Next up: a 22 lb. kitty!!October 25, 2008
More Naughty Cats
Maureen suggested I post images and stories about friends' cats...My friend emailed me a couple of shots of his cat, Token, relaxing in the bathroom sink. Token seems to feel right at home in this sink. My friend suspects that his cat spends most of his day in the bathroom. Enjoy!
Next up: a 22 lb. kitty!!
Next up: a 22 lb. kitty!!
October 19, 2008
How It All Began - part four
Freddie survived the ear mites...but she's never quite been the same. I think they ate a little bit of her brains, because now she's fearless and doesn't seem to understand the basic concept of consequence. She's been sprayed with water from the water bottle countless times...in the span of an hour...and somehow doesn't remember that she doesn't like it. She's either not very smart or damaged...or both. I don't know, maybe she DOES like it...
Even after Freddie started to gain an amazing amount of weight, she never slowed down. See this before and after:
So, after a little over 2 years, Freddie and I have formed a unique relationship. I'll be posting many more photos and some videos of life with Freddie...
October 15, 2008
Lick and Eat
Here's a short list of items that Frederika has either licked or eaten...or both:
- Doritos
- Tortilla Chips
- Shredded Cheese
- Chocolate Milk
- Plain Milk
- Soy Milk
- Water
- Baby Food
- Onion
- Broccoli
- Chicken (back when we weren't vegetarians)
- Bacon Grease (same)
- Pretzels
- Peanut Butter
October 14, 2008
The Fountain
Frederika's obsession with drinking from the tap has been especially draining for me the past couple of weeks. I don't know why, but she has really stepped up her efforts to get her face under a faucet lately, and it drives me nuts...mainly because a simple trip to the kitchen sink or the bathroom has become a race for me. I find myself running into the bathroom and shutting the door quickly behind me before Freddie gets there...and feeling a sense of victory over having beat her to it...I know, it's sad, but that's my life with this cat.
Here's a couple of shots of her in the bathroom--she gets to drink before I wash my hands...
So, I have to pick my battles...and I have decided to buy one of those water fountain drink bowls for the cats. I think I will be getting one from a company called Veterinary Ventures, Inc. They make a really popular model called the Drinkwell Original Pet Fountain and I have read good things about it...I hope this will appease the thirsty cat.
Here's a couple of shots of her in the bathroom--she gets to drink before I wash my hands...
So, I have to pick my battles...and I have decided to buy one of those water fountain drink bowls for the cats. I think I will be getting one from a company called Veterinary Ventures, Inc. They make a really popular model called the Drinkwell Original Pet Fountain and I have read good things about it...I hope this will appease the thirsty cat.
October 8, 2008
How to Make Guacamole
How to make Guacamole:
- Place avocados and onions on counter.
- Go to fridge to get cilantro and lemons. see Freddie jump on the computer counter (connected to the kitchen counter) out of the corner of my eye.
- Feelings of anger swell within.
- Go back to work station and try to get Freddie to get away from my workspace and back down to the computer counter...perhaps by nudging, shooing, or mushing in the face.
- Begin chopping onion/cilantro.
- Watch as Frederika approaches computer table again.
- See her jump up and try to sneak into my work area. (she doesn't realize that she is about 2 feet from me and in plain sight.)
- Go around the counter to shoo her again. She scrambles away and knocks over a lamp and scatters assorted papers and mail.
- Clean up mess, slice avocados and place into a bowl.
- Smash avocado with fork, then spray Freddie with a water bottle to get her off the counter again.
- Add chopped onion and about a tablespoon of lemon juice to the bowl and mix ingredients well.
- Chase Freddie from the spot where she was about to jump back on the counter.
- Try to calm feelings of rage.
- Add cilantro, salt and pepper to taste. mix well.
- Catch Freddie in mid air as she jumps up to the counter, take her to the bedroom, lock the door.
- Enjoy fresh Guacamole with tortilla chips!
October 6, 2008
Cats are for Sissies!
Maureen sent me a link to a great article in the New York Times about straight men who feel secure enough in their masculinity to admit their love affair with their pet cats. I love that this idea is spreading and battling the misconception that you are weak or somehow less of a MAN if you have and love a cat rather than a dog.
The neighborhood we live in is FULL of pitbulls, rottweilers and other assorted large and scary dogs. Granted, the neighborhood is a bit scary, so I can see the value of having a large and menacing companion as you take a walk around the block with toughies standing on the corner...But as the article suggests, a big dog doesn't make you a big man. In fact, I see it as the opposite--like the guy who has to buy a loud motorcycle, sports car or other overly-expensive toys: they're all overcompensating.
It's a strange idea to think that cats are sissy props anyway: they're PREDATORS! They attack and have sharp teeth AND claws. they're little hunting monsters, really...and if they were larger, they WOULD EAT YOU. Or, at least, they would bat you around until you were dead.
That's one thing about Frederika: she takes care of herself. And as a man, I like the convenience of that. plus, she's pretty cute.
Read the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/fashion/05cats.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1
The neighborhood we live in is FULL of pitbulls, rottweilers and other assorted large and scary dogs. Granted, the neighborhood is a bit scary, so I can see the value of having a large and menacing companion as you take a walk around the block with toughies standing on the corner...But as the article suggests, a big dog doesn't make you a big man. In fact, I see it as the opposite--like the guy who has to buy a loud motorcycle, sports car or other overly-expensive toys: they're all overcompensating.
It's a strange idea to think that cats are sissy props anyway: they're PREDATORS! They attack and have sharp teeth AND claws. they're little hunting monsters, really...and if they were larger, they WOULD EAT YOU. Or, at least, they would bat you around until you were dead.
That's one thing about Frederika: she takes care of herself. And as a man, I like the convenience of that. plus, she's pretty cute.
Read the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/fashion/05cats.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1
October 5, 2008
How It All Began - part three
Left to Right: Olive and Frederika
Frederika and Olive were born in a garbage can--at least, that's where they were rescued from. They seemed fine when we adopted them, and the pet rescue informed us that they'd had all their vaccinations and had been neutered. But Freddie was sick.
She started showing signs that something was wrong after about a month. She scratched her ears a lot and we started noticing that they were more and more dirty. Well, that dirt was a bad case of ear mites...It was pretty sudden, but one day Maureen and I came home from work and Freddie was in bad shape. Her head was tilting to one side and she seemed to have lost her equilibrium. After a while she just started walking in circles and would start bumping into things around the house...
We took her to the vet and were told that she had mites that were starting to get really deep into her ear canal, and that, if left untreated, might kill her. For the next few weeks we gave her antibiotics, cleaned her ears with a solution every day, and watched her carefully. There seemed to be no progress the first few days, but then she started to get better.
Freddie...plotting.
October 2, 2008
How It All Began - part two
Frederika and Olive had to be introduced to our home very slowly...not for their sake, but for the sake of Daphne, who was getting used to being the only pet in the home after the original Fred passed away earlier in the year.
We read about how you're supposed to keep new cats separate from existing cats in the house, so we kept them in what was then our studio/office/storage/junk room and soon-to-become-nursery. Daphne was not pleased. To this day, she hates the "new" kittens with a passion.
The new kittens wanted to explore beyond the room almost immediately, and we felt bad about keeping them in a room all day. But we followed the advice and tried to introduce them to Daphne and the rest of the apartment slowly. Their little claws reaching through the crack in the door became habitual and after a few weeks we finally decided to let them free. Daphne would go into hiding and emerge only when the kitties were not around. If she encountered them, she'd cough, choke and hiss from stress. It went on like this for months.
Olive and Frederika were small. tiny. I mean, they each fit in your hand. Then Olive ballooned. I am not sure how or why, because all 3 cats seemed to eat the same amount as always...except for Daphne, who was fasting in protest. Frederika remained thin and small...for a while. She eventually blew up like she swallowed one of the other cats. We still don't really know how it happened. Maybe there is some sort of eating disorder that runs in the family...
Once they were released into the apartment, that's when the battles began. I remember having cats as a child, but I couldn't remember having WILD cats. Or at least, not as wild as these. Frederika was worse, but they were both like little tornadoes. And maybe the fact that I was getting closer and closer to being a father intensified the effect of their scurrying, scrambling, jumping, crashing, attacking, scratching and biting.
But they were wild. And while Olive has since calmed a lot, over time, Frederika has become less wild and more focused in her attempts to drive me insane...
Frederika would probably be delicious...
We read about how you're supposed to keep new cats separate from existing cats in the house, so we kept them in what was then our studio/office/storage/junk room and soon-to-become-nursery. Daphne was not pleased. To this day, she hates the "new" kittens with a passion.
The new kittens wanted to explore beyond the room almost immediately, and we felt bad about keeping them in a room all day. But we followed the advice and tried to introduce them to Daphne and the rest of the apartment slowly. Their little claws reaching through the crack in the door became habitual and after a few weeks we finally decided to let them free. Daphne would go into hiding and emerge only when the kitties were not around. If she encountered them, she'd cough, choke and hiss from stress. It went on like this for months.
Olive and Frederika were small. tiny. I mean, they each fit in your hand. Then Olive ballooned. I am not sure how or why, because all 3 cats seemed to eat the same amount as always...except for Daphne, who was fasting in protest. Frederika remained thin and small...for a while. She eventually blew up like she swallowed one of the other cats. We still don't really know how it happened. Maybe there is some sort of eating disorder that runs in the family...
Once they were released into the apartment, that's when the battles began. I remember having cats as a child, but I couldn't remember having WILD cats. Or at least, not as wild as these. Frederika was worse, but they were both like little tornadoes. And maybe the fact that I was getting closer and closer to being a father intensified the effect of their scurrying, scrambling, jumping, crashing, attacking, scratching and biting.
But they were wild. And while Olive has since calmed a lot, over time, Frederika has become less wild and more focused in her attempts to drive me insane...
Frederika would probably be delicious...
Immortal Cat
I just found out from a friend through her comment to my first post that this kind of cat can live to be 25! She's only 2. I'm screwed.
October 1, 2008
How It All Began - part one
Let me set the scene:
It was 2006. My wife was pregnant about 4 months. It was summer. We had 2 cats at the time--they were my wife's children and I was the stepdad. Fred (no longer with us, and perhaps the subject of a future post or blog) and Daphne (still here and enduring the pain as I do) were the only other creatures in the house. Maureen and I were going through what most first-time, young expectant parents go through: insanity, scrambling to figure out HOW to be parents, saving money, and just generally getting things ready...it was a pretty crazy time.
So, Maureen decides that things aren't crazy enough: she wants another cat. A KITTEN, to be exact. I guess her maternal instincts went into overdrive and she felt like taking care of the world, I don't know. As the husband, I had to do whatever she wanted, because she was the one carrying a live animal in her belly, and it was summer.
We go to PetSmart (which we are not crazy about doing now...again, another post/blog topic), and there happens to be a local pet rescue displaying the most adorable animals that you have ever seen. We spent like 16 hours looking at and petting the cats and trying to figure out which one was going to come home with us. Maureen likes to say that Frederika chose HER...
So, how did we end up taking TWO kittens home? Well, they're like potato chips...to a pregnant woman. Like I said: they were the most adorable things you've ever seen. And the kittens we got are sisters, so, of course we couldn't separate them. Maureen picked up Frederika and I picked up Olive (they were both named later). Two TINY black kittens, sleepy and cuddly and innocent. Little did I know...
...to be continued...
It was 2006. My wife was pregnant about 4 months. It was summer. We had 2 cats at the time--they were my wife's children and I was the stepdad. Fred (no longer with us, and perhaps the subject of a future post or blog) and Daphne (still here and enduring the pain as I do) were the only other creatures in the house. Maureen and I were going through what most first-time, young expectant parents go through: insanity, scrambling to figure out HOW to be parents, saving money, and just generally getting things ready...it was a pretty crazy time.
So, Maureen decides that things aren't crazy enough: she wants another cat. A KITTEN, to be exact. I guess her maternal instincts went into overdrive and she felt like taking care of the world, I don't know. As the husband, I had to do whatever she wanted, because she was the one carrying a live animal in her belly, and it was summer.
We go to PetSmart (which we are not crazy about doing now...again, another post/blog topic), and there happens to be a local pet rescue displaying the most adorable animals that you have ever seen. We spent like 16 hours looking at and petting the cats and trying to figure out which one was going to come home with us. Maureen likes to say that Frederika chose HER...
So, how did we end up taking TWO kittens home? Well, they're like potato chips...to a pregnant woman. Like I said: they were the most adorable things you've ever seen. And the kittens we got are sisters, so, of course we couldn't separate them. Maureen picked up Frederika and I picked up Olive (they were both named later). Two TINY black kittens, sleepy and cuddly and innocent. Little did I know...
...to be continued...
September 30, 2008
Frederika the cat
So, I just want to start this blog off by saying that I really do love this cat...but I hate this cat.
I have lived with cats almost all of my life--at one point in my childhood we had 13 cats at once!--but I have never encountered one as frustrating and unstoppable as Frederika. She is my nemesis, and we have battled one another in a never-ending war for almost 2 years now.
You'll say to yourself as you look at these photos, "oh, she's adorable! How could you hate this angel of a kitten?" Well, just you wait. Freddie's story is one of twists, near-death experiences, mystery, excitement...and a battle of wills that has consumed me for too long...
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