Tag Archives: catio

Fatty McCatty

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My name is Honey. Mom calls me Honey Bear, but most of the time she calls me Fatty. Fatty McCatty. I’m a whopping 22 lbs. of CAT. Not fur, like most people think. I’m heavy, and fur doesn’t weigh that much!

It’s been raining an awful lot and I’m not happy about that. Neither is the rest of the gang. Jack and Alice go out on the catio and get wet. Then they come back in bitching. Mom says, “Haven’t you learned anything, you big dummies?” I laugh because I’d rather be fat than dumb! Kitty doesn’t go out on the catio much. I do, but sometimes Jack is mean to me. I don’t know why. I like everybody.

What A Coinkydink!

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Yesterday morning I told Dad, “I wish Sammy would come back around so I could give him that food.” I pointed to the 4 big cans of cat food I bought especially for Sammy. He was a stray who started coming around last year. He would come and go but seemed to always end up at my house. I’m not going to let an animal go hungry so he got fed when he was here. I knew he wasn’t going to go hungry because cats are superb hunters, but still… I felt bad when I fed my 4 furkids, knowing that Sammy was just outside the door, maybe wondering why he couldn’t come in and eat, too. So, me being me, I bought some big cans of cat food; cheap stuff my cats won’t touch with a 10-foot pole.

Sammy was a black cat, sweet as could be. He let me pet him, pick him up, brush his fur, and even apply topical flea and tick medication. He was short and stocky with a thick black neck so I’m pretty sure he could kick some cat-butt. In fact, he may have been the one Jack fought with December of 2018 when he was injured because soon after that Sammy showed up.

It rained a lot last year and feeling sorry for Sammy being out in the cold, wet weather, I bought him a medium-sized doghouse. That was mid-June. I secured it to the table on the side of the house so the wind wouldn’t blow it away. Putting it up off the ground kept it up away from critters like opossums and skunks, too. After I bought the doghouse, Sammy never came back. I figured he probably met his demise somehow, most likely a wild animal got him. It became very peaceful out on the “catio” because Sammy wasn’t there to antagonize my cats anymore. They didn’t like him but they were separated by chicken wire, thank goodness.

Around 7:30 yesterday evening I heard a horrific commotion. Cats screaming and fighting is not a good sound, at least not to my ears! My first thought was that Jack found his way out of the catio and he’s being attacked by a wild animal. I was mortified. I went out the door to the catio, and Jack shot in the house through the cat door, fur in a big ol’ fluff. Alice and Honey were out there trying to get to something. I grabbed the flashlight, and lo and behold, there was Sammy. After all these months, he came back!

They were all growling at each other. Jack wanted back out but I made him stay in and rounded the other 2 up and made them come in as well. I closed off the cat door so they couldn’t go out there and get hurt trying to get to Sammy or find a way out of the catio! Either scenario wouldn’t have been good. Kitty sat in the living room all bug-eyed and alert but she never ventured out to the catio. I bet she was thinking what I always say, “I’m too old for this shit.”

My furbabies were pissed at me for keeping them inside all night. Every time I walked that direction they ran to the door. They would just sit there, pouting with their ears cocked. When I went to bed, well after midnight, they were still pouting but had given up on going outside for the night. they settled in for the night and I never heard a meow or scratching all night long. This morning, there was no sign of Sammy so I opened up the cat door. Jack and Alice seemed to smile at me as they pranced out the door.

As I type this tonight, Sammy is nowhere in sight. Honestly, I hope he has gone back from whence he came because obviously, he lives somewhere. Let his owners feed him! I guess I should be careful what I wish for next time. (What a coinkydink ‘eh?!) I was only half-joking about wanting him to come back. It’s nice to know he’s ok but my furbabies don’t need to get so riled up all the time and I’m getting too old for this shit!

A Rainy Day & A Wet Cat

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It’s been raining a lot here lately. I can always feel it in my bones before it even starts, but once it does I ache so bad I can’t do much of anything. I end up staying in my recliner most of the day. Today I worked on a crochet project that has taken much of my time the last 2 months. I’ll show you photos later, as it’s a gift and I don’t want to risk it being seen by the recipient before the special occasion. I managed to finish said project, thankfully. I was really getting tired of working on it! It turned out beautifully if I do say so myself.

We’ve had a stray cat hanging out here for a few months. In fact, I think he must’ve been the guy Jack fought with just before Christmas. I can’t risk them tangling again because Jack cost me an awful lot of money after that with x-rays and two vet visits, just for the wounds from the fight. Jack wants to fight him so badly, though! The stray cat, Sammy is what I’ve been calling him, looks like Alice but he’s buffed up! He’s short and stocky, and has the thickest neck I’ve ever seen on a cat! Anyway, I’ve been feeding poor Sammy when he comes around, which is only once every couple of weeks. I think he makes his rounds. I always wonder how far he travels.

This morning, I looked outside to see Sammy back so I brought him out some food. The thing is, he likes to hang out on top of the catio. The catio doesn’t have a roof. It’s covered on top and around the sides with chicken wire. It’s needing some reinforcement because it’s beginning to sag. Sammy has been laying out there all day long and in the rain! He’s wet and he doesn’t seem to care…but I care. I feel so bad for him. Sammy is an intact male so I can’t let him in the house. He and Jack will tear each other up AND Sammy will mark his territory in my house, which means then Jack will do the same! Plus, I love my furbabies and I don’t want to traumatize them or put them in close contact with anything Sammy might have. I guess I’ll have to put a shelter out there for him so he has a dry place to sleep instead of laying in the rain, although I don’t know why he doesn’t go out in the old shed! It’s got to be drier than the top of the catio!

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Image Copyright Being Aunt Debbie

 

The Escape

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Last night was an interesting night. It started off like any other night. I was crocheting as Dad and I watched the new FBI series. At one point I heard an odd noise and tilted my ear toward the back of the house. Dad asked if I heard something and I told him I had, but that I couldn’t be sure what it was. It wasn’t a worrisome noise and I didn’t hear it again, so it was forgotten.

Fast forward to around 12:40am. I was still watching tv and crocheting. It was actually more crocheting and listening to the tv. All of a sudden, I hear something jump onto the window a/c by the window where I sat. I thought, Oh crap. Another stray cat. I moved the curtain to the side slowly so not to frighten this stray cat, and lo and behold it was NOT a stray cat after all. It was Jack!

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Jack comes in at 4pm feeding time and he is not allowed to go back outside because he’s such an asshole to get back in before dark. So, he WAS inside. As I got up to let him in, I asked him, “How the hell did you get outside?” Of course, he didn’t tell me. He thought it best if I figure it out for myself!

My first thought was that he must’ve found a way out of the “catio.” Sure enough, a quick look with the flashlight showed the exact spot where he made his escape. It’s not the best enclosure but it keeps my furbabies safe at night from coyotes and other such terrifying creatures of the night. Of course, if a bear wanted a cat bad enough he could easily rip that catio plumb off its base. But by then the cats would have all scattered back into the house and under my bed.

Covered litter boxes with a board to protect the openings from rain and snow.
Shelter (originally a dog house) they sometimes sleep in.

 

So, what’s a cat-mom to do? I couldn’t do anything about it that late and in the dark so I blocked off the cat door where they couldn’t go out there at all. I didn’t want Jack to escape again as I knew he would if given the chance. I knew Kitty wouldn’t even attempt to escape as she rarely goes out on the catio, and I knew Honey couldn’t escape even if she wanted to because she’s just too damn fat to climb up to the opening. Alice is another story. I didn’t know if she would try or not. I didn’t know if she would follow Jack, and I’d never find her in the dark. (She’s black as night.) Besides, she’s the best cat I have and I would die if she got lost in the woods. So, none of them got to go out on the catio.

That didn’t go over well. Alice and Jack meowed and scratched until after 1am until they finally gave it up and went to sleep next to me. It took putting the vacuum cleaner next to the blocked opening to get their little furry butts settled down!

Oh, and that odd noise I heard earlier? I think it might have been Jack forcing his way through that opening in the wire. I checked him over pretty good to make sure he didn’t hurt himself and there was no blood or bones poking out. He got lucky. If I had gone to bed before he jumped up on the a/c, then I’d have never known he was out in the scary dark!

They are happier now that Dad repaired the hole, even though it’s raining today. They go out under the board or in the shelter and they’re good to go.

My silly (yet annoying) little furbabies, how I love them so.

A Simple Caturday

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Just a simple Caturday here in SW Missouri. The sun was out and Honey and Alice were soaking up some warmth. Alice is feeling much better, thank goodness. Kitty is feeling much better too but declined to come out for our little photo shoot this morning.

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“What the heck are ya lookin’ at, maw?”

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“I feel that wind blowing through my fur… Wait. No. I forgot maw shaved a lot of my fur off my backside cuz I was a matted mess.”

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Smokie loves being out in the catio. I think she was “looking” for me. I asked her if she knew where she was, and Dad in all his silliness says, “She’s in the jungle baby!” If you don’t get the song reference then you need more rock music in your life!

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Jack, well Jack is out and about. He gets to go outside the catio during the day. He was half wild and used to being outside when I adopted him. As I write this, I realize it’s almost dark out so I’d better get him inside.