Edited to add: If you cannot see any of the pictures in this post, try refreshing. I’m having an FTP ISSUE today for some reason.
In case you missed it over the weekend, there was a post on Saturday with pictures of the Sopranos that show how much they’ve changed in the time we’ve had them, and some videos. And then there was a post on Sunday with a review of the new Tidy Cats Lightweight litter!
Also, if you’re not following the Colehaus Cats via their blog or on Facebook, you don’t know that they have four of the most adorable little newborn kittens over there. You are missing OUT!
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“OMYGOD!” says wee Tony. “I can’t see! I CAN’T SEE! Someone stole my EYES!”
“What am I going to do?! I’ll never see another sunrise! I’ll never gaze lovingly upon the clay litter in the litter box right before I eat it! What will I DO now that I can’t stare creepily at my Mama until she wakes up and cleans my ears???”
“I can’t see ANYthing! Carmela, is that YOU? Call Dr. Melfi. She’s a doctor, she can bring back my vision!”
“She’s not a DOCTOR doctor, Tony. She’s like a psychiatrist or a psychologist or something. She can’t do anything about your vision.”
“What am I gonna DO? I’m going to need a seeing eye hamster to lead me around! What if I forget and eat it? How will I ever find the litter box?! I’m a smart guy, but I’m no Homer!”
“I can see! I CAN SEE! Carmela, you healed me! How did you do that? I can see you!”
“You healed me, and you are now officially my favoritest sister EVER!”
“Hello, beautiful room full of toys!”
“Hello, beautiful ceiling fan, going around and around!”
“Hello, weird lady with the camera! And hello wonderful paw and ::snik:: sharp little claws! As god is my witness, I’ll never take my vision for granted again!”
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PS: Fred referred to Tony as “Tony Runty Horror” over the weekend, which made me laugh and laugh.
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Jake, staring loonily up the stairs at Fred.
Silly fact about Jake: if he hears the driveway alarm go off, he runs out of the room, growling. He also growls and runs away if he sees someone coming to the door – even if it’s me or Fred! Silly Loony Jake.
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Previously
2012: No entry.
2011: “QUIT IT!” I yelled and waved my arm again, again to no avail.
2010: The many faces of Georgie, Livestock Guardian Dog extraordinaire
2009: “Hey, look! A box! And toys!”
2008: Now that all her babies have been adopted, Kara will be going to the pet store on Thursday, hopefully to be adopted quickly.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: Warm little pile o’ kitties.
My Boodie is the same as Jake! He growls when the doorbell rings! He looks just like Jake too…….weird!
CARMELLA TONGUE! I read no more as I was dead on the floor.
My Hobbes growls when the phone rings. It’s hilarious!
Now, whenever I see Tony, he’s going to be Tony Runty Horror Pickle in my head.
Every time I see Dr. Melfi written, I think about a radio program, “Ask Dr. Science.” The tagline:
ANNOUNCER: “Remember, he’s not a real doctor.”
DR. SCIENCE: “I have a master’s degree.”
ANNOUNCER: “….in science!”
http://drscience.com/wordpress/
Same here! Growling at the door bell while skulking down the hall with huge poofy tails lol.
Love Tony Runty Horror lolol
OK< this sequence was a hoot. Amid the news that I'm likely going to have to go back on the job market again a month after getting off of it, I needed that.
That just killed me dead – a seeing eye hamster. How do you come up with this stuff?!
I loved the seeing eye hamster, too! And a little homage to Homer…awww.
Tony Runty Horror! How appropriate given this time last year we were enjoying the Magoo’s adventures. Have you ever heard anything from his forever family? I’d love to see a picture of the boy all grown up.
Me too-cracked up and fell over laughing WAY too hard for a rainy Monday.
Oh Tony, such a drama queen. No wonder you toddle, that is one round belly!!!
And Jake, we don’t care if you hiss at the door, the driveway, the spirits floating in the ether…. You march to the beat of your own (unseen) drummer, don’t you?
Our Ingrid does the same thing as Jake! We call her our Early Visitor Warning System – she growls and runs away.
Jake : the mind of a guard dog in the body of a cat.
Love Tony Runty Horror!
Oh Tony….such the drama queen.
That Jake cracks me up….I got one up here I can send you and you can have a matched set. 🙂
Tony, you sweet drama queen. Someone(s) needs kisses! All day we’ll picture three blind mice… and one kitten with dark glasses and walking sticks. Thank you for the shout out! We wouldn’t have had half the confidence to foster if we hadn’t been reading Love & Hisses for so long. Thank you!
Awwwwww little Tony!!! Awwwwwwwwww!! You are gorgeous! You and Carmella and Jake!! Take care
x
I could use some advice from Robyn and the kitty hive mind here. I have just adopted a 10(ish) week old kitten. He was thrown from a car on the highway by the a**holes who originally had him and was saved by two women on their way through town on their vacation. Miraculously, his only injuries were some road rash. His issue is that he has a CRAZY oral fixation for faces. He wants to suck on my (or my husband’s) lips, eyebrows, nose, cheek, or ears. I have tried to redirect him to a blanket, a stuffed animal, or even my adult cats who will put up with “nursing”. He won’t have any of it. Did I mention he is the most stubborn kitten I have ever met?? I also tried negative reinforcement when he starts sucking. He didn’t flinch at the penny can and enjoyed being sprayed with the water bottle. I don’t want to lock him up, but being woken up with him sucking on my lips is an experience I don’t want to repeat. I am willing to do a lot for my furbabies, but that crossed my line of weirdness. :-)Do any of you have ideas or products to try??
aww… I don’t know why you would want to discourage this, I love it when kittens do this to me.. (see, more than a little crazy (sorry comment from a different post) )
Maybe you could try a http://www.catpacifier.com/ maybe get a bottle with some KMR or goat milk and nurse him for a little bit so he gets used to rubber nipples giving him good things, and then weaning him on to a pacifier.. ??? as I said, I never mind when cats do this to me.
Cats do not react to being punished for something they consider normal behavior. Nursing is normal for him. Praise him when he nurses where you want him to, and be disappointed when he doesn’t. You could try carrying around some bitter ointment (you can usually find it at a pet store) and putting bits on yourself when ever you are going to be with in kitty’s reach. or if you feel him rooting around, grab some and dab it on. if you don’t want to slather yourself with bitter ointment, maybe keeping something on hand that smells pretty foul. My cats can not stand the smell of nail polish remover.. they run for the hills (which is nice because then I can paint my nails with out additional cat hair) and bringing that out and placing it near by. Id be less likely to do this though as it might make him associate you with the smell.. which I would think would be much more powerful than the taste thing..
I always tell people if your kitten is displaying behavior you do not like, simply remove him from the situation. When he attempts to nurse, put him on the floor. he’ll just jump up and try it again, but just put him on the floor again (and again and again and again) he will eventually learn that he is not getting what he wants when he does x. Love on him like crazy when he’s not nursing and rooting. give him a verbal command in a disappointed tone when he starts to root, and put him down when he actually is serious. You have GOT to be consistent with it though, if you give in even once it will set training back quite a bit. I find this last one more effective then deterrents because it helps you communicate better.. but what ever works for you..
Thanks for the help. I made him a pacifier out of fleece and a rubber nipple. I’ll try him on a bottle and see if I can wean him. I don’t mind the nursing for a short time, but my husband HATES it. I know it’s because the kitten wasn’t weaned from mom, just thrown away. (Did I mention that I want to beat the crap out of the a**holes who threw him on to the interstate?)
What Connie said.
One of mine was weaned too early, and she still has a bit of a fixation, but she licks now instead of trying to nurse. Sometimes no matter what I do, she’s just GOTTA lick. She does get over it, but when she’s one-track-minded, it can take a good ten minutes before she gets over it. 🙂
The putting down thing works really well though, if you can be consistent. 🙂
I agree with what Connie said (and Alyslinn, too, about being consistent), I hope trying him on the bottle works.
Along those lines, Sugarbutt used to lick my neck and knead on my arm in the middle of the night. He hasn’t done it in years (he was about a year and a half old when he stopped), and I still miss it a little bit. 🙂
Looking @ the weight chart; considering she has SEVEN kittens drawing down on the tap at the bar, Livia appears to be doing a fairly good job of keeping her weight decent. 🙂
She’s lost a little, but she’s certainly not losing as fast as they’re gaining, so I think it’s good! 🙂
Holly is also a growler! She growls anytime someone knocks at the door, whenever she hears someone going up the steps outside a little too loudly, whenever a car alarm goes off… And whenever I sneeze, she does that chattery hunting noise! Such a weirdo.
I love that she does the chattery noise when you sneeze. That really cracked me up!
love the story.. that is a riot!
If I were Fred.. I’d be very afraid of that look in Jake’s eye… Very afraid!
Oh my gosh, that kitten sequence nearly killed me dead! Too cute!
I too bought the Tidy Cats lightweight litter, and will not again. We have just one little cat, and the litter is tracked everywhere! Too difficult to keep up with it, have to clean every day!