I never knew what Coco, one of our dogs, caught. She and the other two dogs were having their last “out” of the evening. I thought, at first, Coco had a bone in her mouth and would not drop it to get her evening biscuit.
I realized it was more than that. It was alive although I could not tell what creature she had in her mouth. The lighting was not too good. First I thought she caught “Oscar” our “local” rat but the animal had fur.
I grabbed the animal out of her mouth and it lay in front of the door. My wife was screaming, “Get it out of the house!”
Finally I scooped it up with a cat scooper and dropped it over the fence onto our driveway. At the same time one of our cats got out.
Seconds later I got a flashlight and shined it on the spot I dropped the animal. It was nowhere to be seen.
It is possible the animal was just stunned (Coco has retriever blood in her) or the cat grabbed it who escaped. My wife thought the animal might have been a baby squirrel. I will never know for sure. I felt bad for the animal hours (an hour) later. There was nothing else I could do.
Tags: baby squirrel, cats, Coco, dog catches an animal, dogs, Oscar, pets
Posted in animals, death, local, nature, pets |
I am going to vanquish my winter blues. It is too much self–indulgence. My pets love me (and my wife). And that is enough. My favorite dog, Tilla, ‘adores’ me, in the words of my daughter. I did nothing to deserve all that. And that is an incomplete list of the seven cats and two dogs who each love me in their own way. My pets do not care what I do or am. And my wife does not care about the degree I do not have, or job for that matter.
Tags: cats, depression, dogs, my daughter, pets, the love of my wife, Tilla, vanquish Winter blues, winter blues
Posted in animals, balance, children, life, local, love, marriage, mental health, pets, relationships, seasons, wisdom |
I appreciated my home better after I was gone a week. All my music at my fingertips. My wife, of course. And all my pets–all seven cats and three dogs. Now I am usually in charge of meals. There is nothing like being gone and back and realizing all your amenities are near by. Now I made my own coffee and drank out of my special cup. My coffee now tasted like I remembered it to. I did not have to listen to too many lectures when I did something wrong. My friend was a bit opinionated and overbearing, which is not to say my wife can’t be–she can. All in all I was glad to be home and grateful I had one to return to.
Tags: appreciated my home, cats, dogs, four dogs, glad to be home, God, grateful, music, my old friend, my own coffee, my wife, pets, seven cats, vacation
Posted in God, life, local, love, marriage, music, pets, time |
Our three dogs must have been really hungry. I only fill the dogs’ bowls once a day in the morning. When I went to the vet with Coco, she had lost over seven pounds. She was getting really chunky so that was a good thing. I went away for a week. My wife was not paying attention and left an open almost full bag of cat food in the kitchen. I usually store cat food in the garage. Then she noticed the dogs had a “picnic” and must have been really hungry. Half of it was gone.
Tags: cat food, cats, Coco, dogs, dogs ate cat food, feed the dogs, my wife, pets, three dogs, vet
Posted in humor, local, pets, time |
Cool Hand Luke has her favorite spot. She sits on a pillow in the left hand corner of our bed. We make sure the pillow case is flannel, which she likes. My wife does not like black cat hairs on the pillows she sleeps on. The pillow Cool Hand Luke sleeps on is to the left of her head. Cool Hand Luke is a black cat I’ve had for thirteen years, longer than I have ever had a cat. In fact, I brought this cat into our marriage. The cat, for some reason, does not get along too well with our other cats. Some of them torment her. She is an affectionate cat and often can be found sitting on that particular spot in the bedroom.
Tags: black cat, cat sleeps in bed, cats, Cool hand Luke and her spot, flannel pillow case, one of our oldest cats, pets, pillow
Posted in animals, local, pets |
My cats took over our bedroom. All seven are there–most of them on our cushy bed. It is not unusual to see Jasmine and her four grown up kitties there but seven cats is another story. That is unusual. I was about to make our bed but I will do it later. I don’t want to disturb the cats–at least, right now.
Tags: All our seven cats are in our bedroom, cats, cats on the bed, Even Buttons and Cool Hand Luke, Jasmine and her four "kittens", pets, seven cats
Posted in animals, local, pets, relationships |
Some of our cats (we have seven) hang out during the day on our bed. It is usually Jasmine and three of her grown up kittens. China, another grown up kitten of hers, sometimes joins them on the bed. The four cats often cuddle up to each other. Oddly enough all her kittens were male. Our bedroom is their hangout. They reluctantly leave when we go to bed.
Tags: cats, cats hang out on the bed, China, Jasmine and her grown up kittens, Jasmine had four male kittens, pets
Posted in animals, local, pets, relationships |
Pumpkin is an extremely mild-mannered cat. We had to bring him to the vet. He is the easiest cat (of our seven) to catch. I put him in the carrier and he meowed plaintively. The vet even commented how docile he was. And how glad he was about that. The last two animals he examined were not. The vet had to give him three injections. He did not react to that. Not a sound out of him. Though, when he got home and we released him: he yowled for a minute or two as if to say, “It was bad enough I had to be confined to a carrier but I got stuck three times and that hurt. How could you do that to me?” He won’t forget about that for awhile.
Tags: cat carrier, cat trip to the vet, cats, meowed, mild--mannered cat, pets, Pumpkin, Pumpkin yowled when he got home, seven cats, vet
Posted in animals, local, pets |
Cats are very aware of their surroundings. Put an open box in the room and invariably one will hop in it. If it is big enough, you may find two or three cats in it. Put a new chair in the dining room a cat will, also, jump on top of it. Any physical change in the room the cats become immediately aware of it and have to investigate it and explore it. Put a bag on the floor and one eventually finds it and goes inside it. Cats are always found in the oddest places.
Tags: cat and bag, cat and open box, cats, cats and their curiosity, cats are found in the oddest places in your house, dining room, pets
Posted in animals, local, pets |
One of my cats has adopted me. Just recently. We “meow” to each other and then he cozies up to me. China is his name–one exotically black and white marked cat. I never expected anything like this to happen. It happened when I started “meowing” back to him. I have no idea what I am saying but whatever it is he likes to snuggle up to me when we have a conversation. I never was cat person but recently I have become one. Each cat is different. Now only Cheyenne regards me warily. Of the seven cats we have, I had to catch him twice recently to take him to the vet. Cats do not forget.
Tags: cat adopted me, cat person, cats, Cheyenne, China, each cat is different, meowing back to your pet, pets, seven cats, vet
Posted in animals, balance, humor, local, pets |
China and I have engrossing conversations. He is this long haired black and white exotically marked cat. We talk to one another. I “meow” and “meow”. And sometimes he replies. Other times he snuggles against me. I have no idea what I am saying in cat language but he gets the message: I love him and want to be near him. He is the most vocal of all our cats. We have seven. I have different relationships with all of them. Cheyenne, also long haired like China and his brother is one of the most beautiful cats I have ever seen. He often goes in the opposite direction when I approach him. He just does not like me. Both China and Cheyenne have the same mother Jasmine, a diminutive female who seems to get along with everyone including her four sons from two litters. Sometimes they all can be found lying near each other on my bed. I never thought I would become a cat lover but I have. They are very different than dogs. And I have four dogs. Our menagerie now numbers eleven. No fish yet.
Tags: cat conversations, cat language, cat lover, cats, cats and dogs, cats and dogs are very different, cats on the bed, Cheyenne, China, dogs, four dogs, I "meow" and "meow", Jasmine, long haired cat, our menagerie, pets, seven cats
Posted in animals, beauty, local, pets, relationships |
Cool Hand Luke loves running past open doors and she has been deprived of late. She dashed downstairs and minutes later she returned and ran through the door. Again. (or through the door again) She is the only pet left from the three I had when I entered my marriage over ten years ago. She loved running through open doors. Open one she will dash through it and open the door a little later she will return running at top speed. She is a black female who does not get along with our other six cats too well although she is more aggressive than the others when it comes to eating from one of the two bowls we use to feed our seven cats especially if we had not put food out in awhile.
Tags: cat running through open doors, cats, Cool Hand Luke, Cool hand Luke and doors, pets, seven cats
Posted in humor, local, marriage, pets, relationships |
