Category: dogs and cats

Sunny day with a cat

city dog and apartment cat enjoying sunFor once, Creampuff has the right idea. She’s snoozing in the sun. I’m sitting next to her so I can keep an eye on our ditziest housemate. We’re in Cathy’s office, trying to distract her from her work.

“Website makeover!” she mutters from time to time. “Hassle. Frustration.”

That’s where Creampuff and I get busy earning our food and treats. We lighten the mood. We give the mom perspective.

“Gracie, why are you lying in the sun?” my mom asks. “Dogs don’t tolerate heat well.”

True. Eventually I’ll move to my own bed and Creampuff will go off in search of new adventures. And in just a few minutes, I will nudge my mom with my cold nose, reminding her I need a walk. Her work can wait. I can’t.

Cats totally relaxing in their new home

Don’t they look like an old married couple? My mom says, “The cats are getting along much better since we moved. Everything was strange except…each other.”

Or else, I would add, they’re getting older and wiser. When a cat hisses, Cathy says, “Look, you either get along or you go back to the pound. You didn’t like the pound, did you? Both of you cats spent serious hard time in small cages. You really don’t want to go back there, do you?”

Nobody feels seriously threatened. We all know we’re not going anywhere. But somehow the cats pick up on Cathy’s energy and they seem to respect each other’s boundaries a little more.

The cats never go outside, except in their small crates on their way to the vet. So windows are a big deal to them, especially Creampuff.

Creampuff would have preferred to be an outdoor cat. The only problem was, nobody wanted a 2-year-old calico cat in Silver City, New Mexico. She had been in a cage for three months when Cathy came looking. Her calico cat Loretta had just died. (Loretta was named for the country music singer, Loretta Lynn, because she had whiny done-me-wrong yowl. I shudder when I think about it.)

The shelter staff persuaded Cathy to take Creampuff home. It was an easy sell. My mom usually takes the first dog or cat she sees at a shelter or (in my case) online. So Creampuff got a new home. Not perfect, but she’s alive and free to express her ditzy personality.

Creampuff wouldn’t last long on the outside. I’ve been there and I know. My mom says Creampuff once caught a mouse in her New Mexico house. But I suspect that mouse was even ditzier than Creampuff herself. Even my mom says, “We were the only house in the neighborhood with cats. So any mouse who ended up there wasn’t very bright.”

I rest my case. And these cats are resting as comfortably as any cats in Seattle, or maybe the world.

Cat gets 2 teeth pulled

On Monday the mom took Ophelia to our wonderful vet, Dr. Clare. Our fattest housemate, the queen-sized Ophelia, was diagnosed with rotten molars. No comment. .

“She’ll feel better when these two teeth come out,” the vet said.

Really? Ophelia seems to be feeing just fine, as far as I can tell. She’s totally taken over the household, even though she’s by far the most junior member of our furry family. She grabs the best spot on the couch and the place of honor on my mom’s bed. Now she’s winning the contest we have going: Who can spend most money at the vet? With the expenses of her liver disease, right after she was adopted, and her dental surgery, Ophelia’s racking up the bills.

“It’s not her fault,” the mom said. “Gracie, you get sick bcause you eat junk in the park and on the sidwalk. That’s why we are getting you a muzzle.”

Royal princesses don’t wear muzzles, I tell the mom. She points out that eating the stuff I find in the dog park is not exactly a sign of royal breeding.

Time to change the subject. The vet tech called my mom to ask how Ophelia was doing. “Is she eating?” they wanted to know.

Please. We are talking about Ophelia here. She didn’t get to fifteen pounds by denying herself the good stuff.

Cat holding position

dog and catHere’s Ophelia firmly holding on to her spot on the couch.

She got here first and notice how she’s expanded to take up the whole space. Not hard to do when you’re a queen-sized feline. Notice how there’s no way I can possibly squeeze in.

Cats control their world even when they’re asleep…or pretending. Ophelia’s got one eye squinting out at us.

My mom doesn’t really care who’s on the couch as long as somebody joins her. She says, “I pay all this money for crunchies. The least I can expect is some company while I work.”

And she’s happy to see Ophelia emerge from her hiding places and join the family. She will never forget how Ophelia arrived as a timid stray cat who promptly stopped eating and got sick with liver disease.

Ophelia’s left her past behind. Better than some humans, my mom says. She’s totally at home, as you can see. And I don’t think she belongs in the “finicky eater” department anymore. My mom just put out an SOS call to the vet, asking how much to feed Ophelia every day. I suggested we send Ophelia out to catch some mice in the park but nobody paid any attention.

Now here’s a cat who knows her place

Strange to think that our ditzy Creampuff is the only family member who knows her place.

Creampuff recognizes a cat cushion when she sees one. My mom bought this cushion years ago. She can’t even remember when she got it but she thinks it’s from one of those “cats only” stores. Might have been the one in Tennessee when she was on a business trip. She really liked that store in Green Hllls mall and she went there when she attended conferences in Nashville.

Now of course it’s faded and worn but Creampuff still likes it. Thank goodness! One less contender for my favorite spot on the crowded couch.

City Dog Meets Rescued Cat (and loses place in family hierarchy)

Good grief…I was napping away on my favorite spot on my mom’s couch. All of a sudden my mom was running around, grabbing her trusty camera and snapping one photo after another.

“Oh no…that shows too much of the rug,” she said. “And that’s probably blurred. Just one more…hold it!”

What was all the fuss about?

“Gracie and Ophelia, you’re friends!” my mom exclaimed happily as she dashed around capturing our images over and over again.

Sigh. As usual, my mom overreacts. And she doesn’t get dog language.

See, here’s what really happened. I was on the couch, enjoying my peaceful sleep, on my couch cushion. It’s actually one of my mom’s very old pillows that finally gave up. So mom pulled off the pillowcase and gave it to me to protect her couch. It’s my cushion. Before I entered this household, the cats had their own cushion, decorated with paw prints, on top of the couch. We’re very territorial around here.

Well, Ophelia decided she likes my pillow cushion. Ophelia has not caught on to the hierarchy of this household. She arrived in July of 2008. I arrived in January of 2006. I have seniority. This cushion was there for me.

So while I was sleeping, Ophelia crept up and sat near me. She’s not snuggling. See how she’s sitting up straight? She’s sending a message.

Who would’ve thought life would turn out this way? Ophelia was officially declared “skittish” by the cat shrink my mom hired to help her get adjusted. (For the record, my mom got her money back…as well she should.) There was talk of having her “re-homed,” a fancy term for giving up on the old gal.

Well, Ophelia doesn’t lack in self-esteem. My mom wrote an ebook called Bragging101, to help humans who need to get comfortable about selling themselves. Ophelia could have been her co-author.

One Fact Not Worth Knowing About OUR Cat

My mom just came across this article: 17 Things Worth Knowing About Cats. cat sleeping on sofa

The article said a cat can run up to 30 miles per hour. That’s an ordinary house cat, they said.

Whoever wrote that article has not met our Ophelia. However, I admit Ophelia can move pretty fast when Creampuff is chasing her.

ONE thing worth knowing about dogs. We are superior to cats. And we love to sleep.

Two things? I am a dog. Who says I can count?

Dog Judged on Circumstantial Evidence (“Blame The Cat,” She Says)

This morning my mom was awakened when I bumped into her bed. I was trying to jump up and return to my assigned cushion without waking her. After all, I got down, didn’t I?

So my mom gets up, suspicious from the get-go.

“Gracie, you’re off the bed. The cat food dishes are empty. Totally clean! The cats never finish every crumb of their food. So Gracie, I conclude that you were eating cat food! Now I can’t give you breakfast. You’ll get sick from overeating.”

Come on, Mom. You’re a softie when it comes to human justice. You don’t believe in convicting criminals based on circumstantial evidence. So why me?

Mom’s always saying the justice system picks one suspect and ignores other possibles. Well, let’s consider Ophelia as the Prime Suspect. Ophelia’s been getting MUCH larger. She eats fast and furiously. She looks like a plate-cleaner to me. And who knows? Maybe I just thought you were ready to wake up and leapt off the bed two seconds before you woke up.

“Forget it, Gracie,” Mom said. “The only consequence to you is a very slight cutback on your rations. Everybody’s been commenting that you look bigger, too.”

Busted…or falsely accused. What do YOU readers think?

Has Ophelia Morphed Into A Garfield? See for yourself…

Well, my birthday was a non-event. My mom decided I need a rest day in between my most active exercise days. So Wednesday we went for a walk, only to find the dog park was closed. Not to worry: we walked most of the way home, which was about a mile. Thursday was my rest day. Then Friday I was off to Magnuson again with my Aunt Sara.

When Aunt Sara came to get me, she got a look at our portly housemate, Ophelia. “That cat has just about tripled in size!” she exclaimed. “She is huge! Not good for her joints.”

“Guess I’d better put her on a diet,” my mom said, sheepishly.

I was thrilled. I won’t be the only deprived creature in this household.

But later my mom picked up Ophelia. “Not that heavy,” she said. “Maybe your fur has just gotten fluffier with all the healthy food?”

Yeah, right. Come on, Mom. You eat carefully. You measure my rations. Creampuff has a metabolism that keeps her skinny. Let’s get Ophelia into the loop.

So what do YOU think? Please add some comments below. My mom says I need more interaction on this blog.

Two Cats, One Household

It doesn’t take much to make my mom’s day. Yesterday she took me out for a walk, then came home to this cozy domestic scene.

“Just a year ago, I was ready to hire a cat shrink,” she said. “And now…a picture of domestic bliss.”

As a dog, I understand the dynamics of my housemates. Creampuff actually initiated this little get-together. She waited till Ophelia was settled on her favorite cat cushion, then jumped up to join her. Ophelia wasn’t about to give up her territory, not to mention her comfortable cushion.

The cats are almost exactly the same age, if we can believe what their animal shelters told my mom. They’re about ten years old. That’s senior citizenship in human terms.