Old Baldy

I know I haven't made a post about my kitties in a long while. It as been extremely busy, with the holiday season, then the recent blizzard in NYC.......

Work has been a hot mess too. But, I thank God I have a job.

Now for my cats.

Last month my poor Kitty, Shadow was going absolutely nuts scratching and licking. It got to the point where he licked himself bald in several places! Yes, BALD!

LIKE a good detective, I had to figure out, what changed to make him like this? Was it a new food I introduced to his diet?  Was it peer harassment from Darwin? Yes, Darwin does bully him at times...... or was it the new litter?

It turns out that I could not get to the store where I usually bought litter, so I stopped in at a neighborhood supermarket and bought a substitute. Apparently, poor Shadow had become allergic to this litter and went on a scratching and lacking frenzy!

So, I changed the litter and he has cut down on the scratching/licking/over grooming tremendously! Hopefully his fur will grow back.

Who knew?

MINE, ALL MINE!

As mentioned before, Shadow LOVES pork rinds. I love them too, so when ever I open a bag he's literally up in my face. Or he puts his nose into the bag and tries to steal some. This time Shadow actually had his paw in the bag. Greedy beast!

Hands Down!

This is how Darwin lets me know that he DOES NOT want me to pet him. He uses his paw to press my hand down. And he's strong too!

The King

Darwin thinks he's king of the hill. It's more like King of The Laundry Pile.....

Pork Rind Lover

Bad habit of mine. I happen to love pork rinds. One day I left the bag unattended (I've totally forgotten that you are not supposed to do that with two cats). I return and find Shadow with his triangle/Siamese shaped head stuck in the bag. When I shouted at him, he grabbed a small rind and fled into the living room. There under the cover of darkness I could hear "crunch, crunch, crunch." I'll know better next time......  😸😸😸😸

This is my Space!

This is Darwin's space. A guest towel on the edge of my bed. He is quite comfy sitting and sleeping there, as you can see. Of course, Shadow never gets to try it on for size!

A Good Match!

Shadow says: "I am black, your Dr. Martens are black, we make an excellent match!"

Close The Door!

Darwin is just too intelligent for his own fur.

He has been bum rushing my bedroom door for months. Sometimes I shut Darwin and Shadow out because I need some "me time", and Darwin detests that!

However, lately he's been trying a new tactic. When I'm getting ready for work he dashes into my bedroom and hides. Knowing full well I can't leave for work if I can't get him out of my room.......

By accident one night I slammed the door closed and walked away. I came back five minutes later and he was sitting right on the other side of the door begging to get out!  So now when he does the last minute bum rush I know exactly what to do. Close the door!

=^^=

Something New

I think I had mentioned before that Darwin and Shadow do not like my cast. Neither do I for that matter.

However, Shadow chose to show further distain by attempting to use my cast as a scratching post! Of course, I've got proof!

Mr. Dreadlock Back

I've been waiting for a long time to do this. You see, because Darwin has thick fur and is unable to groom his back, he had a series of dreadlock like mats on his back.

I was perfectly willing to groom him with a brush but he would take numerous swings at me (claws out) or attempt to bite both me and said brush.

So today at feeding time I took the radical step of giving him a hair cut. While he was occupied with tuna, I took a scissors and cut all of the unsightly clumps off.

Now he has this nice bald strip down his back but no more dreadlocks....

=^^=

These Are Not Toys!

Last week was a bang up week for me. Ever heard that saying: "I can get into enough trouble all by myself."?

Well, I did just that. Long story short. I tripped fell and dislocated my right pinky. This meant a trip to the Emergency Room, a battary of X-rays, a doctor popping the finger back, more X-rays, a splint on said digit and a trip home with a half ream of papers and a hurtin' hand.

I get home and Darwin and Shadow take one whiff and scat. Why? The antiseptic odor, plus said splint was scary looking.

This is like the sixth day of this ordeal and I've been trying to work my hand and bend my finger. I found the hand therapy balls I'd picked up from a neighborhood Chinese shop years ago. I took them out and guess who wanted to play with them?

The black nose should be a clue.

I tell you, life is certianlly more interesting with cats...... Especially with Darwin and Shadow.

=^^=

Good Boy!

It's been over a year and I see marked improvement in Shadow's eating behavior.

For example I've noticed he no longer growls while he eats. He no longer snarfs down his food in less than a minute. He no longer goes after Darwin's food immediately after finishing his. In fact, when Shadow finishes his meal, he leaves the kitchen like he has been taught to do. Instead of hanging around to intimidate Darwin.

This is progress.

However I've noticed other things. Shadow hates cat food with gravy. I guess the cat food manufacturers thought some foods would be more appealing if they had sauce. Shadow no like. I've caught him using his right paw to tease out the meat chunks and eat them, leaving the sauce behind. I would've never expected this from "Sir Greedy Gut".

=^^=

Laptop Companion

Every since I've come out of the dark ages by purchasing Samsung smartphone and tablet I have not used my laptop.

This also means I have not been sitting at my desk. An act which brings back bitter sweet memories because my angel kitty Spiral would always lay across my feet when I did. It was his way of letting me know he loved me and kept me company. It also kept my feet warm during the Winter months.

However, in this age of smart phones and tablets there are still times where you must use a laptop. That was yesterday.

As soon as I sat down and booted up "Dancing Eagle" my laptop (yes, I name my devices), I discovered I had a visitor at my feet. None other than Darwin.....

I just so happened to have my cellphone handy and snapped this photo! His scowl of disapproval is priceless....

Picky, Picky, Picky!

We feline lovers know that cats are picky. Having lived with felines for going on thirty years I well aware of the fact that cats are experts at being finicky.

Here are some of the things my cats Darwin and Shadow don't like.

1.    Boxes. That's right, boxes. "But every cat loves boxes", you protest. Nope, not mine. Since I didn't have any handy boxes at home I went to my local Post Office an picked up two freebie shipping boxes. I brought them home, set them up and the things litterly began to gather dust from disuse.

2.    Shopping bags. I figured if they didn't like boxes how about their brown paper cousins? Tempting Trader Joe's shopping bags were purposely left around the living room, but like the boxes, had no takers....

3.    Tuna. Now every cat loves fish right? Yes, mine love fish but they do not like tuna. I've even tried tempting them with Human tuna, to no avail....

4.  Still water. I used to put out bowls of water and discovered they were not drinking from them. Where were Darwin and Shadow drinking from? The bathtub faucet that drips!

5.  My sneezing. All I have to do is sneeze once and Shadow gets out of Dodge! Darwin on the other hand tells me "gezuntheight" after every sneeze.

6.    Aluminum foil. Darwin has this special aversion to aluminum foil. He hates the sound of it being rolled and ripped off the roll and will flee for dear life, even if he is eatting!

7.    Brushing. Darwin still hates being touched, though he does allow me to pet him a bit. However he detests being brushed. When I try to brush Darwin he bites the brush and tries to bite and scratch moi. As a result he has a dreadlock on his back.... The last time this happened I had to cut it off with scissors. Reminding me of  "The Lion Whisperer" cutting bandages off a lions paws..... 

You've got to Google him, folks! He's amazing!

Well. There you go. Two strange cats but I love 'em to bits.

Dawn
=^^=

Don't Sneeze!

I mentioned previously that Darwin meows every time I sneeze. He lives to hang out with me and due to allergies, I have those accursed sneezing spells. And Darwin will literally meow each time I sneeze.

Shadow on the other hand, will flee the area at the first sneeze! Perhaps he doesn't want me to sneeze on him or he doesn't like the sound, but he definitely gets in the wind.

By the way, I also discovered that Shadow is terrified of the sound of aluminum foil..... No matter how I try to sneak and pull a sheet off of the roll, the second he hears the crinkle, he's gone! 

Amazing, his Shadow thinks of himself as the leader of the pack and he is afraid of everything. Except food......

=^^=

Isn't This Cute?

After nearly a year, I've noticed something about my two fur babies. They are tremendously loving one minute the next they are in mortal combat.

Take Tuesday for example. I came home exhausted from work and hit the rack. As usual both Darwin (gray) and Shadow (black) sleep with me. Why do you let them you ask? Because if I don't they beg at my bedroom door. The begging sounds like this..... yeeooowwww, yeeooowwww, yeeooowwww.....  You get the picture.

So, to avoid the drama..... Like that Beatles song. "Someone's knocking on the door, someone's ringing the bell, do me a favor, open the door and let 'em in...." 

I digress...

I was awakened several times by those two duking it out on my bed while I was asleep. I finally woke up and tossed both of them out. Both went snarling and hissing down the hallway to finish the battle elsewhere. I, went back to sleep....

Yesterday, I could not believe after all of the fighting the two combatants artery caught snuggling. As proof I snapped a few pictures.

Isn't this just the sweetest thing you've ever seen?

=^^=

Dog Food?

I've had cats for over thirty years and I've never once made the mistake of feeding them the wrong food. Last week I did.

And the poor things didn't know any better. Both Shadow and Darwin are rescue cats taken from the mean streets of New York City so to them food is food.

They just done like the holistic style food I give them. They'd rather the commercial gar-bage that has tons of chemicals and ash in it......   which is not good for male cats who have been spayed. Causes what used to be called FUSS.....  urinary tract obstruction.  Which is a very serious condition because the cat cannot urinate and must be operated on.

I had that happen to one of cats in the past, since then I've been very careful of what I feed my babies.

I digress, I think someone in this store needs to learn the difference between cat and dog foods. In most of the stores I frequent. Dog and cat foods are in different sections so they don't get mixed up like this.....

I'm glad they didn't put the human tuna with the cat food tuna......

=^^=

He's Dead Jim....

Poor Darwin! He looks like he is Dead but he's actually asleep.  I'd love to scratch his tummy but he has yet to reach the stage where I can scratch him there.

He just tolerates a few pat's on his head, only if I allow him to smell my hand first like a dog! You'd think he'd learned to trust me by now. Poor damaged Kitty.

Speaking of damage, I discovered recently that the tip of Darwin's tail is broken. I dread considering how that happened. Well, he's safe now. I hope he starts to settle in soon.

=^^=

Kitty Unity

Apparently the only time Shadow and Darwin are at unity is when they are both in the land of Nod.......

=^^=

Not Ready For Prime Time

"Mommy, I told you not to take that picture!" Shadow says.