Today I chose not to engage with Reggie. I saw him, sat up very straight and looked at him through the screen.
Robin gave me a treat, and I ate it. And then I ate another one. Then Reggie came over to the screen…
And I had another treat.
And Reggie had some treats too.
Then, Meggy and Lexie had some treats with me and Karma had some with Reggie.
When I’d had as many treats as I wanted, I looked up at Reggie and walked into the kitchen to lie down.
Filed under life at our house, Reggie
Reggie and I made a silent space swap while Robin was away at the market.
UH closed the doors that are usually closed when I come out of my room and opened the screens on the dining room. I hung out in the living room with her while she read a novel. Until I moved on that is, unbeknownst to UH, into Robin’s bedroom through the door that had come open just a little. Reggie left the bedroom and went in the entryway to nap with Meggy. We didn’t say anything at all to each other. That’s the cool part.
When Robin came home with the food, I was nowhere to be found! Then she saw why. The door stood open about 6 inches.
Robin found me under her bed looking very contented. She was surprised that is was me under there because I usually make Reggie go under the bed if I get an opportunity. And then I make him stay.
UH found Reggie under the stroller in the entryway, napping with Meggy. I guess Robin didn’t see Reggie because Meggy’s orange roundness blinded her to the simple, smokey black kitty behind her.
I got to stay in Robin’s room while she made and ate lunch. When I went back in my room, I got tuna flakes. Later, I came out again when they weren’t being careful with my door and got more tuna flakes.
AND Robin says I am a major success again today. I’m starting to like this training program.
Filed under life at our house, Reggie
My training is going really well. Not even a week yet, and Robin is much less anxious already!
Yesterday, I came out of my room at 7 a.m. and didn’t go back in until 2 p.m. This is the longest time I’ve spent outside my safe haven for I can’t remember how long. Part of the time I was helping Robin with her work on the new magazine, part of it hanging out with Lexie, and part of it in other places in our house. I had a long nap on the highly desirable gray wool blanket!
I helped Robin from my position on the dining room table, and when I heard Reggie meowing in the next room, I lifted up my head and meowed back, but that was all. I search for him when I’m over by the screens, and sometimes he turns up. I yell a little, but I don’t run at him. Also, Robin ushers me back to my room every time I yell at him, or at Becket.
Today’s starting out well too. I ate my morning treat in the dining room while Lexie was standing near me (she had her treat in the kitchen before I came out). I played with a new catnip kicking toy very near the screens, where Reggie or anybody might have seen me. It’s my favorite ModKicker toy from Hauspanther. How could I resist?
I’ve shouted at Reggie once and at Becket, too, this morning. When I shout, Robin takes me back to my room. I try to go other places instead, like the table, but I finally go with her. She closes the door, but I don’t have to stay there very long. She tried time-outs with me before when I started to yell at the other kitties, but I didn’t calm down. I would come back out of my room and run to find whoever it was I was shouting at, well, Reggie.
Now, I go back inside my safe space, wait a little bit and come out more relaxed. I’m currently ignoring Reggie’s conversation with UH in the living room while I look for bugs in the dining room.
Robin says it’s important that I willingly do things that she asks me to, even if I’m upset, because she wants me to be safe and happy. For her to be able to communicate with me, I need to be willing to play and eat. I also need to feel comfortable in the space. I guess I’ll trust her. She hasn’t let me down before.
Filed under life at our house, Reggie
Robin went to the city animal shelter the other day to learn more about their facility for cats. She has been asked to speak about cat sheltering in the citizen comment section of the city council meeting next week. The police oversee animal services, including the shelter, and they are mounting an effort to build a new shelter. I don’t know when the shelter was built, but it’s been there a long time and although the staff do as much as they can with their resources, the town really should build a bigger, better shelter.
The kitties have some climbing furniture, and they get to have treats and toys when the shelter is closed. About half of them range freely in the cat room while the others are in kennel, then they switch it up. A beautiful tortie has been helping mother the kittens. She has two litters with her now, neither her own. She placed them separately in the kennel, littlest ones in a clean, empty litter box, bigger ones in the main part of the cage. She trades off nursing the two groups. Robin met a pretty, outgoing silver tabby who has reaching out to the potential adopters down!
She took pictures of this guy to try to get him into Siamese rescue, but Austin Siamese Rescue and Texas Siamese Rescue are full right now. The folks in Austin said they could crosspost his info. Robin posted it on Facebook too, and I decided to give him some exposure here. He’s about 4 months old and had his first vaccinations. Robin says he seems like a nice kitty and kind of cooperated with having his picture taken. If you are interested in finding out more about him or adopting him, call Seguin Animal Services 830-401-2335. I can send Robin to pull him from the shelter for an adopter who isn’t local, and she even said she could drive him to a home that was only a couple of hours or so from Seguin.
Filed under rescue
Robin and I had morning cuddles in the dining room again. I chose not to eat the fancy food out there, but I did eat the chicken-flavored yogurt that Meggy’s friend in Scotland sent to her. I just couldn’t resist!
I curled up in Robin’s lap but flung my tail all around the whole time. After that, I got up on the table. There’s a lovely pad there, just for me! When you look at the background of the picture (sorry about the color. Robin tried to fix it, but the room has yellow walls and she couldn’t add enough blue to balance), you can see the screens on the doors. Imagine running up and hitting your head on that black stuff! And it smells icky too. So when Reggie walked by the door, I didn’t bother to get up, just lifted my head and shouted a little. I was expecting to be ushered back into my room, but Robin ignored me. Reggie walked by again, and I just lifted my head a bit to look at him.
We stayed at the table while Robin ate her blueberries and read the paper (why do humans call it the paper when they read it on the iPad?) and The Dog Stars, which she says she’s reviewing for her new magazine (and that’s another story entirely). When we started to move around a bit after a couple of hours, I went over by the door to look for Reggie and found him! I yelled and he hissed and ran away!
I think I won today, but the game is not that exciting in the heat of summer. I would rather just stare at him.
Filed under life at our house, Reggie
Today, I ran at Reggie but didn’t want to hit my head on the screen, so I stopped short. I yelled at him a little bit later. For the most part, I didn’t want to eat where he might see me or I might see him. However, I did eat some of the fancy food that @NikePurrfektCat gave to Meggy while I was in the dining room, and I did, finally, curl up on Robin’s lap for a little while.
The humans seem concerned about how Reggie feels about all of this. Why?
Robin, Lexie and I hung out in the dining room, and Meggy was there for part of the time too. I really like sitting in my room with Robin better than this. Meggy and Lexie sat on the piano at the same time. I was underneath.
Robin was typing and reading, which is a lot less interesting than rope.
I wish I had some pictures to show you of what this all looks like with the screens on the dining room doors, but Robin has been too distracted to do her job and take them. She claims that she needs to focus on keeping us safe and a little happy before she gets out the camera, but I think she’s just shirking.
Robin was away most of Wednesday. She got to present for the first time to the Paws in Prison program. She had visited three times and then took the training to become an official prison volunteer. Yesterday was the first time she was official. Now, she can go any time she wants to! She has met some of the handlers before and most of the dogs. Just Bruno and Twiggy were new faces to her. She shared some of what she learned at the Kathy Cascade seminars on working with Shelter/Rescue Dogs and with Shy and Frightened Dogs. Lots of the dogs in the Paws in Prison program are frightened.
The coolest thing she’s learned in her study of how to help shy and frightened dogs: the skills we taught her that make us happy totally work with dogs.
Filed under life at our house, Reggie
My room is wonderful. I have ELEVEN windows with a great view of the bird feeder.
I have lots to do in my room. In fact, some things I like to do only in my room (mostly my training, MOL). Robin hangs out with me a lot in my room.
Best of all, Reggie is not in my room.
When I go out of my room, the humans ask Reggie to stay in a couple of rooms that I don’t go in. Why? When I see Reggie, I get upset. If you are new here, you don’t know that Reggie treated me poorly when he first came in from the street. I have not forgiven him and when I see him I shout at him and insist that he go under Robin’s bed. The humans think shouting is better than me trying to beat Reggie up, which I did a couple of times when I first started going out in the house.
Yesterday, I found out that Robin wants me to stop yelling at Reggie. I guess I brought this on myself by telling her that I am getting a bit bored here in my room with only occasional visits from Nutmeggy and I would really like to spend more time out in the house. On my birthday I told her that I really would like to spend more time hanging out on her bed. It seems that for me to do that, I have to stop yelling at Reggie and stop making him go under the bed. I guess that makes sense to me, except I did live under a bed for a couple of months myself a few years ago. I didn’t think it was so bad living under a bed. I don’t know why Robin thinks Reggie shouldn’t try it for himself.
Yesterday, SCREENS appeared on the doors out of the dining room into the living room and the kitchen. I bumped into one before I realized it was there. Robin gave me treats, so I stayed in the dining room with her for a while before I went back in my room. Lexie stayed here in the dining room too. I was a bit disappointed not to go in the kitchen or garage, but I had been out there for HOURS earlier in the afternoon. It was a good day.
THIS morning, I had my usual cuddles with Robin while she read the New York Times, then she invited me out into the dining room WAY earlier than I usually go out. I saw Reggie in the kitchen and ran in his direction, but I bumped into the screen! I sat there and looked, but Reggie ran out of the kitchen. Robin invited me to have some treats, but I rejected them. How can I eat while THAT GUY is around?!? Lexie ate the treats.
Reggie came back into the kitchen when UH offered him treats. HE ate them! I watched, but I didn’t shout at him or run at him. Lexie ate my treats again.
A few minutes later, after Reggie left the kitchen, I had some treats. I hung out in the dining room with Robin while Lexie explored my room and watched birds out my window. I helped Robin type. I helped her unwind the brand new rope she bought. I kept watching for Reggie, but he stayed outside my field of vision. I didn’t ever shout at him.
I am a major success, Robin says.
Filed under life at our house
Animal shelters around the U.S., even the open-access shelters that can’t refuse to take an animal, are steadily increasing their efforts to adopt out all the healthy dogs and cats. This is a really good direction. Animal welfare activists have been working steadily for decades to bring down the number of companion animals that lose their lives prematurely because there’s no space for them.
The number is down to about 4 – 5 million every year (don’t even ask what it was in the ’80s when the rescue movement really got going!), but that is still way too many healthy cats and dogs who don’t get a chance to really live.
June 11, “Just One Day,” is a day that many shelters that usually have to resort to killing dogs and cats to make space for more dogs and cats let them live. They show that change is happening. We are moving toward more humane practices that don’t produce more pets than can be housed with humans to take care of them.
YOU can help by taking your dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered at 4 months of age and by adopting pets at shelters.
We would love to share your stories about shelter and rescue pets. Please, share in the comments and support your local shelters’ efforts to adopt out cats and dogs!
Filed under cuddling
Today Herman, our own @TattleCat is Guest Cuddling! Herman and his mom write the wonderful blog, “It’s a Wonderpurr Life,” where Herman tells us about his life and intermews anipals about theirs.
Herman’s mom writes books and a blog called “Kept by Cats: Writer In-purr-upted.” She’s got her priorities straight by focusing on her cats, but she does find time to actually finish books, like Southern Exposure, which even won an award!
If you’re hungry, Herman’s sisfur Gidget is a chef and posts recipes on the family’s blog too!
Herman has lots of human friends too!
Read the origin of A Cuddle a Day.
If you would like to propose a picture for a Guest Cuddle, contact me on Twitter @CheshireK or email me at cheshirekitten at sbcglobal dot net.
June 4 is officially hug your cat day.
Every day is hug your cat day around here. We are the cuddling champions.
Filed under cuddling
