounding the way our cats think and behave. While they revel in being mysterious and quirky, Gwen Bailey lets us in on a few of their secret thoughts and feelings.

It’s just an outstanding book that I turn to again and again.

Below are a few of the excellent and informative Did You Know’s from the pages of What Is My Cat Thinking?

• A cat that has been to the vet may come back smelling very different and may be treated like a stranger by other cats that once lived in harmony with him.  Separating them and swapping their scents with a cloth may help.
• Adult cats are more likely to adjust to a new kitten than to a new adult cat that is introduced into the household.
• By sniffing a male cat’s urine, female cats can tell whether or not he is a suitable mate.  They are able to detect by-products of his food, which tell them how much fresh meat he has eaten, and hence, how good a hunter he is.  This helps determine how suitable he would be as a father for her kittens (Ming Li, apparently never found a scent she didn’t approve of!).
• The amount of socialization a kitten has with people while he is between two and seven weeks old will determine how well he will interact with people later in life.  Good experiences in early life will produce a friendly, outgoing cat.

The last Did You Know is one that I certainly can attest to.    The friendliest, most outgoing cats we’ve ever had were ones that we had from very, very early on. Alexa and Bo, for example, were born to our beloved Carly – we were there when they were born and every day thereafter.  This produced very friendly, outgoing, and spoiled babies!

We got our precious Prissy when she was only about 6 or 7 weeks old.  She was babied and pampered from the time she was tiny enough to fit in one hand to the day, over 20 years later, when we lost her.  On each of those many, many, many days, Prissy was one of the sweetest, friendliest, most sociable cats I’ve ever loved.  She’d greet strangers at the door, sit in any available lap and insist on being in the middle of everything.

Needless to say, I still miss that little girl something fierce but feel incredibly blessed to have had her in our family for so long.

I’m also incredibly blessed to have the beautiful little babies we have now.  Alexa and Hannah are extremely outgoing and friendly.  Alexa is my constant companion – always within reach for chin scratching, head rubbing, and belly tickling (and what a belly it is!).

Jelly Bean – although he was born to our feral cat Ming Li – is coming around.  I can pet him easily now.  I don’t push things and always allow him to call the shots.  He’s a large beautiful, solid black cat with gorgeous big green eyes.  He feels like absolute silk and the fact that he allows me to rub him now just makes me smile head to toe.

Tristan, Gabriel, Bullet, and Scratch (also Ming Li’s) weren’t around us at all in the first month of their lives.  Ming Li brought them into our yard (and garage!) when they were past 7 weeks old.  They remain very much feral cats but I honestly believe I’m winning one of them (Scratch) over.  Tristan, the only girl, is a very tiny black cat and I don’t think I have any hope of ever petting her.

Bullet shows promise, but not quite as much as Scratch.  Feral cats are so frustrating to people who love cats as much as I do!

Jelly Bean honestly is a reformed feral cat – he sticks close to the house and is becoming downright sociable.  I have a large basket with a blue baby blanket in it for him on a shelf on our carport.  It’s his bed of choice and he can be found in it 85 percent of the time. He even lets me pet him and baby talk him in his bed, something I wouldn’t have ever thought possible a few months ago.

Click the link to learn more about What Is My Cat Thinking?: The Essential Guide to Understanding Pet Behavior, by Gwen Bailey and to order a copy for you and your cat(s)!

The Mother of All Cat Trees

The gorgeous Cat Treehouse – Tan above has caught Alexa’s eye – both of them. She envisions herself sprawled out in the cradle for nap time and awakening to a rousing game of sharpening her claws as though her life depended upon it. She loves to climb and seems to think this cat tree would be both a hoot and a holler (excuse her accent, she’s southern after all).

Hannah prefers to stay low to the ground – I can’t imagine that she’d have much use for this particular cat tree. She would do something pretty unique, though. Even though she has been declawed (we didn’t do it, she was without her front claws when she adopted us), she goes through the motions of sharpening her claws.

For some reason, it somehow breaks my heart every time I see her do it. I suspect that she realizes that each time she does it, I swoop her up with an unusual amount of baby talk, petting, kissing – all of which is followed by something fishy and delicious.

Hmmmm, maybe that explains why she goes through the motion so often. Cats are incredibly smart and we cat lovers can be wrapped around their little paws so easily!

Product Description:
Your cat will be living the high life with this Cat Treehouse! Perfect for multiple kitties, this cat play house is ready for playtime or for naptime. Cats love being above the action – it gives them a chance to keep lookout! This tower features everything a cat could wish for – two cradles, a round bed, and it is topped with a mini-house. This piece of cat play furniture also has sisal scratching posts. Cats love the feel of sisal, and a good scratching post will deter your cat from scratching furniture. This Cat Treehouse uses solid pine poles, and heavy duty screws and bolts – it is supremely sturdy. Available in nine colors – Country Blue, Navy Blue, Red, Green, Hunter Green, Tan, Brown, and Gray. Give your favorite feline the ‘purr-fect’ home with the Cat Treehouse. This item ships directly from the manufacturer. Product usually arrives in 14-21 business days, depending on destination, including order processing and shipping. APO/FPO shipping unavailable This item/items are delivered by common carrier truck. The service will call to schedule an appointment for delivery.

Learn more about the Cat Treehouse – Tan by clicking the link.

Our Growing Family of Felines!

A few days ago I happened to be outside walking around our yard, enjoying the gorgeous weather. It won’t be long before the trees are leafless and covered with frost and the grass will suddenly crunch beneath my feet. That’s fine, of course, I absolutely love winter – there’s something positively cozy about it.

I walked toward our pear tree and noticed, from a distance, all the fallen pears on the ground. They weren’t exactly attractive lying there, half exposed, and rotting. But as I got closer I realized that there was, indeed, a great deal of beauty. There were, literally, hundreds of the most beautiful butterflies imaginable feasting on the fallen fruit. There were yellow, white, orange, red, purple, and pinkish butterflies. I plopped down on the ground just to watch their colorful show.

I kicked myself for not having my camera on me.

As I was watching the butterflies enjoying their find, I couldn’t help but think about the poetic scene. Here was a pile of nastiness on the ground – not one of the fallen pears looked even decent, let alone attractive. Yet, some of the most beautiful creatures on earth – delicate little butterflies – came to the scene and enjoyed the spoils.

That’s how it happens so often in life. Just when we think we’re hovering over a situation that couldn’t get much uglier, something beautiful springs forth.

To a certain degree, that’s what happened when I lost Bo and Svenn. I sat outside so many mornings, afternoons, and evenings – missing my boys. The yard (and my life) were missing something and I felt it in every inch of my body. Anyone who has lost a beloved pet knows the profound sadness that I’m talking about.

God certainly did. And God is generous!

Flash forward to today. When I go outside, there is absolutely no emptiness or sadness – whether it’s in the morning, afternoon, evening, or middle of the night! (People who have visited this blog before know that my beautiful, spoiled little Alexa lives inside – which is why all of the other babies must live outdoors, on the carport and in the garage loft)

When any of us go outside now, we’re once again greeted by precious cats:

• Ming Li – A feral cat who has become extremely friendly – she allows me to pet her now and rubs against me.  I’ll add pictures of her soon, I don’t think the camera will frighten her now.  She is very tiny and, of course, perfectly adorable!
• Hannah – Beautiful Hannah is a sweetheart.  She’s the girl in charge out there.  All of the other cats defer to her and she relishes the arrangement.
• Cynthia aka”Cindy Clawford” -  She’s a beauty.  She came along about a week or two ago.  She reminds me a great deal of Prissy, in her younger days.  Very pretty, very friendly, and never met a bite of food she didn’t want desperately.  When they’re eating, Cynthia will hiss at the other cats if they come near food that she’s interested in.  Ming Li and the boy cats will back off, but Hannah ignores her.  Hannah slapped toward Cynthia once and she hasn’t hissed in her direction since.
• Jelly Bean -  Jelly Bean is solid, solid, solid black, precious, and very playful.  I can only touch him if he’s in the middle of eating or distracted.  His shiny black fur feels just like silk. He is one of Ming Li’s kittens, so he has pure feral cat blood in him.  Hopefully, with patience, I can win him over like I did Ming Li.
• Peanut Butter – PB is Jelly Bean’s brother and is even more standoffish than him.  Even Ming Li was never as overly cautious as PB is.  He’s adorable but seems as interested in being touched as I would be in drowning.  I’m not giving up, though!  I’ll win him over.

Cats are so precious and so much fun. I’ve always had cats in my world and I’ve always cherished them.  However, lately I think I may cherish them even more so.   I have three human daughters.   I was always a stay-at-home mom and even homeschooled our girls all the way through school – Kindergarten through 12th grade.  They’re in college now, have boyfriends, work, and so on.  For any parent, it’s a huge adjustment – but for one who, for over 20 years had little ones near her, depending on her every single day – it’s an adjustment that I can’t even begin to describe.

Put simply, my cats keep me sane!

Our Handsome Feral Kitten, Jelly Bean

One of Ming Li’s kittens, Jelly Bean, has become a member of the family.  Since his mom (Ming Li) and dad (Jet Li) were both feral, he’s very, very cautious of humans – including this cat-obsessed human even.  However, unlike his two siblings (nameless until I determine their sexes), he comes close enough to touch.

He lives in the garage with Hannah and she has sort of assumed a motherly role with him.  Ming Li came through about a week ago and was majorly pregnant.  I haven’t seen her for a few days, but I have a feeling that when she shows up again, she’ll be her slender self again.  Jelly Bean went running up to her, glad to see his cat mommy – but she hissed at him and stopped him in his tracks.  He ran back to Hannah’s side.

Can’t say I blame him!

A few nights ago, I took out a couple of Alexa’s toys to entertain Hannah and Jelly Bean.   Hannah is hilarious when she plays.  She’ll sit really still, acting like she’s only half-interested in the ball, feather cat toy, catnip mouse (whatever).  As I rub her head, she seems only interested in that – nothing else in the world seems to matter.  Then, all of a sudden, she’ll prance on the toy and give it heck.

Then…. back to the head rubs.

The first time Jelly Bean saw a toy ball, he looked so adorable sweet it brought tears to my eyes.  He hunkered down, sort of unsure of what he’d do next, then he threw caution out the window and joyously pounced on the ball.  Then he swatted it in my direction.  When I rolled it back to him, he swatted it back again.

Even wild, feral babies enjoy a good game of pitch and catch.

His siblings – who are both beautiful with dark gray fur and black stripes – always watch the playing but never approach a toy until I’ve gone back inside.   When it comes to cats, patience is my middle name, so I’ll win them over.  Funny thing is, these two are going to be really hard to tell apart.  One was a lot smaller, but it has caught up with the other one.   Jelly Bean is totally and completley black – even the bottoms of his paws are black.  He doesn’t have any white or gray on him whatsoever.

When I lost Bo and Svenn, the outdoors (which I’d always loved with a passion) just seemed sad and empty to me.  I can’t tell you what a blessing it is to have Hannah, Jelly Bean, Ming Li (when she shows), and ???? and ??????.  It’s as though God knew how empty my yard felt to me and filled it with something that means the world to me – precious, beautiful, wonderful cats!

**** I’ll add pictures of the kittens as soon as possible – I also have new pics of Alexa and Hannah to add.

Meet Hannah!

I’d love to introduce you to our newest baby – Hannah.  I posted all about how she came into our family HERE, if you want to check it out.

She’s a total sweetheart and absolutely loves attention.  She does something funny with her little paws that I’ve never had a cat do.  Whenever I pick up her food dish or water bowl to refill it or freshen it up, she slaps at the dish with one of her hands, as if to say, “Stay put!”

She also did it with my hand once when I was brushing her.  I stopped brushing for a minute to clean hair out of the brush and she swatted my hand, letting me know that she wasn’t ready for me to stop!  She had been de-clawed (not by us), so it feels like a stuffed animal’s hand swattting at you.

Hannah has added a lot of fun and love to our world.  Having lost 3 of our little babies earlier this year, we were overdue for more smiles.