Cats and Responsibility

My husband and I were sitting on the couch on evening watching the couch play. Ethan turned to me and said, "Laura, all the cats do is play all day. None of them have learned responsibility. How do we teach the cats responsibility?" 

We really had this conversation. I thought for a moment and said, "Well, have you tried to give the cats chores to do?" 

"No," Ethan replied. What kinds of chores do you think they can do?"  

"Well," I began, "They sleep in our bed a lot.  Maybe we can get them to help us make the bed."

We tried this. The cats enjoy playing in the blankets and sheets, but they mostly either make lumps under the blankets or end up throwing the covers off the bed.  Neither of these things were very productive. 

We thought of having them help us in the kitchen. This was equally productive.  They enjoyed trying to put their noses in our food and liked to walk on the counters. Rocky knocked down the trash can once, but then I just had to clean it up. 

Hansel and Nermie were especially interested in helping Ethan cook. They couldn't understand why we wouldn't let them near the hot stove when things were cooking. 

Ethan and I are still thinking very hard about this. We don't want our kitties to grow up lazy.  What do you think we could do to teach our kitties responsibility? 

Meanwhile in the litter box . . .

Hansel update and a word about Nikita

I am pleased to announce that Hansel is doing a lot better.  We've been giving him medicine and he has his energy back and seems to enjoy cuddling and running around again. Thank you so much for your prayers. We will be taking him to the vet tomorrow just to make sure, but it really looks like he's going to be okay.
Last night he sat on my lap for a couple of hours and it was so good to hear him purr again.  Reading the internet when your pet is sick is probably one of the scariest things you can do because a few simple symptoms can be chalked up to anything from a toothache to the Bubonic Plague (yes there was a site that actually suggested that. Ethan and I ruled that out because we haven't had any rats with fleas in the apartment -- that we know of.).
 Speaking of little things crawling around the apartment, I thought this might be a good time to talk about Nikita.  Like Hansel, she is a total snuggle bunny. The weird thing is that Nikita and Hansel aren't getting along very well. I think Nikita would like to be Hansel's friend, but Hansel makes growl noises every time she gets near him. Most of the other cats get along with her, so she always gets a shocked expression on her face when Hansel starts growling.  Hansel used to be like that with Rocky when he first moved in and now Hansel is buddies with Rocky.  I hope this happens with Nikita too.

Like I said,  Nikita loves to cuddle.  The funny thing is that if you move at the wrong time when you hold her she squeaks at you. The squeaking doesn't sound like a cat noise though -- it sounds like she is barking.  We have a kitten that barks and it is hilarious. She makes dog noise. It's weird. Look at this picture. Does she look like a dog to you? Do you think she's really a miniature wolf hound doing a kitty impersonation?
I seriously doubt my kitty hypothesis because this fur ball has a purr on it like a diesel engine. There have been times when I've actually had to turn up the TV because I couldn't hear the dialogue over her inboard motor.
Its a good thing she's cute.

Hansel is Under the Weather

For the last few days, our Hansel has been sick. We're not sure exactly what is wrong, but he was drooling on Sunday. We looked that up and it is very often a sign of a serious health problem. Ethan has been giving him some medicine and we're taking a trip to the vet later this week, but we are still concerned.
The drooling seems to have ceased for the moment, but he still seems sluggish and very sensitive about his mouth. I thought I found a sore in his mouth earlier, but I can't be sure.
Since Hansel was sick we decided to have a prayer service for him (really). He couldn't exactly call for the elders of the church to come to him (Hansel still hasn't learned how to dial the phone) so Ethan and I actually anointed him and prayed for him. This is the first time either of us have ever done a prayer service for a quadruped.  He did seem to get better after that, but he's still not 100% yet.
Hansel is like a child to us (yes I know how weird that sounds). He's very affectionate. When I'm not feeling well, Hansel cuddles up to me and purrs and won't leave me alone until I feel better. He loves to watch TV and play with the feather toy. He enjoys chasing the other cats around the house and is usually gentle and affectionate with his fellow felines as well.
Hansel's favorite food is salmon. Ethan and I discovered (as I've said in another post) that Hansel speaks English a little too well when Ethan asked him to help Nermie with something in exchange for a case of kitty salmon. Ethan asked him to bury Nermie's poo and he did it. We had to buy him the salmon.
Ethan has been putting Hansel's medicine in tuna (yes we know it isn't good for him, but he is eating his medicine and its only for that). He still has his appetite, but he doesn't want to cuddle anymore or sit on our laps which is totally unlike him.
Please pray that our Hansel gets better soon.

Warm Fuzzies

Nermie and friends Rocky and Nikita

Nermie really loves the other cats in the house.  It's kind of amazing because when he meets a new cat, he stiffens up, hisses, growls, the works.  Then when he gets used to the new feline, he starts to warm up to them. All three of our newer kittens have been adopted by Nermie and get love from him every day.  He cuddles with them, he plays with them, kisses them, and bathes them. We have a big bean bag chair that he likes to sleep on with his little kittens.  Sometimes I think that he feels like they are his children.  Once I saw him carrying Rocky by the scruff of the neck like a mama cat would.
Nermie and Rocky have the closest relationship.  Rocky has even adjusted his vocal patterns to match Nermie's.  Nermie trills like a Siamese and most cats don't.  Rocky has started trying to trill, but can't quite do it.  It seems like a little boy who is trying to copy his father. Nermie taught Rocky how to climb (he didn't need much teaching, but he did show him how to do it) and how to open Styrofoam and paper take out boxes (whether we're done with them or not).
Rocky took Phoebe under his wing too. Both of them had been strays in early kitten-hood, so they had that in common.  Phoebe was really intimidated by the new environment.  She didn't like the TV. It frightened her.  She wasn't used to being around people all the time. She liked to be petted, but she still seemed very shy.  Rocky seemed to understand her and started playing with her. After a couple hours, Phoebe had joined Nermie and Rocky's club and she started curling up with them on the bean bag chair.
Nikita and Rocky get along too. Nikita doesn't have any trouble getting along with us and she's not scared of anything, but he does play gently with her which seems to make her feel welcome.
When Nermie first came to our home, Hansel and Gretel didn't really accept him. Hansel would play with him, but Nermie played rough and Hansel didn't like it. After a while Hansel started avoiding Nermie. Gretel would just growl whenever Nermie got close. I don't know if memories like that stick with a cat or not, but I wonder if it could be possible that Nermie is so nurturing and welcoming with the new cats because he didn't get that when he was young.
Now that Nermie has his new friends, he gets along with Gretel and Hansel just fine. Hansel likes to hang out and not play rough and Gretel is just happy that Nermie keeps the kittens out of her hair.

Keeping them Busy

Keeping them Busy

Our cats don't just lay around sleeping all day.  Some of our friends joke that we're gonna need serious therapy from living with six cats.  Maybe adopting six felines is a sign that we already do need therapy, but living with them isn't as crazy as you might think -- except during those times when Gretel is threatening to bite everyone and we have to distract her with canned salmon.  

Rocky has been a huge fan of my iPad since he was a tiny kitten.  They have these apps that are designed to entertain kitties by making them chase things and attack the digital images.  FYI, don't let them try this without a screen cover because they can play rough.  Rocky doesn't really attack the cartoons though.  He just stairs at them for hours.  This has also translated to occasional TV watching which is cute unless you actually want to see what is on the screen.  That cat ain't transparent.  
The twins (Hansel and Gretel) like looking out the window. It probably won't surprise anyone that they are looking for birds.  Sometimes I think Gretel's gonna have a stroke.  She gets this really intense look on her face, her eyes get big and round, and she makes a loud, menacing chirping sound. The only thing keeping those flying beasts alive is the glass in our window. 

Sometimes they do get out on the patio and Ethan and I are reminded that we live with 6 stone cold killers.  Occasionally we'll find little corpses on the balcony. Apparently they like to do the killing but leave the dirty work to their cleaning staff (i.e. me and Ethan). It makes it hard to sit outside with the possibility of finding a decapitated bird on the floor -- or its head that they ripped off but didn't eat either.  
I hung a bird feeder outside because I do happen to like birds.  It just makes me feel like an accessory to bird murder.  

Another major activity for them is climbing. Most of the time they don't climb on the wrong stuff, but there are several artificial plants that I've had to move off of end tables and lock up in our walk in closet because the cats kept trying to eat them. You'd think they would be able to tell the difference between plastic and real grass.  
Rocky likes to climb on my bicycle, which I have to keep indoors.  All of the cats like to pretend that the rubber wheels are scratching posts which means that if I wanna do bike riding in the future I'm gonna need to buy new tires.  Sometimes I think Rocky is part monkey. He was scaling the giant bike when he was only nine weeks old.  Ethan and I purchased a cat climbing tree for them to play on and Rocky was climbing to the top shelf almost immediately.  
When we brought the thing home the cats started climbing on it immediately.  Nermie likes to sit on the top shelf and slap us with his paw if we don't pet him as we pass by. That sounds really cute until he rips a hole in your sleeve because he feels ignored.  Rocky enjoys dangling from the top with one paw and attacking Nermie from behind. Hansel and Gretel like to sit there and sleep.  
Phoebe and Nikita look too little to climb, but they can already get up to the very top too.  Ethan and I are saving up to purchase a second cat tree because they've already started fighting over it.  
What do your cats or other pets like to do around the house?  What are the cute things that you like to see them do?  Is there anything that you wish you could make them stop doing? 

We've Got Lots of Poop

We have six cats. We have a lot of cat poop. We also have a lot of fun and a lot of stories to share about our furry family.  

Our cats do a lot of funny things.  They fight, they play, they learn to do new things that both shock and amaze us. We want to tell you these stories. We laugh a lot at our cats' antics. Each of our cats has his or her own page telling a little bit about their personalities and origin stories.  Ethan and I can't wait for you to get to know our four legged family. You can find those near the top of the blog under the main title.