Moving Cats

We just moved into a new house. We were a little worried about the cats during the move, but with a little preparation, we were able to ensure that the cats made the transition with little stress.
We first boarded the cats while were moving, then after picking them up we kept them inside for about a week. I read online that if you just let them out of the house, the cats will often times take off for their old home, no mater the distance. In this case, it is under 10 miles.
We also went a purchased a harness pet collar and several nylon leashes to take them out on escorted walks for a couple of days. After the third day of escorted time outside, Herman managed to get out by himself. He came back a short time later, which is a good sign.
Since that time, thankfully, they have both been outside over night. As Herman, can be a real pain at night. It’s not that he is loud, but he usually sleeps with us, and whenever he hears me tossing and turning in my sleep, he comes over and nuzzles me to pet him. 330 in the morning is not the time to be petting a cat.

So in the end, our move with the cats was very smooth and stress free.

Keep The Cats in on Winter Nights

Winter is here in PA, and even though it is a warm winter, nights still get pretty cold. The old boy Herman, frequently does not want to go out at night, and will camp out on the radiator after he eats. Diddy, on the other hand usually goes out, and it is us who often makes the decision not to let him go out rather than him.

On nights when it gets below freezing, pets should not be let out all night.  For cats, such as mine, this might mean those little devils are waking you up in the night with their antics.  For us it usually means that Herman will be camping out on our bed at the foot on either Lizzie’s feet or mine…usually Lizzie’s because I tend to move around too much for Herman.

Do you let your cats out at night? Do you keep them in during the winter months?

Can You Train Your Cat to Use the Toilet?

I was just reading this article that tells you how to toilet train your cat. According to the article it can be done in a time frame between several days to several weeks.

It involves moving the proximity of the cat box gradually closer to the toilet so that the box is on top of the toilet, and reducing the amount of litter that is in the box at the same time, then switching to wax paper when the proximity is on top of the toilet and the amount of litter is nil.

I am not sure if this method would work, but I would be very interested to find out if any one has been successful at using the method.

Cat Characters

I was just updating my Collar post and I thought I would write an update post about the cats.
Diddy has taken to jumping on my leg, usually in the morning prior to being fed. Its always him jumping on my calf as I pass him. I guess he is hungry and attacks the first thing that pops into his view. He never scratches or draws blood, but it is a bit scary when you are not expecting it. Which I think is his intent.
Throughout the day, Diddy will move from napping spot to napping spot. One of his favorite spots to nap is a big plant saucer that is in front of one of the living room windows. Once I bring the planter in for the winter, I am quite sure Diddy will again take up residence among the Mexican petunias and sweet potato vines.
Herman the older cat comes in on a regular basis now, and has even spent and occasional evening inside. The other morning I spotted him eating a fresh kill for his breakfast.  I suppose on the mornings he does not show up for breakfast, he has had a good night of hunting.

Day of A Cat

I was looking at the pictures of Diddy that I have posted on my shopping blog, and the difference in his size from just a little over a year ago is amazing.  When he was a kitten, he was truly a PITA (pain in the  but), being that he would attack everyone, especially Herman, the  older resident cat,  which forced Herman to spend most of his time outside.

Diddy is now bigger than Herman, and much nicer to be around. He still can be a bit of a stinker, but for the most part, he is much more enjoyable to be around.

Herman, who still spends most of his time outside, and Diddy are best of friends. Many times Herman is at the door looking for Diddy to come out and play.

Diddy and Herman are on a feeding schedule  that they have trained me to follow every day. Someone (usually me) gets up in the AM, lets them both inside, and feeds them their wet cat food, usually prior to making the coffee.

After eating, Herman goes outside, and Diddy stays inside, usually moving from napping spot to napping spot throughout the day. When the sun is starting to go down, Diddy then goes outside to play.

At about 9pm-ish the cats expect to be fed wet food again, so they both come in for their nightly meal. As soon as they are done chowing, they both head out for a night of romping.

Both cats, will accompany us when we are outside. If I am weeding during the day, Herman will come over and inspect what I am doing, and usually he will roll around to get my attention so that his belly will get rubbed.

At night, Lizzie and I frequently go two blocks away to Rita’s Water Ice for desert. The cats, I will prowl behind us, under the cars as we walk, and then pop out as we approach home.

Other than eating, the two do not stay inside together. Diddy, the PITA he is, encourages Herman to spend ample time outside.

Flickr Pet Pics

I have been messing around with the site adding a few widgets. Wanted to get the rss for my Flickr pet pics, but not sure if

Flickr will not let me use an rss feed for sets of pics, but it will let me do an RSS for my main account. So that is what visitors will see.

Go here to see the rest of my Flickr Pet Pic Set.

Please check out my previous Cat picture post.

Some Pet Resources

	AnimalPetsandFriends.com Dog Resources subpages, with lots of good resources. Plus they have a really awesome logo.
	Please visit my Pet Resources page for a list of other pet related resources.

Turbo Scratcher As Seen On TV Pet Product

Diddy has been driving me nuts playing with his Turbo Scratcher. We were recently cleaning out the basement when we came upon the Turbo Scratcher hidden under some clutter. It got moved up to the bedroom some how, but when Diddy started playing with it around 3am one morning, I moved it up to the third floor in an unoccupied bed room. This also happens to be right next to the office, so I hear him throughout the day periodically playing with the TurboScratcher. We had gotten the scratcher some time in the fall, and then during cleaning of the house it made its way into the basement. I believe he now plays with it more now than he did when we first got it.

The Turbo Scratcher also has replacement card board scratch pads that may be purchased for an additional price. It also comes with a packet of catnip to sprinkle on the card board to encourage scratching.

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The Turbo Scratcher other than being a little distracting, is a great toy for young cats that may other wise take their energies out on furniture or other items in your house that would be better left alone. We purchased the Turbo Scratcher at Petsmart, however they are also available at Walmart as well as various online stores.

Kitten Pictures

Came across this blog that is nothing but Kitten Pictures. My favorite Kitten pic on the site was the one above. What a great idea for a pet blog..nothing but kitten pics.

Pet Collars and Neutering Diddy

Diddy was taken to the Veterinarian this morning to get neutered. As great a cat as he is, we really don’t want to have any more of him running around the neighborhood. Many people don’t like having pets neutered because they feel it is cruel. What would be even more cruel is to kill an unwanted animal.

While at Patt Verterinary Hospital in Gilbertsville, I noticed the Pettags.com display. Pettags is a great company, with a lot of great animal products. While on their site, I noticed a Break away Pet collar, made for cats. I am not sure I have ever had a cat that wore a collar. I actually got several for Pepper and Pumpkin when they were young, but they did not work very well.
I am guessing here, but I think the Break away pet collar for cats is designed so that when they climb trees they don’t get hung up in the branches. That would indeed be a bad thing.
But why wear a collar? I read somewhere, I believe in Birds&Bloom magazine, that cat owners were encouraged to have their outdoor cats wear collars with bells on inorder to forwarn birds of their presence, which would result in fewer killed birds. Many birds, to include many endagered species, are subjected to becoming prey to our domesticated little hunters, that don’t need to kill to survive, but kill out of instinct.
Just another thing we need to consider while having a cat for a pet that ventures outside. It may not be a natural thing to do, much like neutering, wearing a pet collar could be something that could in the end benefit the cat.

Cat Pictures

Took some pictures of the older cats last night. Pepper the oldest of my cats, at about 14 years, has taken to spending most of her time in the downstairs bathroom. Duece, a huge gray fluff ball, hides out underneath the master bed and comes out to eat, pee, poop, or to scratch a passerby.

Pepper is getting bony in her old age. Being in her golden years now, the kids need to be reminded not to pick her up because she is so old. Pumpkin, who died last year, and Pepper were from a litter of kittens that her mom had. Pumpkin was a Maine Coon Cat with hair in between his toes, and big fox like tail. He was quite an affectionate cat that was always up for some attention. Long since buried in the back yard, I am certain that Pepper will be joining him this winter.

Update:

Pepper did pass this winter and is resting in the back field next to her long time friend Pumpkin.

Maggie, a stray from the farm up the road, befriended my daughter and is now an inside cat. I think she enjoyed being a indoor/outdoor cat instead of a full-time indoor cat.