Out With The Laundry

This morning I got out of the shower, went to my closet in the bedroom, and noticed something odd about the laundry hamper. Charlie was dozing quite contentedly there, and I don’t know how long he stayed—I had to run to work!

Cats in Sinks

Our kitties view the bathroom countertop solely as the springboard for leaping up onto the windowsill, but these cats have other ideas.

Contentment

Let it never be said Charlie doesn’t know how to relax.

All Ready To Go

Last Saturday we took Diego to the vet for a checkup and shots (he didn’t like the experience one bit). This meant getting the cat carrier out from its storage place disassembled in my closet. Upon its return Charlie decided the carrier was a nice place to hang out and he has taken to dozing inside, as shown at right. Diego ventures inside it too, though he usually doesn’t stay as long.

Walks With Cats

Our kitties are indoors cats, but not wanting to deprive them utterly of outdoors life, early on we got them used to being on a leash and harness and started going for strolls with them outside. This has become a twice-daily routine, and they are very insistent especially in the morning that they get their little stroll.

As Pica illustrates here, such an outing is really a two-person job. The kitties are wont to go their own directions. Most of the duration we let them wander about without holding on to their leashes, and since they cut down the wheat, they have a large open field in which to romp.

Pseudogenes? I don't think so...

A paper published today in the Public Library of Science Genetics suggests that cats don’t have a taste receptor for sweet, unlike most if not all other mammals.

Charlie, at left here, comes running when he hears me crunch down on an apple, a pear, or even a peach. Not sure how this ultimately shakes down, but if it’s true, Charlie’s going on a sugar-free diet.

Cat Dancing

When we went over to Nat and Ben’s last week, one of their kitties would fetch a cat toy like this one when tossed. So we got one for Charlie and Diego, and they agree it’s a very good toy. Charlie even ignored the fact it was dinnertime when we were playing.

Point and Click

I’m getting the cats back into clicker training.

It reminds them they’re in charge. It relieves boredom for cats whose world is very small. It incidentally teaches them things like “down” and “up” and “target.” They are very enthusiastic and purr the entire time. We all have a blast.

For me it’s a way of not dealing with the fact that the gray tabby Diego spotted outside is now starving, and that its fate is to die from this, or whatever disease gets it, or the coyote whose sign is now regularly very near the house, or by my catching it and having it euthanized; this one’s not tamable.

I don’t like any of those options…

Windowsill Kitty

A month or so ago, Charlie figured out the leap from the bathroom countertop to the windowsill without having to ask for help. (Diego has been able to leap up there for a long time now.) We were quite proud of him for this, and now gazing out resplendently at the garden, field, and levee to the north is one of his favorite activities.

Art Student

As Pica has mentioned, we’ve been doing the exercises in the workbook for The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Yesterday, she was working on the exercise where you draw a flower through an acetate viewing plane. But Charlie reminded us that he too is a connoisseur of the art of botanical illustration.