Tweety Cat

This is a post that I wrote and published back in March but we now have a new bird feeder right outside our back door and Jack has been “tweeting” a lot more lately. I thought he deserved another 15 minutes of fame just for being so darn cute.

Jack, at his post, ready for action!

Our family unit consists of four humans, some transient fish and two tabby cats named Jack and Chrissy. These two cats are brother and sister but they could not be more different. Chrissy is a nervous little fireball with thyroid issues. Jack is just a big galumphing sweetheart whose main facial expression is “clueless.” My children decided that if he could speak he would sound like Patrick Star.

One thing that Jack does, that Chrissy has never done is talk to the birds. I know lots of cats do this chattering thing and cat experts have a scientific reason for it but I know Jack, and I think he truly believes the birds understand him. I also think he is trying his darnedest to convince those birds that he is just a big, fur covered, tail sporting version of them.

This morning while I was at the kitchen table enjoying my coffee, I heard a very loud bird out on the deck singing. Jack noticed too. He slid quietly up to the sliding glass door and started chattering,

“Eeaaaa-eeeeee, eeaaaa..”

It’s a really funny sound, if you’ve never heard it before. He flattened his 15 pound body out as much as he could and twitched his tail in rhythm, waiting for the answering call before he started again. Naturally no bird has ever been fooled by this performance and I feel kind of sorry for Jack. Our cats have always been indoor cats. I don’t think he realizes that he and the birds are not suppose to be friends.

When I was a little girl I had a parakeet named Max. He loved to sing and jump around his cage. Maybe we should get one now as a playmate for Jack.

I think he would like that.

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Christmas Postathon Day 18

CELEBRATING the holiday with your pets

Anyone who has pets knows that they are as much a part of the holiday celebration as the rest of the family. We buy them presents and make accommodations for them. We forgo the tinsel on our tree because it’s bad for the cats and we tie up the tree because the cats are bad for it! Last year Santa brought them a kitty tunnel that they were totally underwhelmed by. Maybe he will do better this year.😊

They have their stockings that Santa fills with treats each year and you know of course that Jack loves dressing up for the occasion!

On Christmas morning, Jack and Chrissy lay in the kitchen doorway and watch us open gifts. Chrissy has a thing for paper balls and I think she gets excited by all that paper tearing. Their predecessor Maggie the Cat would lay on the sheets of paper as soon as they hit the floor. We used to have to push her off so we could clean up! Eventually, we give them something out of their stockings and sometimes they like it and sometimes not so much. They are cats, after all! If it has catnip, it’s usually a hit.

When company start to arrive, they disappear. They’re not big on noise and chaos which is what our house is like by mid afternoon. They sleep away Christmas Day but in the evening as the quiet settles in and we sit down to relax they show up. They sniff all the new things and have some treats and Chrissy will curl up again under the tree.

I wonder what our pets think about Christmas?

Jack the Cat is on the Job!

Well the children at school have finally sneezed and coughed on me enough to efficiently share their germs so while I am home sick today I thought I would share this photo of Jack… 

 I found him sitting like this when I stumbled out of bed this morning. I’m pretty sure he is waiting for the  “mouse”. Isn’t he a smart kitty? 😊

In Memory of our Fish…

So I gave my husband a fish tank for Christmas thinking it would be a nice relaxing hobby. He set it up, put in some pretty blue gravel and some plants that he got at Petsmart. Then he did all the stuff you need to do to get the water ready. Finally it was time to add the fish. Back to the store. He picked up six fish-three black and three orange. I’d tell you what kind they were but all fish look the same to me. We shared the responsibility of naming them and soon Chase, Audrey, Cliff, Milo, Cuff and Link were swimming happily in their blue paradise. It was very relaxing in the evening to watch TV by the light of the tank and the cats were really fascinated by the “new toy”. We enjoyed it for a week. Then the carnage started. It was all because of the ICK, a fish type disease that coats them with white spots and make these weird little cataract bubbles over their eyes. Poor little blind fish. I arose one morning and my husband informed me that one had passed away during the night. Don’t ask me which one because like I said, they all look the same to me. So back he went to the pet store for an Ick cure. In went the foaming tablets. Second dose, he had to take some water out and add more tablets and new water. Two more fish down. Back to the pet store for a stronger Ick cure. In goes the liquid. Second dose of this, he took more water out added more stuff and replace the water. By this time the last orange fish is skimming the bottom looking sad and the two remaining black fish are hiding behind the filter. I can’t help but think that this is a bad thing. So at this point we figure either the Ick goes away or the last three fish die and we start over. On a positive note, the plants are looking great, and my husband has made a lot of friends at Petsmart. He’s probably also wishing that I had just gotten him another sweater for Christmas. Maybe next year.