Cats Archives - Page 178 of 429

The Bad Tail

Pierre: I have a bad tail. It tells me to do naughty things.

But don’t worry, I’m about to catch it and teach it a lesson!

Hope everybody is having fantastic Caturday!

(Now excuse me while I have a talk with my tail.)

Happy First Gotcha Anniversary, Cousin Shep!

Some of you may remember how Cousin Shep joined the extended family a year ago, but we know that we have new readers since then. Our grandpeep had just passed away, leaving Cousin Earl alone all day while Aunt Orvis worked. Cousin Earl lost both his companion cat, Nellie, and his human in the space of six months, and now he was alone all day while Aunt Orvis was at work. It was time to find him a buddy.

That buddy came from the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando, in the form of big, easygoing Shepherd, who we call Cousin Shep. Even from his first vet appointment, pictured here, he was totally chill.

Like any cat, he loves a good box.

And he gets really excited when the best programs come on the cat TV.

He’s always there to help when it’s time to get ready in the morning.

And most important of all, he keeps Cousin Earl company.

Happy first gotcha anniversary, Cousin Shep! We’re so glad that you’re part of our extended family.

Happy Ninth Gotcha Day, Pierre!

Once upon a time in 2005, there was a litter of cats born on a boat, under a tarp. The boat’s owner didn’t know about the kittens, and moved the trailer. By the time the boat’s owner discovered the kittens, the mother cat was nowhere to be found, and the kittens went to a local rescue group. They all got nautical names, and when they were old enough, they went to PetSmart for an adoption event.

A little gray tabby kitten, named Pier, was looking out of the cage at PetSmart and his eyes locked with the head peep’s eyes, and it was love at first sight. There hadn’t been any plans to get a kitten right now, but little Pier came home that day, and he was renamed Pierre.

He was kind of a timid little guy and spent a lot of his first week under the sofa, but quickly learned to come out for food and playtime.

(He still plays with that Christmas mouse to this day!)

And pretty soon he was hanging out on the bed like a big kid.

And of course showing off his spectacular kitten tummy.

He quickly showed a special talent for getting inside things.

Including getting into trouble.

He started to grow up, but he didn’t grow out of that tummy exhibitionism.

Or grow out of getting inside things.

Really, really inside things.

And under things, too.

He also learned to relax in front of the TV like a proper mancat.

And if you’re really lucky, he’ll flash you that tummy.

So happy ninth gotcha day, Pierre!

Thank you to all of our friends in the blgosphere for sharing it with us!

Mailbag Q & A

A lot of good questions have come up in the comments of recent posts, and we thought the questions were worth answering where everyone could see the answers. So welcome to our first ever Mailbag Q & A!

What kind of bird was that? It’s huge!

The bird in that post is a Florida sandhill crane. They grow to about 4 feet tall, though our friend is not quite full sized. Although it’s illegal to feed them, many people do, including some of our neighbors, and this guy pecks at our windows in part to get attention, hoping for a handout. They also peck at windows when they see their own reflections, but it’s obvious that he was not just looking at his reflection, since he was paying close attention to us, too. Our local sand hill cranes have been known to chase humans through the neighborhood who look like they might be about to offer something to eat. Being chased by a couple four-foot-tall birds is scary even to a full-sized human!

They are usually seen in mated pairs, so we’re hoping that our bird buddy will get a girlfriend soon and not come around as often to stare at us. It’s our job to stare at him.

Does Pierre always act that way when you’re making the bed?

Pierre usually huffs or sighs to show his annoyance when the bed is being made, but when he is feeling territorial about something like the sheets and the head peep doesn’t pay attention to his lashing tail of warning, he will eventually hiss and swat to get his message across. If she walks away and leaves him with no one to oppose, his hostility melts and he is back to his friendly self in minutes. He was soliciting attention in the living room only moments after that video was shot. The head peep’s hand, on the other hand, will have band aids for several more days.

The head peep wants to add that she would not have been smacked with Pierre’s claws if she wasn’t filming because she wouldn’t have pushed him quite as hard in the first place before walking away, and because she would have been able to see what her hand was doing rather than watching the viewfinder. While she did capture a glimpse of Pierre behaving badly, she knows it wasn’t the best idea, and she doesn’t recommend doing it to anyone else.

Do you ever see alligators on your cat TV?

We have in the past, but the most recent was four years ago. There aren’t any resident alligators in our pond, but up until a few years ago, it wasn’t unusual to see one during breeding season, when they are most active about moving around.

These are photos from the last time we saw the alligator, in 2010. They were taken with a point-and-shoot, which at that distance is a point-and-see-what-comes-out. The head peep wasn’t going to take close-ups of this guy without a telephoto lens.