Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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Spot got his first kill this week. One of the baby barn swallows was tossed or fell out of the nest. We can't return a baby without the parents abandoning the entire nest, and the baby would dehydrate and die on the ground, so we let the cats outside. Spot noticed it first and grabbed it, breaking its neck instantly. He then ran about with it in his mouth, eyes huge, as though he was thinking, "I got it! What do I do with it?" Don't know if he ate it, as we went back inside, but someone did.
Last night, yet another baby fell from the nest. This time, Alex killed it in one bite, then ate it in the grass below the nest, while six adult barn swallows swooped at him. One came very close to being caught -- even at 15 years, Alex is an extremely good hunter. Luckily, none of the adults got caught.
Meanwhile, Mama Doe, baby, and last year's twins are all sleeping right next to the house. If we go outside after dark, there they all are, lounging in the grass and just watching us watch the stars.
We decided to change how the gooshy food gets doled out, since Alex is the one who prefers it. Instead of three bowls and a lot of leftovers getting tossed, we just put down one bowl with about 2 oz gooshy food twice a day. Alex eats what he wants, and the other two wander by later and eat some if they like that flavor. Everybody's happy.
Next challenge is getting Bobbi and Spot used to the Furminator. Oh, joy...
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Czarny, black cat
Rainbow Bridge: Spotacus, Alexander the Grrreat, and so very many more
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phxmtngirl
arizona
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Joined: 10/26/2010
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Well the holiday is finally over, I'll tell ya Texas hospitallity is the BEST.
Our new outside baby is "Sweetheart" ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile") I promise to get pics up next week, she is a sweetheart.
Now tell me what is the "furminator"????
Give Alex, Bobbi & Spot a scratch on the head for us
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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The Furminator is a comb designed to reach in and remove the shedding undercoat. Alex likes it, except for his tail, but he doesn't like anything messing with his tail. Bobbi and Spot like to rub their jowls on it, but it will be a good while before they get used to it, since they've never been groomed.
Sweetheart sounds like the perfect name. Looking forward to the pics.
Bobbi stayed out until about 1:00 this morning, so she stayed inside all day. We taught Alex to come inside by a certain time, and she's smarter (and more stubborn) than he, so teaching her to come inside by a certain time or else she doesn't go outside until we feel like it will be this summer's job. Either she'll learn, or she'll be an inside cat.
Spot has been Mr. Affection the last few days. I guess he's decided we like him...
Snort and her fawn have joined Mama Doe and brood in our meadow. We don't mow it until all the wildflowers have seeded out (about August), and the neighbors do mow, so I guess our grass is greener. We've also noticed a pink gecko, a garter snake, hummingbirds and house finches have joined the menagerie. It's quite lively around here.
Now if we can only keep Spot from playing with the garter snake...
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Alex, Bobbi and Spot are in the kitty hoosegau again, while we're RVing. Good thing, since our dash air conditioner is on the fritz and the RV was 99 degrees inside when we reached the park. Took all afternoon and evening to cool down in here. More repairs...Sigh. Good thing this trip is just a couple of days.
Bobbi howled like a banshee as soon as we put her in the carrier. By the time we got to the animal hospital, she'd settled down to grumbling and growling. Spot was as quiet as Alex, didn't seem too bothered this time -- I guess he isn't concerned that we won't come get him. Someday, he just may surprise us and turn out to be a traveling cat.
I have strong doubts that Bobbi will, though. She tried to dig her way out of the carrier, and was taking her ire out on the tech as he took her carrier into the cat room. Opinionated little thing, she is.
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Code2High
One hour past Nowhere, CA
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Joined: 12/21/2004
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I think that there's a law of nature that says that opinionatedness in cats is inversely proportional to size of the cat.
susan
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a wabbit, Fuzzy Wuzzy had a dandelion habit! RIP little Wuz... don't go far.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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That's probably true, Susan. We picked them up today, and Bobbi meowed until just before the turn into the driveway, when she suddenly tried to dig her way out of the carrier. The guys were fine.
Of course, we came home to a broken a/c, so we and Alex will be sleeping in the RV tonight, and Spot and Bobbi will take up residence in our garage office with the wall unit a/c. It's working just fine. Spent some time out there kitty proofing it as best we can, but I expect some messiness when we let them out tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the house is open, fans going full blast, we take frequent dips in the pool, and the cats don't seem too bothered by the weather - just the barn swallows diving at them.
Time for another dip in the pool...then ice cream for supper.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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So the nine month old heat pump system's coil went bad, and we're still out of air conditioning. The repairman will replace the coil as soon as he can get one; we might be cooled off by Wednesday. The parts are under warranty; the labor will cost all our discretionary spending dollars for a good while.
We survive with open windows, fans, and frequent swims. The cats lounge under the porch furniture on the concrete, wherever the breeze is. Alex also goes under the trees into the cooler dirt, or lays in a fan's breeze.
The first night, Bobbi and Spot shared the garage room. The next morning, Spot went into the RV with me, and he and Alex refused to leave. So that night, we made Bobbi join us. The guys were fine; Bobbi fussed all night. Next morning, she shot out the door and disappeared for most of the day.
Last night, she trotted up about 30 minutes after we put the guys into the RV, and while she doesn't want to be in there, she didn't fuss last night.
Instead, we had all three join us in a short queen bed, making it rather tight quarters. Alex slept between our pillows, where he could just sit up and look out the window. Bobbi slept against WLToo's ankle, and Spot stretched out against my side. That's the first time he's slept on the bed since the first night we let him into the house. Except for him kneading biscuits into my side with his claws, it was pretty nice having him there--a purring cat soothes me right into deep sleep. Hope he joins us on the bigger bed in the house.
We lost another baby barn swallow yesterday, bringing the total to four. For some reason, the parents have insisted on forcing all the babies out of the nest before they're fully ready--probably because the drought has cut back on food supplies. Spot and Alex are always on the watch, but Bobbi caught this baby and brought it into the house unhurt. WLToo took her to the RV, where the guys were sleeping, and we searched until we found it under the grandfather clock. WLToo got it back outside and up high, but it tried again to fly the next day, couldn't make enough altitude, and Spot snagged it.
Even though we have no more babies in the nests, the barn swallows keep swooping on the cats. Now that all three have had a taste of barn swallow, I fear a grown barn swallow will suddenly be snatched from the swoop. I've seen Alex do it to blue jays and mockingbirds - and they learned not to swoop him. Guess the barn swallows will also have to learn that lesson.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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Last night, as usual, we had to carry Bobbi and make her go inside the RV. I didn't need to carry Spot to the RV. He beat me to the door. Alex followed right after. Bobbi and Spot played hide and seek for about an hour before we all went to sleep; Spot found behind the RV sofa to be a perfect cave.
Nothing from the repairman yet, so I guess finding that coil is not as easy as he thought. Sigh. Went to the garage storage room and Spot came running. Anywhere he thinks is cool, he's there.
Poor guy, that thick, thick coat is really hot.
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Code2High
One hour past Nowhere, CA
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Joined: 12/21/2004
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Ergh! Hotness sucks, and Texas is getting a serious dose of it this summer. We're lucky here in the CA high desert... things have been much milder than normal.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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This morning, it heated up sooner than yesterday. I asked Spot if he wanted to go to the RV, and he ran to the steps and waited on me. Put Alex in there a bit later.
Bobbi went walkabout last night, and we've not seen her since. Concerns me not for the heat, since she seems to do fine in shady, breezy areas, but because the drought has limited the food supply and there's a large gray fox in the area. If Bobbi doesn't pay attention, she could be fox dinner.
Going back out to call her again.
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