Category: Smacky

Friday Cat Blogging 15

Smacky

Friday Cat Blogging!

I just snapped a couple of pictures of Smacky while he was looking for the Door into Summer this morning (from the Heinlien book of the same name). I’d open the front door for him, he’d poke his head outside, see that it was rainy and cold, and then meow his disapproval at my obvious mismanagement while going to the back door to see if it was warmer out there. After two complete cycles of this, I finally shooed him out the back door.

Here you can see the obvious disappointment on his face.

…and the others can be seen here.

Waaaaaaaaay more cats over at the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday. The 85th edition will be hosted this week by Pages Turned. There are more weekly cats at eatstuff’s Weekend Cat Blogging which has many participants who may not be familiar to Ark or Carnival participants.

Friday Night Cat Blogging 15

Smacky

Friday Night Cat Blogging!

Smacky, hiding that he’s trying to get close to me, hiding in my bed (see how he blends in with the other black clothes?):

And Smacky, later, eschewing consciousness, curled up in the blanket on my couch:

…and here’s some more!

Don’t forget to check out The Modulator’s Friday Ark for more cat, dog, and assorted animal blogging, and if you’re reading this on Sunday or later, check out the Carnival of the Cats, which is hosted this week at Ginasrantings!

Naked cat

Smacky

Smacky stayed out last night ’til about 2 AM. Woke me up to come in. Not liking this new schedule.

Went back to bed. Got up around 9 AM (yeah, I slept in. Felt great). When I got up again, I made some breakfast, and Smacky was being very affectionate. Climbed up on my shoulders as I shuffled around in the kitchen. While waiting for the water to boil and the bagel to toast, I looked out the back door, Smacky purring and draped across my shoulders and head-butting my cheek. I reached up to scratch his head, and discovered that his collar was gone.

“Smacky, you’re not wearing your collar! What happened?”

He just purred and licked my cheek.

He must have lost it last night, because I’m sure he had it yesterday when I went to bed. I’m pretty sure, anyway. I was still half-asleep when I let him in, didn’t notice then.

I poked around the apartment, and found his collar, broken, in the yard next door, just on the other side of the fence. Did he break it himself? It was a safety collar, with a stretch-y section that would let him slip out of it if it was caught on something, and the stretchy section was the part that was broken.

Willful kitten! He’s not going to be going outside without a collar. But if he keeps breaking them… argh.

Smacky wants outside

Smacky

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. Believe me, I have things to say. I just can’t seem to sort them out into blog-sized bits.

The post-Katrina national disgrace continues. I need to write about all that’s happened, if only to help me sort it out in my own mind, but every time I try to outline my thoughts, I just get so freakin’ angry and disgusted and sad at all the ugliness that has been revealed… well, maybe soon I can remain calm enough to get it off my chest.

In positive news, a bit closer to home, Smacky has now become an indoor/outdoor cat, mainly because he took it on himself to chew through my living room window screen last week. Putz. I caved in, bought him a collar and hung his tags on it (he did not like that at first, until he realized that I was not going to let him roam around outside without some kind of identification) and now he’s learning new tricks.

His first trick was meowing right outside my bedroom window at 3 AM, wanting back inside. How did he know it was my bedroom window? Did he bug other folks in my area? Or could he tell by the smell and sounds that it was home? At any rate, the first morning he did that, I ended up staying up and going for an early morning run. After a couple of nights staying out, coming back in the morning, he’s kinda/sorta settled into only going out for the evening and coming back before I go to bed, and sleeping inside. Often but not always.

But his latest trick is to meow to go out the front door… and then, five or ten minutes later, meow to come back in the back door. Repeat a couple of times, until I get stubborn and stop letting him out, at which point he runs around crazy until I let him out again. Double-putz.

The best part is that, behavior-wise, he’s become a much better cat. He’s stopped biting and scratching me, he plays only with his toys, he tends to sleep in the afternoon when I’m home. In fact, he’s sleeping in my lap as I type this. He’s very affectionate when I get home, jumping up on my shoulders and riding around on me, rubbing his head on my cheek, and generally acting cute as he should be. I gather that he’s taking his aggressions out on stuff outside, chasing birds and squirrels and maybe the dogs in the neighborhood, and then coming home for food and attention. And I’m OK with that. I won’t be surprised if I wake up some morning and he’s caught a mouse or small bird and left it for me as a gift. I think he’d make an awesome mouser (if my scarred arms, hands and feet are any testament).

I still worry about him being outside, especially in my area, but since he seems happy with it, and has demonstrated that he will come back on a regular basis, and is more affectionate when he’s here, I can live with it. Wow. They grow up so fast, don’t they?

Got some great pictures for tomorrow, showing off his snappy new collar and generally acting cute. Tune in Friday morning for the regular catblogging.

Smacky got out

Smacky

Smacky got out last night. I was cleaning out his litter box, and when I came out from the bathroom, he wasn’t in the house. I looked all over for him. No sign of him. The front door was open but the screen was still latched. While I was poking around for him I heard the dog next door barking and then a cat-like screech and yowl, and then the neighbors were outside talking amongst themselves.

I headed outside and around the corner of the building and asked them if that had been a black cat tangling with their dog. One of the girls said yes, and the older lady asked me if it had been my cat.

Glumly, I said, “Yes, probably. He’s not in the house. But I don’t know how he got outside.”

To which the mom pointed at my living room window. “Looks like there’s a tear in your screen,” she said. And, sure enough, a round cat-sized hole was in my living room window screen.

I went inside and got a flashlight and his bag of food, and walked around the building a couple of times, shaking the bag and calling his name. He didn’t show up. I went to bed worried.

This morning, around 5 AM, there was a soft mrow-ing and then a scratching at my bedroom window. I got up and looked outside; I found myself face-to-face, through the screen, with Smacky, hanging by his claws on the ledge.

Looks like Smacky’s decided he’s an outside cat. I let him him, he headed straight to his food dish, gulped it down, and then went out to the living room and plopped himself down, eyes half-lidded, and posed like he was the king of the house.

“Tire yourself out, Smacky, running around all night?” I asked him. I got no reply.

Since I was up early, I went out for a run (4 miles! I didn’t time myself but I ran strong the entire way, no walking, kept a good pace, and finished strong with a sprint to my finish line!). When I came back, Smacky was curled up on my bed, fast asleep.

Not sure I like the implications of this new development. Is he going to claw his way through the screens anytime he wants out? Am I going to have to put in a cat door? For his safety and my peace of mind I’d really prefer he be an indoor cat.

But it looks like Smacky has a different opinion about that.