No Touch Kitty

I may have mentioned it before but please bear with me.

My cats Shadow and Darwin have lived with me for nearly five months now. Shadow is a total attention hog. He loved to be petted,  scratched, held and of course FED.

Darwin on the other hand HATES being touched. Unless he us sleepy or eatting, I dear not chance petting him without being scratched or bitten. I bear several minor scars as evidence.  Thank God for coco and shea butter.

Other wise Darwin is a sweet puss. I just wonder how long it will take for him to get used to my touch?  I also wonder what happened to the poor thing in the past that has him adverse to human touch.

Well, thoses days are over Darwin. You're safe, as the umpire would say....

=^^=
Dawn Skyy

Lumps of Coal

No, it's not Christmas and no I haven't been a bad lady. But Darwin has been leaving me lumps of coal. Actually its not coal it's turds.

Yep, he's back to that nasty habit again. The one where he leaves a surprise poop on my living room floor. Before I made the excuse that he didn't know how to use the litter box.... yada, yada, yada.

I've been watching him very carefully and I found out Darwin has been leaving me gifts on purpose.  Why? Because he is cheesed off.

Ya see, Darwin LOVES to hang out with me in my bedroom and on my bed. When I get home from work he jets down the hallway to my bedroom door and patiently waits till I open the door. When I do, he leaps up on my bed and curls up. As snug as a bug in a rug.

Most of the time I find this endearing,  however there are times where I need a little alone time. Sometimes after they eat both cats get rambunctious and want to play, wrestle,  or chase each other on my bed while I'm tryong to sleep.....

When that happens I toss them out (cuz, you know when Darwin gets in Shadow is soon to follow). When I do that Darwin will cry at my door or stick his paws under the door and pull on it. It sounds like someone's trying to batter the door down. Most times I ignore him.

And when I do return from my catless seclusion, lo and behold what do I find? A visual manifestation of Darwin's displeasure. Turds on the livingroom floor. 

This means war!!

=^^=
Dawn Skyy

Don't Be Fooled!

Don't be fooled by this idealic scene. In no time at all Shadow will be on the outside looking in, courtesy of Darwin.

=^^=

Dawn Skyy

Hunger Strike

As I may have mentioned at nausium in the past, both Shadow and Darwin are greedy gut cats. Anything I put into their food bowls is fair game to be eaten untill both bowls are clean enough to put up without being washed!

However, yesterday I found out that there is something both won't eat. I was running low on dry food, so I stopped by the supermarket and grabbed two bags of "Cat Cafe" dry food. I usually serve both cats one handful of dry food every day. Though I knew both cats were starving, they did not touch one crumb of this stuff.  

Later, I thought nothing of it as I threw out the dry stuff and feed them canned food.  When fed their fave canned tuna, both Shadow and Darwin dived in so fast they nearly broke their necks!

I found that odd, so I tried an experiment this morning. Since I had bought two different flavors of "Cat Cafe", I opened another bag and fed them that.

Both Shadow and Darwin sat at their bowls and gazed up at me while refusing to touch a crumb. Reminiscent of law enforcement/military dogs, who are trained not to eat anything unless it's to them fed by their human partner.

Well, that was enough for me! I tossed the contents of both bowls into the trash, and added the bags of "Cat Cafe" right behind it!  I didnt even want to chance donating that stuff to anyone.

I just happened to have half a bag of another food they like and I gave them that.  Both dived in with all four paws!

I don't know what's in "Cat Cafe" but if both of my cats refuse to eat it, the product must contain something bad. I've always admonished people to listen to what you furbabies tell you. Today I took my own advise.

I could also speculate that both Shadow and Darwin are just being typical picky eaters. However, both cats were feral rescues from New York City streets. These cats tend not to be wary unless there is somthing wrong with the food.

I repeat, trust your cats instincts.

=^^=
Dawn Skyy

Sentry Cat

Darwin on post on the foot of my bed looking down the hallway. He's watching and waiting  for Shadow to make a try for coming into my bedroom. Obviously with Darwin lying there like that Shadow will not be getting in no time soon......

My, Have We Grown

I was looking at Shadow and Darwin yesterday and marveling at their growth.  I brought both home about four months ago and my have they changed.

Even though they were already adult cats both benefited from regular meals and loving care. Shadow benefited a wee too much and needs to go on a diet. .. I shall cross that desert at another time.

Darwin is no longer frightful and shy except when it comes to mealtimes. That I just don't understand yet.

Shadow has toned down his aggressive behavior somewhat. He knows there's a fly swatter with his name on it.

There's no progress during mealtimes though. I still have to be the lunchroom monitor because Shadow has picked up this new habit. Growling while he eats.

He literally sounds like an idling Harley Davidson hawg in my kitchen. I don't know if it's meant to intimidate Darwin ir not but when I hear it I yell at Shadow to stop.

The last few times I did that Shadow fled the kitchen leaving his half finished fiid behind. You'd never guess what happened next. Darwin calmly eased over and finished off the rest of Shadow's abandoned meal. A minute later Shadow comes flying back in to an empty bowl and looks at me pleadingly.

My answer? Bad behavior equals no food.

Hopefully Shadow has now learned what it's like to be on the receiving end of having all of his food eaten.  Knowing him it may take a few more of these incidents to get the message across....

My late Mom used to have a saying: Hard head equals soft behind. In Shadows case its: Hard head equals empty stomach.....

=^^=
Dawn Skyy

Hummus or Not to Hummus

I make it a personal practice to feed my furbabies first before I eat. Why? To avoid scenes like the one below. Apparently both Shadow and Darwin like Human vittles too. But Hummas and Falafel?

By the way Shadow loves the Jalapeno and Cilantro Hummus!  He licked about a half a teaspoon from my finger. Darwin backed off.

I guess it was too spicy for him.....

=^^=
Dawn Skyy

Bad Ole Brush

That bad old brush has nothing on me. I've got teeth, fangs, and sharp claws. Says Darwin