A cat’s Christmas

Well Christmas is not far off now and thank goodness I’ve finished off all the shopping for the human component of my family. I really do not want to be going anywhere near the shops in December. But I still have to get the furries a little something for Christmas and some are a little easier to buy for than others.

The fish are easy to please – a new piece of wood complete with aquatic plant or some other tank decoration and they are set. The birdies are also happy with anything that makes a noise. Because I’m dog sitting this Christmas and Mischa will also be here, I will be getting them a nice juicy bone each, a few treats and a new toy as well. But what to get the cats???

I would dearly love to get my two a Funky Hollow for Christmas but I think that might be a bit beyond the budget. They are pretty cool though right? I have a savings account for the kitties (I can hear you laughing now, don’t worry), so one day they may get themselves some funky feline furniture. But not this Christmas unfortunately. Mojo isn’t really one for toys – apart from the mice you can get that feel like real mice fur. He goes absolutely bonkers over them! So more than likely, that will be on his list this year, along with some Greenies Liver Treats.

I know Rosie’s favourite poison too – and it might not be what you would expect….

That’s right – the humble hairband. And boy would she go nuts over this pack of them! As it is we have them strewn all throughout the house on the floor but they are getting a little ratty so she could use some new ones to play with. I’m sure people assume that I just pull hair bands out of my hair and just chuck them on the floor when they come here. *hehe*

So don’t forget to put your kitties on your Christmas shopping list – it’s a celebration for them as well you know!

Waiting at Rainbow Bridge

Like many cat owners, Mojo and Rosie are not the first cats I’ve ever owned. My first cat that I can ever remember was a lovely black moggie called Sam. He was jet black all over and sweet natured. He was always around and I have a lovely photo of him, lying next to the bassinette when I was a baby. He unfortunately developed renal disease and was put down when I was still fairly young.

Puss was the next cat to enter our lives. He was a stray and simply came over the fence one day and decided our house was a nice place to live. He was long-haired and always looked to me like he was wearing a tuxedo. He loved sitting on the piano, listening to my sister play. He was fairly long in the tooth by the time he came to live with us – the vet guessed that he would be older than 10 yo. He stayed with us for quite a while, then one day vanished as quickly as he came. By the time he left us, we think he was edging close to 18 years. Still, I wonder if perhaps he thought his job was done and it was time to move on to another family.

My grandad found Fluffy when he was a tiny ball of fluff and could fit in the palm of his hand. He’d been abandoned by his mum/owners and so he adopted him. My nanna wasn’t really one for cats, so he was strictly outdoors and was only allowed to come up onto the landing for feeding. Eventually, Fluffy had the run of the house, well at least on the ground….only being allowed up onto furniture if it happened to be on somebody’s lap. Being so young when pop found him, he was hardly well socialised with other cats or with people. He was definitely a feisty character and always getting into scraps with other cats. I remember more than one occasion as a child when I would be walking down the side of the house and I would hear the bell on his collar. Even though I knew he was around, he would always surprise me – launching out from the bushes and latching himself onto my leg. Still, he mellowed out considerably as he aged and when my grandad passed, it wasn’t long before Fluffy went to join him.

And then there was Charlie. Technically she wasn’t my cat, she was my auntie’s but she was such a gorgeous cat. A bit aloof but affectionate nonetheless. She was another classy girl and very immaculately kept. When I look at photos of her, I see so much of Rosie in her – except Rosie is a little more clumsy than Charlie ever was. I think perhaps that’s what drew me to Rosie when I adopted her from Animal Welfare League.

It’s no small wonder that I have such a love of cats now, considering my whole life I have been exposed to them. They each had their own personality and funny little quirks…people who say that cats have no personality just haven’t lived long enough with a cat in my opinion.

Cinderella cleans up after the furries

Now that summer is on the way, the two cats are shedding like no tomorrow. They sit on my lap for five minutes and leave half a pound of cat hair behind them, despite almost daily brushing to try and get rid of all that excess hair. Neither of them are overly fond of the vacuum so I’m not too keen to try out the pet attachment on them. Of course, no sooner have I vacuumed the house from top to bottom, when I see a new bundle of fur bouncing merrily down the hallway carried on the wind like tumbleweed through Arizona. Where on earth does it keep coming from? Not to be deterred, I kept on with the cleaning because I sure don’t want to be doing any more of it this week. I whipped out the floor cleaner and now my house has the lovely scent of pina colada!

No I didn’t spill the contents of my blender on the floor. In a bid to determine the source of Rosie’s allergy, I got rid of all the chemicals I routinely use in the house and replaced them with natural plant based products. I found a great range of them in the supermarket called Cinderella – they smell great, do the job properly and are safe for the furries as well. They might cost a bit more than your average household cleaner….but unlike other household cleaners, the Cinderella line is 100% biodegradable so it is better for the environment as well as the furries. Best of all, in supporting their product line, I’m also supporting young women and local business – the founder of Cinderella is Bex Gold (Pantene’s Young Woman of the Year 2006 – Business) who hails from the Gold Coast.

So what are you waiting for? Go get some Cinderella and I promise you, you might actually like cleaning your house.

Kids?? No thanks, I’ll stick with the cats!

That horrid word is rearing its ugly head a lot lately. You know the one I’m talking about….when you’re in your late twenties and in a committed relationship. You have a house which you partly own and the bank mostly owns, two cars in a garage and nice albeit mismatched decor. You’ve even thought about moving to a nice secluded piece of acreage far enough away from the city to not be bothered by the constant drone of trucks down the motorway yet close enough that you can easily satisfy your cravings for a Zaraffas coffee or yet another handbag. Apparently all of that means you must be ready to start a family.

I really don’t have a huge interest in little children or babies. They are cute enough I guess and they do funny stuff from time to time but by and large, I’m not really sure I like them. Mind you, my only experience in looking after children is with my nieces and nephew and that was enough to put me off for a life time. It prompted me to start the “perfectly acceptable reasons NOT to have babies” list. Every so often I find an interesting tidbit from other people’s experiences with the whole package from start to finish. To list a few:

• Sticky fingers, even after they have been washed copious times, even by adults. They are STILL sticky
• You have to lock up anything and everything of value or sentiment that is breakable
• People think bad of you when you rouse on them for doing something naughty
• Oh and the whole wiping noses on parent’s or guardian’s clothing – that is just SO GROSS I can’t even think about it!
• They make a mess everywhere on a daily basis – even if you are fortunate to have a cleaner, your house still looks like a bomb hit it
• You start to resent your childless friends and family for being able to go on frequent trips away at the drop of the hat and whinge behind their backs how you never ever get a holiday

When you think about it like that, why do women choose to have children? Does a switch in your brain suddenly get flipped over which makes all that stuff okay?

Now I’m not saying that the cats are hassle free furry kids. They make their presence well known by leaving little tufts of fur everywhere like tumble weed. They puke occasionally, generally two centimetres away from the nearest piece of easy clean floor surface. They do break stuff and you have to be aware that nowhere is safe from a cat unless you shut the door. BUT….

• They toilet train easily and from a very early age
• They look after themselves, you don’t need to hold their hand
• Even the annoying things they do are very cute, as opposed to just plain annoying
• You can leave them at home alone for the day from a young age and no one reports you to DOCs
• They don’t care if you get upset with them, they will just do whatever they want anyway
• You can yell at them when they do something naughty and no one screams child abuse
• They are easy to look after when you go on holidays – the care taker need only provide their favourite food, water and the occasional cuddle if the cats deem it appropriate and most cats will be quite happy with that
• Oh and while we’re on the travel theme, friends and family will happily look after your cats for a few days or a few weeks while you’re on holidays and you don’t even have to bribe them

I think it’s a clear win for the cats

Cat lax anyone??

Rosie just isn’t having a good time of it lately. Not only has the warmer weather brought with it a reoccurrence of her dermatitis/hot spot problem but she is shedding like you wouldn’t believe. There are bits of her fur flying around the house….kind of like tumble weed really. I keep brushing her as much as she will tolerate but it keeps coming off and although she is an obliging sort, I’m not quite game enough to get near her with the vaccuum cleaner. I had a bad experience with Mojo trying to vacuum excess fur off him once….let’s just say I still have visible scars from the experience.

Unfortunately she must be ingesting a lot of her fur as well during grooming and since she’s not much of a yakker (like Mojo), it tends to get swallowed along with everything else. So off to the pet shop, after a little bit of investigating online, to get a tube of Cat Lax “a palatable formula for use as a feline laxative to aid in hairball removal”.

I’m always a little bit dubious when I read that something is “palatable” when I have to use it on the pets. After all, the “meaty flavoured” chewable Drontal tabs for Mischa would only be swallowed with numerous liver treats and plenty of encouragement. The “palatable” antibiotic paste I had to give Mojo after his dental treatment, resulted in much hissing, spitting and biting. In the end I had to wrap him right up in a blanket, restrain him between my knees and force the stuff down his throat and pray to god that he didn’t try to kill me in my sleep.

So I give the Cat Lax a little sniff…..smells a lot like that syrupy stuff you make home brew beer from. I look at the ingredients…..malt, cod liver oil, beeswax, parrafin and a few other bits and pieces. Honestly, all it needs is a fair whack of salt and you could almost think it was Vegemite. Surprisingly, the palatable formula of Cat Lax went down a treat with Rosie. She sat there licking it off her face and then came back for more!! Hoorah, finally a “palatable taste” that cats actually find palatable as well!

Now if they can start making that flavour in worming tablets I will be very much appreciative.