Love the cross stitch. How can you work on that with the maniacs in the house? Between the cat hair everywhere and the “Whatcha doin’ Mom” constant interference I had to put away the cross stitch. I can barely type on the computer for all the hand holding, tailio-swishing and across the keyboard laying that is going on here. And that is only Dave! Heh.
Miz Poo is actually the only one who shows interest in what I’m doing when I’m cross-stitching. And she’ll just sit and watch, and very rarely grab at the thread. She’s such a good girl (but on the other hand, I can’t imagine trying to cross stitch with kittens running around downstairs!)
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I don’t know if you’ve seen this, but I’m glad I was alone in my classroom when I read some of the reviews!
The Loonicorn approves. 😀
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So it seem Dennis never really integrated with this litter…. So often he’s had this look of “why am I here with these weirdos?”
He’s very patient with other cats (which makes me think that he’d be really good in a home with a cat who needs a friend!), and though I never got a chance to post pictures of it, he played with them a lot. He never instigated any snuggling, but he always put up with it admirably. Now that Orlando’s back for a few days, I’ve actually seen Dennis cleaning Orlando’s ears (which is a two-day job, minimum!)
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I am sad(?) to say that ‘LOOK AT MY BUTT’ had now become a human game in our house. ;P
And I’m winning.
Hahahahahaha!
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I’m all for as many fosters as you can have in that house, but I’m going to give Fred a pass on taking the extra foster room, assuming that’s where he wrote Charnel House. It’s an excellent read!
Fred actually does his writing in the recliner in the corner of his bedroom. His office is where he spends his days working, now that he’s working from home. I had initially thought that maybe we could occasionally put kittens in his office, but that room is so packed with two desks, a treadmill desk, and various computers and laptops, that there’s no room to move around in there – and way too many wires for kittens to chew on.
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Since the weather is getting nicer maybe Fred can move his office to the garage or something then you can get more kittens !!!! Just kidding Fred !!!
If the garage wasn’t infested with Brown Recluses and other spiders, he might be willing. 🙂
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Would George and Gracie ever be so patient? and now you need baby goats.
George would probably put up with that, but I don’t think Gracie would.
We have zero desire to have goats – though I think YOU should have baby goats so we can come admire them. 🙂
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Wow, Stinkerbelle in a cat bed and not up on top of the kitchen cabinets! Is this the first picture we’ve seen here of that? Certainly the first I remember seeing. She’s a real beaut. What an absolute sweetie Tommy is!
No, I’ve shared other pictures where she wasn’t on top of the cabinets. She tends to spend more time there in the winter, and then when it gets warmer, she spends more time on the floor and desks.
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I feel you need a Chicken Swing.
That’s so funny – I had no idea that chickens would perch on a swing!
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I was awwwing and ahhhhing over pictures of baby Sugarbutt the other day and I noticed that bulging-eyes thing I first noticed on Beulah of the Seven (and then Stompers and then Tony R.H. Pickle). Do you think Sugarbutt could be the runt of his litter? (I’m a faithful and loyal reader for 6+ years, but I can’t for the life of me remember if you ever mentioned anything about it.)
Baby Suggie.
Baby Suggie and baby Tommy.
Sugarbutt was, indeed, the runt of his litter. He was the smallest and sickest one, was just a total hot mess, and I loved him immediately. The first few weeks I had him, I had to wash him every single day because he had the worst diarrhea and – it turned out – impacted anal glands. Eventually he got past his issues and he’s normal-sized now. We haven’t had any serious issues with him as an adult, thankfully!
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How is that screen door working out? I am ready to pull the trigger on one and want to know if you have any advice on dos and dont’s.
Putting that screen door at the bottom of the stairs was probably the best thing we’ve done in this house this year. It works SO much better than having to mess with baby gates; I highly recommend it!
My suggestions: make sure that the screen door you buy has pet screen on the bottom AND top. The one we have is regular screen on the top, so we’re going to need to staple pet screen there. I can already see the damage that the kittens have done to the top screen by hanging from it.
Also, if the door you buy is unfinished, finish it before you hang it. We didn’t – I was in a rush to get it put up – so now that the fosters aren’t currently having the run of the upstairs, we took it down so I could polyurethane it. It’s a pain because I have to skirt around where the hinge is attached to the door.
Lastly, I think I mentioned that we put a hook on each side of the door because Fred and I are always going up and down the stairs. This way, if he goes upstairs he can hook it from that side, and then if I need to go upstairs, I stick a wooden paint stirrer through the gap, push the hook up, and go through and re-hook it. (It works the other way, too. We have wooden paint stirrers on either side of the door.) Once I’m done polyurethaning the door, we’re going to put the hook on the stairs side of the door (the side that the kittens can reach) higher, because right now it’s low enough that they can unhook it. It wasn’t that big an issue – they got it unhooked, but didn’t know that all they had to do was push on the door to open it and be free – but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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Did anyone see this: “Cats are so dramatic”… It’s your picture Robyn!
I saw it! I LOVE Cats, Beaver & Ducks.
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And Tricki is such a sleek, gorgeous cat. How she hasn’t been adopted yet is beyond me! I know you’ve said that black cats are not as quickly adopted sometimes due to people’s superstitions about them. Is there any kind of data from Challenger’s House or Petsmart regarding the length of time needed to adopt black cats versus other types like tabbies?
As far as I know there isn’t any real data on how long black cats take to be adopted. Part of Tricki’s problem might be that she’s a scaredy cat – but now that she’s back in the foster room, where she spent a month previously, she’s pretty relaxed. Hopefully someone will be willing to give her a chance, because once she relaxes, she is just the sweetest little goofball.
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“That’s not Corbie in the other cat bed. It was a foster.” Now I badly want to know who that kitty is!
It was Elle, one of five sisters (Skittles, Felicia, Dulcinea, and Punki were the other four) we fostered in late 2007.
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I’m too new of a reader to remember Mister Boogers, but I certainly know that he was one of your previous kitties. Really nice to get to know him better from today’s post. Why was he named Mister Boogers?
Also, I can’t believe he didn’t try to catch/kill any of the chickens. Can cats be allowed near chickens? I always assumed that I should not consider raising chickens because of my cats. Maybe you can set me straight on that.
We initially named him Stanley (Fred was going through a phase where he insisted that all the cats’ names should start with “S.” Miz Poo’s “legal” name is Scrappy, and that’s how she was listed at the vet until last year, and they’d call to remind us of an appointment, and I’d say “Who is SCRAPPY?! Oh, right!”). Then I was calling him Stanley Bean, and eventually he developed allergies in the Fall and Spring, which would make his eyes leaky and make him sneeze like crazy. We had to pick boogers out of his nose occasionally, which led to us calling him Booger, and then at some point one or the other of us (probably Fred) added “Mister” to that.
The only chicken we ever lost to a cat was when we hatched chicks in the incubator, and when they got older Fred put them outside in a fenced-in area for a few hours. Maxi was watching them, and when we weren’t paying attention, she reached through the fence, pulled one out, and killed it. Totally our fault for not keeping an eye on her! But when chickens are grown, they’re not much smaller than cats, and an agitated chicken is very flappy, which cats tend to find intimidating. We never had a problem with cats going after chickens, and when we’d let the chickens into the back yard, the cats and chickens coexisted peacefully.
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Tricki is gorgeous! How can she not have been adopted yet?! Is it the light or does she have green round her iris then a gorgeous orange shade? You might have mentioned it before…I have had my sleep disturbed by stomping kitties since you had her first time!
She does have gorgeous bicolored eyes! Between her glossy black fur, small stature, and amazing eyes, she’s a total supermodel kitty. 🙂
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Aww, Mr. Boogers. I remember when he ran for office. Such a hard fought campaign. He tried but he could never quite hide the Het from view. I miss him and know you and Fred must miss him terribly. When Jake and Elwood showed up it was almost a magical thing.
It really was like Jake and Elwood were sent to us by the late lamented Mister Boogers, wasn’t it!
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Has anyone tried the new Arm & Hammer litter, Clump & Seal? Liza asked on Facebook yesterday and I haven’t tried it myself, but I’m curious to hear the verdict!
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“What? Was nappin’!”
Have you ever seen a kitten so very pleased with himself?
Showing off the paws.
Tricki investigates.
Such a pretty pretty PRETTY girl.
Dennis and the ears of Slightly Annoyed.
Dennis, rolling around in my lap being petted.
And Orlando said “I believe I shall lay right here!”
Then he looked very pleased with himself, and his ears grew three sizes.
Dennis said ::THLURRP::
Then Dennis rolled around and let me rub his belly, then suddenly got the Crazy Eyes.
Orlando went off and fell asleep in the fish bed.
Dennis illustrated that Orlando’s not the only smug monkey in that room.
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If you have a cat bed that your cats seem uninterested in, I highly recommend that you try stacking another one on top of it. Corbie thinks that this setup is just the awesomest!
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Previously
2013: “WHAT GOIN’ ON OVER HERE, MAMA? OH, THAT’S BIG KITTY FOOD. I’MA GO EAT SOME LITTER!”
2012: DarWednesday!
2011: Rufus, fangin’ it.
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: Kara’s birth story.
2007: Hatehatehate.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
The Clump and Seal is great. It’s finer than the other Arm & Hammer litters, but it’s not dusty, and it clumps a lot better than the other ones.
Thanks! I actually ended up buying a container of it at the grocery store this morning (and when I got home, I realized that I should have gotten two, because 1 small container isn’t going to be enough to fill one of my litter boxes), so I’m looking forward to giving it a try.
Ok, I had recently switched to Arm & Hammer from Fresh Step as my cats, my house and I could no longer take the serious case of litter lung that was goin’ on. As soon as I saw the Clump and Seal, I had to try it. It is super fine, almost more like sand and does really seem to do the job. I loved Fresh Step, but what were they thinking when they changed it? So much for the Costco savings as well, Arm & Hammer is getting my money now, lol.
Fresh Step did NOT know what they were doing when they changed their formula – no one has had anything good to say about it. The dust is just incredible, isn’t it?
Just came over from the amazon link of that unicorn thing… and am still laughing at “george takei”‘s review! LOL!! What a fab way to begin the weekend…!
Awww lovely to see Tricki, Dennis and Orlando! And baby pics of Sugarbutt and Tommy are too cute!
Corbie – we’ve not forgotten how handsome you are! 🙂
Wishing you all a lovely Easter! Take care
x
Happy Easter! 🙂
I’ve been meaning to ask this but keep forgetting. Do you buy everyone of Fred’s books? I know you can read them for free, but I was curious. I know if my husband, mom, best friend, brother, etc. wrote and published a book, I’d buy a ton! I’m going to go buy one of Fred’s books now!
Awww! I forgot about Stanley J. Boogerton! I love that post, and the Soprano’s one!
My dad had three books published. I bought them. 🙂 I even got them autographed! LOL
I’m one of Fred’s beta readers, so I do get to read them for free. I tend to buy a copy of each, so that I have them available on my Kindle, but I don’t buy more than that. Since our finances are combined and it would be like him buying his own books. 🙂
Wow, thanks for the link to the “incident” with Sen. Boogerton. I totally remembered that as some kind of run for office with the indiscretion that was revealed. Funny how the memory works. I loved that entry so much. I do miss him. I still tear up from time to time when I think about him.
And there is more than one talented writer in da house.
I second the vote for Clump & Seal. It does seem less smelly with my guys (except for the one who won’t cover his poop — but fortunately, I have two more “Poop Police” felines who will go in after him and scratch up a mountain of litter over his stinky leavings). It clumps well and isn’t any dustier than the refillable Petco litter.
I NEED Poop Police! I tried to convince Kara that that’s part of her Sheriff duties, but she wasn’t buying it. 🙂
This reminds me of something that’s actually been on my mind for several days that I kept thinking I should ask the accumulated wealth of kitty wisdom represented by the L&H readership.
Is there a correlation between being very fastidious at poop covering in the litter box and the need to try to cover up wet food? I have one female cat who very energetically does both. The food-covering, of course, is just like pantomiming because she’s scratching and pawing away at the tabletop (I feed both cats on tables so the dog doesn’t think the food is his) and not actually accomplishing anything (although a few times she’s actually managed to snag a napkin lying on the table and completely cover her bowl with it! that was pretty funny).
The male cat, on the other hand, can’t be bothered to do either. And he also happens to be the messiest eater of all the cats I’ve ever had…
Just wondered if others have observed the same thing.
That’s a really good question – I’m going to post it in Friday’s post, I’ll be interested to see the responses!
Not I – I have a cat that doesn’t cover his poop in the litterbox but tries to cover his food.
A treadmill desk? Or are you missing a comma? If not, I want to see!
No comma missing!
It’s like this one here. At some point I’ll take a picture of his office to share. 🙂
I’d love to know what kind Fred actually has and what he thinks of it. I’ve been thinking that I need something like this… but they are so expensive that I’m hesitant. So I’m soliciting feedback from anyone who has experience with them and who can suggest a good one to buy.
I don’t know why I said it’s “like” the one I posted the link to in my previous comment – that’s the exact one he has. He highly recommends it, and uses it for four hours a day, Monday through Friday. I would think that it would be hard to concentrate and walk at the same time, but he reminded me that you’re not walking at an exercise pace, you’re just moving at a decent walk, and he hasn’t had any issues concentrating.
It’s just a crime that Tricki hasn’t been adopted yet. I love black kitties (though the closest we have right now is a very grumpy charcoal “ticked” tabby/tux named Persephone.) If I were anywhere near yall (and my Fiance would let me have a third cat, haha yeah right) I would snap her up in about two seconds.
In a sitcom, you’d have hit “post comment” on that comment, and half a second later I’d be knocking on your door with Tricki in my arms. 😉
http://www.kittyblog.net/2014/03/a-new-to-us-litter-arm-hammer-clump-seal.html
Currently I have one out of three boxes with it in it exclusively and the two adult fosters I have are really shunning it for some reason. they’ll poop on it, but not much else.. It was well liked by Charlotte and Gigi was happy to use it too..
THAT’s why the name of the litter sounded so familiar to me! It was driving me crazy, I couldn’t figure out where I’d heard the name before.
Can anyone help me with a new cat? I adopted one 2 weeks ago and she is very skittish but for awhile was coming in my room at 2am for pets and to drool on me while being petted. She is still very shy and stress sheds like crazy.
2 weeks is a relatively short period of time for a shy new cat to adjust. Unless she’s got another cat (or dog) picking on her (you didn’t mention if you have any other cats or pets), I’d pay as much attention to her as possible and tempt her with treats, pet her as much as possible.
I’ve probably said this before, but good things bear repeating: I really, really enjoy your banner collection and the obvious love and care you’ve put into it. Today it came up with Norbert’s banner and it’s so sweet — when I have free time later I’m going to go back and read his story. He’s always been a favorite!
I really do love making those banners. And now I need to go look back through my Norbie pics, because I sure did love that little guy! 🙂
I’m planning on sending some birthday photos soon!
I was going to leave a Norbert-update plea earlier!
I currently have Clump and Seal in my cat’s litter box. I previously used Scoop Away and loved it, but the dust was just too much. Clump and Seal doesn’t clump as well. My little darling tends to pee right next to the side of the pan. When I try to get that off the side (metal scoop), the clump breaks up. Other than that particular issue, it seems to live up to the hype.
I have recently switched all three of the litter boxes over to Clump and Seal. I just started off with the one in my bathroom and after a few weeks changed the other two over. Very fine grit that does stick to the bottom of my feet; looking for a new place to move the box to. Clumps good, controls odor. The only real thing I’ve noticed is that it is used up faster and the level goes does faster. But otherwise, really like it. The three cats have had no problems with it either
Hey, what on earth is a treadmill desk, and where can I [not] get one?
No, I’m not being silly (well, maybe a little, lol), I read about the treadmill desk in your comment up above : “…but that room is so packed with two desks, a treadmill desk, and various computers and laptops…” Sounds rather efficient…